Prom 8 - 23.07.14: Pet Shop Boys Prom

[Stunsworth]

I heard about 40 minutes of the Turing piece in the car. I'm not a Pet Shop Boys fan by any means, but I'lll probably take a listen to the rest of the concert.

[Vile Consort]

Glock brought the rock band, Soft Machine, to the Proms in 1970.

Indeed he did. I was 15 and I was appalled.

[MrGongGong]

Indeed he did. I was 15 and I was appalled.

Why ?

A seminal moment in British music

[Quarky]

If the Proms has a theme, I would think it is about showcasing Symphonic music and orchestras. So the Turing piece was inline with that theme.

We have had some weeks ago, a thread on the appalling treatment meted out to Turing after his wonderful achievements. This appears symptomatic, or perhaps causative, of the catastrophic loss of power and influence suffered by UK post - WWII.

I approached the Turing piece in that vein. Not a great piece of music, but an interesting listen. Perhaps more suited to an interactive exhibit at the Science Museum.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Indeed he did. I was 15 and I was appalled.

I was 20 and was appalled too. Surrounded by a world increasingly dominated by amplified noise, the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts had capitulated.

[french frank]

If the Proms has a theme, I would think it is about showcasing Symphonic music and orchestras.

Is it? Then it's the tension between going 'classical' and introducing chamber music concerts or going 'orchestral' and introducing film scores and musicals. Or are the Proms really best if not to be considered anything except a 'music festival' - and leave classical festivals to the smaller guys and foreigners?

A seminal moment in British music

What has been the lasting influence, 40 years later?

[teamsaint]

Is it? Then it's the tension between going 'classical' and introducing chamber music concerts or going 'orchestral' and introducing film scores and musicals. Or are the Proms really best if not to be considered anything except a 'music festival' - and leave classical festivals to the smaller guys and foreigners?



What has been the lasting influence, 40 years later?

the Proms has gone Soft?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

the Proms has gone Soft?

Rage against the Machine!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Rage against the Machine!

I prefer Glocks to machines.

[Flosshilde]

A seminal moment in British music

Maybe, but not neccessarily a good one.

[Serial_Apologist]

Indeed he did. I was 15 and I was appalled.

And there's 68-year old me thinking young fogeydom only began when Mrs Thatcher came in...

[Bryn]

I was 22 and not at all appalled, though I attended principally to hear Intermodulation (Tim Souster, Roger Smalley, Robin Thompson and Andrew Powell). I took along some aging locusts, three tethered to a card which read "Some of them were very old grasshoppers" The others I released into the Hall from the Arena. I was immediately approached by a young American man who said, "Ah, a LaMonte Young fan". He turned out to be the composer of such works as "Trilobites and Aardvarks", and more recently, "39 dissonant etudes" q.v. Later I| bought Soft Machine Third, prompted by the fact that the live track, Facelift, was recorded by Bob Woolford, who also recorded a fair few Scratch Orchestra events. Their Prom performances can be heard on the extended re-issue of the CD version of Third.

[Ferretfancy]

My criticism of the Pet Shop Boys Prom Turing tribute wasn't because they are pop artists, or even of the type of music that we heard in the hall, my main complaint was that the narrative on which it was based was so swamped by the volume of the music and the heavily miked sound system in this already reverberant hall.

Maybe it worked fine for home listeners, but half way back in the Arena it was largely unintelligible, probably the production team anticipated the problem, since they had Juliet Stevenson narrating from a closed commentary box on stage. I suspect that most of the younger people standing around me just enjoyed the show, some may not even have heard of Turing, I don't criticise them for that, but I can't help feeling that the Pet Shop Boys ambition did not meet its mark.

[VodkaDilc]

the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts had capitulated.

How refreshing to hear them called that again. That's how I always think of them.

Why do we have to be reminded so often? "Now the BBC Proms, followed by the BBC News. More details of tonight's BBC Prom can be found on the BBC Radio 3 website..............." I think we've got the idea.

[MrGongGong]

Or are the Proms really best if not to be considered anything except a 'music festival' - and leave classical festivals to the smaller guys and foreigners?

Here at Verbier they have this coming up (sadly i'll have gone by then )

http://www.verbierfestival.com/programme-tickets/programme/artist/youssou-n-dour/