Prom 20 - 1.08.14: BBC SO, Marwood / Brabbins

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Friday, 1 August
7.30 p.m. – c. 9.40 p.m.
Royal Albert Hall

Gurney: War Elegy (first performance at The Proms)
Sally Beamish: The Singing

Walton: Symphony No. 1 in Bb minor

James Crabb (accordion)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins, conductor


The BBC Symphony Orchestra explores responses to conflict across the generations. Gassed while fighting in the trenches in 1917, Gurney never fully recovered. His War Elegy (1920) is a characteristically personal lament - heavy with bittersweet sadness and regret. While not explicitly programmatic, the slow movement of Walton's First Symphony is among the 20th century's most poignant orchestral cries of grief - an echo in the 1930s, perhaps, of horrors past, and a foreshadow of horrors yet to come.

Sally Beamish's accordion concerto 'The Singing' will replace the earlier billed Violin Concerto, which has been cancelled due to performer illness. Originally premiered in 2006 by tonight's soloist, James Crabb, the piece commemorates the Highland Clearances. Meditating on the displacement of Scottish Highland communities in the 19th century to far shoreside allotments, and the emigration of yet others to the New World, Beamish uses Gaelic psalm and working songs, bagpipe pibrochs and birdsong to give voice to the story.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Having only recently been introduced to Gurney's music, this is a must-hear concert for me.

[mercia]

I think we've just been told the concerto will be substituted with another Beamish work

[EdgeleyRob]

I think we've just been told the concerto will be substituted with another Beamish work

Accordion Concerto ?

I'm looking forward to hearing the Ivor Gurney piece too.

[Petrushka]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2014/august-01/14962

The Beamish work is 'The Singing' with James Crabb on the accordion.

Looks an interesting programme and will listen.

[Bryn]

Always glad to hear James Crabb's playing.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Have just set the recorder.

[bluestateprommer]

Accordion Concerto ?

Well, just heard the 1st half, and to anyone concerned who hasn't hear this concert yet, please expunge any preconceptions about the accordion that you might have from other musical contexts. While the concerto is episodic in places, overall, it kind of works. Portions of it are quite lovely and atmospheric to hear, and there is good interplay between the solo accordion and solo orchestra instruments in several passages. SB (present at the hall, per SM-P) treats the accordion with total seriousness and respect throughout. Also, a very generous public shout-out from James Crabb to Anthony Marwood, sending along best wishes for a speedy recovery, just before his encore, Rameau's "Conversation of the Muses" (originally for harpsichord, of course), very nicely done indeed. I'm sure that JC has made a lot of new friends with this evening's rescue act.

2nd half to come, of course.

[Petrushka]

WOW! Walton 1 - performance of the season so far! Blistering timpani playing, finely detailed woodwind playing and excoriating brass. Brabbins has the measure of this piece and taken as a whole it was a Prom that worked better in reality than it looked on paper. Greatly liked the Beamish which could have been designed to have been in the programme from the outset. A pity this one rather slipped off my radar when booking opened but there are usually a few I'd wished I'd attended but didn't. Failed to set the recorder too but that's easily remedied when it's on 'listen again' for 30 days.

[Bryn]

... Failed to set the recorder too but that's easily remedied when it's on 'listen again' for 30 days.

Let us hope that that is not just wishful thinking. Was there not talk of a swift reversion to 7 days until 'gremlins' are sorted? Might be as well to set the recorder for the edited repeat next Tuesday afternoon.

[EdgeleyRob]

WOW! Walton 1 - performance of the season so far! Blistering timpani playing, finely detailed woodwind playing and excoriating brass. Brabbins has the measure of this piece and taken as a whole it was a Prom that worked better in reality than it looked on paper. Greatly liked the Beamish which could have been designed to have been in the programme from the outset. A pity this one rather slipped off my radar when booking opened but there are usually a few I'd wished I'd attended but didn't. Failed to set the recorder too but that's easily remedied when it's on 'listen again' for 30 days.

Yes Pet,that Walton 1 was great.I found the drums a bit in yer face (ear),minor point.
I enjoyed the Gurney too,very poignant.
Is it ok to not like the sound of an accordion,I hope so,because I don't.

[Ferretfancy]

Let us hope that that is not just wishful thinking. Was there not talk of a swift reversion to 7 days until 'gremlins' are sorted? Might be as well to set the recorder for the edited repeat next Tuesday afternoon.

We learned at the pre-Prom talk that the accordion concerto is scheduled for commercial recording sessions tomorrow, which explains why it was possible to change the programme at short notice
I would certainly welcome it on CD.

The Walton Symphony was a masterly performance in every way, quite overwhelming in the hall, and the Gurney was impressive. It interested me that working with what you might call an Elgar sized orchestra in the Gurney, Martyn Brabbins achieved much more convincing results than Petrenko did with Elgar 2 last night.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Is it ok to not like the sound of an accordion,I hope so,because I don't.

Of course it's OK not like an accordion, or anything else. We're all different. I liked this more than I had expected to.
But the whole concert was a cracker.

[Ferretfancy]

Of course it's OK not like an accordion, or anything else. We're all different. I liked this more than I had expected to.
But the whole concert was a cracker.

I wouldn't have believed that the accordion could sound as beautiful in the Rameau encore -quite magical.

[Ockeghem's Razor]

I rather like the accordion---it put life and mettle in our heels at school dances back when I could still Strip the Willow without fear of major injury -- but last night's Prom performance was a revelation. The Rameau was indeed 'magical'.