Prom 32: Eric Whitacre/RPO (9.08.15)

[Roehre]

A piece of his was presented on a BBCMM CD late in 2010 (the Christmas special).
After that I did not have the inclination to listen to his music unless if wanting to become suicidal .

[MrGongGong]

He had some "deep" things to say about Schoenberg on BBC4 a while back

[pureimagination]

I was at the Whtacre Prom and enjoyed it immensely. I went with my older brother (I'm 52) and my mother who's 85. Sitting next to me were two teenagers who also enjoyed it (their grandmother was performing as part of the BBC Symphony Chorus who did a fine job (Eine Alpen) as did all performers) So yes french frank it was a family prom in that any member of one's family could go (Indeed there was a bit of extraneous noise right at the very end of the last performed piece as a gandfather led his audible grandchild out of one the boxes - only a minor distraction) And what exactly is Proms Lite? Is there a Proms Heavy? Some might describe some Mozart as 'lite' - others will have their own examples/opinions. Should pieces by Walton or Stravinsky or Korngold that were composed for film soundtracks be performed at the Proms? Where should the line be drawn? If you disapprove of a BBC 1/2/6/1Xtra prom shouldn't Sinatra/Fiddler/Sondheim also go, and then why not's get rid of Adams/Gruber/etc etc so we have a proper classical music proms - none of this modern stuff.

[Serial_Apologist]

I was at the Whtacre Prom and enjoyed it immensely. I went with my older brother (I'm 52) and my mother who's 85. Sitting next to me were two teenagers who also enjoyed it (their grandmother was performing as part of the BBC Symphony Chorus who did a fine job (Eine Alpen) as did all performers) So yes french frank it was a family prom in that any member of one's family could go (Indeed there was a bit of extraneous noise right at the very end of the last performed piece as a gandfather led his audible grandchild out of one the boxes - only a minor distraction) And what exactly is Proms Lite? Is there a Proms Heavy? Some might describe some Mozart as 'lite' - others will have their own examples/opinions. Should pieces by Walton or Stravinsky or Korngold that were composed for film soundtracks be performed at the Proms? Where should the line be drawn? If you disapprove of a BBC 1/2/6/1Xtra prom shouldn't Sinatra/Fiddler/Sondheim also go, and then why not's get rid of Adams/Gruber/etc etc so we have a proper classical music proms - none of this modern stuff.

Adams/Gruber isn't particularly "modern stuff". Maybe you should get out more.

[Anastasius]

I was at the Whtacre Prom and enjoyed it immensely. I went with my older brother (I'm 52) and my mother who's 85. Sitting next to me were two teenagers who also enjoyed it (their grandmother was performing as part of the BBC Symphony Chorus who did a fine job (Eine Alpen) as did all performers) So yes french frank it was a family prom in that any member of one's family could go (Indeed there was a bit of extraneous noise right at the very end of the last performed piece as a gandfather led his audible grandchild out of one the boxes - only a minor distraction) And what exactly is Proms Lite? Is there a Proms Heavy? Some might describe some Mozart as 'lite' - others will have their own examples/opinions. Should pieces by Walton or Stravinsky or Korngold that were composed for film soundtracks be performed at the Proms? Where should the line be drawn? If you disapprove of a BBC 1/2/6/1Xtra prom shouldn't Sinatra/Fiddler/Sondheim also go, and then why not's get rid of Adams/Gruber/etc etc so we have a proper classical music proms - none of this modern stuff.

Thank you for sharing this. I also very much enjoyed this Prom and had not heard any Whitacre before. Certainly he's made me review my attitude towards 'modern' composers simply because he understands melody and not plink-plonk-plinkety-plonk let's-find-the-most-obscure-sound-we-can school of composing.

One question that you might be able to answer for me...the smartphone apps in Deepfield....difficult to hear what they were doing/contributing to the overall sound when listening to on the radio. What exactly did they do/sound like?

PS - I'd get rid of Sinatra/Fiddler/Sondheim definitely !! Ignore the snobs on the forum. Go with what you like.

[Tony Halstead]

PS - I'd get rid of Sinatra/Fiddler/Sondheim definitely !! Ignore the snobs on the forum. Go with what you like

May I respectfully point out that I can't understand the sense of this...?
It's the 'snobs' in particular who want to get rid of Sinatra/Fiddler/Sondheim and (probably) such as E. Whitacre, Karl Jenkins etc.

[pureimagination]

to Serial_Apologist. To some any piece written in the last 100 years is modern, to others anything before or after the Romantic period is. I was just using them as examples (I don't have time to add the dates that they've composed music). I like the variety of the Proms. I may not like all that is performed there but defend anyone's right to like what music they like and what they don't, I just don't feel the need to sneer at others personal choices.
For all you know I could be agorophobic/incarcerated/in a psychiatric unit so please leave personal comments out of our posts.

As I was at the Prom .....or was I? the last sentence is unlikely .....or is it? but my point about the personal still stands.

[pureimagination]

to Anastasius.
The phone app used by the audience during the last four minutes of Deep Field was, according to Eric Whitacre, supposed to include 7 different sounds playing randomly (not sure what exactly because it wasn't explained) There were some ambient sounds coming from some of the phones - the lady behind me, but my brothers app didn't work and the lady in front had no sound just pictures! It sounds good conceptually but didn't seem to work too well but it didn't detract anything from the performance. However the piece was staged very effectively. I won't spoil it for you but please watch the TV broadcat this Friday on BBC Four.

[Bryn]

... For all you know I could be agorophobic/incarcerated/in a psychiatric unit ...

I was at the Whtacre Prom ...

It does not compute.

[pureimagination]

to Bryn. I have since your post (24) edited mine (22)

[Serial_Apologist]

May I respectfully point out that I can't understand the sense of this...?
It's the 'snobs' in particular who want to get rid of Sinatra/Fiddler/Sondheim and (probably) such as E. Whitacre, Karl Jenkins etc.

- especially the quotation marks!

[french frank]

And what exactly is Proms Lite? Is there a Proms Heavy?

Yes? Even something like 90 minutes of Bach for solo violin wouldn't be a 'Family Prom' (of which, as an innovation, I thoroughly approve).

Some might describe some Mozart as 'lite'

I have the Orpheus CO's exquisite CD entitled 'A Little Light Music'

Should pieces by Walton or Stravinsky or Korngold that were composed for film soundtracks be performed at the Proms? Where should the line be drawn?

More to the point, should a 'musical line' be drawn anywhere, do you think?

If you disapprove of a BBC 1/2/6/1Xtra prom shouldn't Sinatra/Fiddler/Sondheim also go, and then why not's get rid of Adams/Gruber/etc etc so we have a proper classical music proms - none of this modern stuff.

'Classical music' as a term does not necessarily exclude 'modern stuff' - unless you regard it purely as a chronological term, in which case The Saucy Sailor Boy would be 'classical music'.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It depends what you regard as being a snob.

[french frank]

- especially the quotation marks!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

(their grandmother was performing as part of the BBC Symphony Chorus who did a fine job (Eine Alpen) as did all performers)

I'm wondering why I have the honour of a mention here. Possibly you are referring to my comments about the BBC Singers, a professional group, positively oozing with fine singers, but who, in my opinion, lack cohesion in their overall sound (unlike the amateur BBC SO Chorus who sound better blended).