Prom 76: Last Night of the Proms 2015 (12.09.15)

[PhilipT]

[By the way, it's all Holst's own fault - he turned the tune into a hymn himself. Imogen said he was 'overworked' at the time.]

Umm, are you sure about that? The story I heard was that some time after the premiere of The Planets he was sent the words with a request to set them to music. Sitting at the piano he played the melody and then commented "It sounds familiar." to which Imogen responded "That's because you've already written it.".

[rauschwerk]

Read the whole thing. It was re-written in 1918. Patriotic, yes - the poem described how a Christian owes his loyalties to both his homeland and the heavenly kingdom - but you'll have to point out the references to imperialism or philistinism for me. And it's Edwardian, not Victorian. Not sure it supports your point, Lat.

At least they didn't sing Bishop Heber's masterpiece



(I remember singing this at school )

Reminds me of Ned Sherrin's quip, "Ah, the world of musicals, where every prospect pleases, And only Kurt is Weill."

(I'll get me coat).

[ahinton]

Reminds me of Ned Sherrin's quip, "Ah, the world of musicals, where every prospect pleases, And only Kurt is Weill."

(I'll get me coat).

You should surely get Ned's coat rather than your own (if only you could!).

Mon Dieu, what ghastly doggerel the above is! - it's almost as awful as the text by Swingle Wrangler that a momentarily unwise Alan Bush set in the final of his otherwise magnificent piano concerto (and the music hardly rescues it, as at least Alan Bush's makes an attempt to do)...

[Nick Armstrong]

"India's coral strand"

(I remember singing this at school )

Reminds me of Ned Sherrin's quip, "Ah, the world of musicals, where every prospect pleases, And only Kurt is Weill."

Never heard that before! Great!!

Leave the coat where it is!

[teamsaint]

A " School Songs " thread....that just has to happen now...there must be some shockers......

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A " School Songs " thread....that just has to happen now...there must be some shockers......

Don't put ideas into their heads.

[gradus]

En passant, what happened to the wife last Sat evening, she wasn't fed under yonder tree, why?

[LeMartinPecheur]

En passant, what happened to the wife last Sat evening, she wasn't fed under yonder tree, why?

Chez LMP we assumed that this is now seen as totally un-PC

[Pabmusic]

Umm, are you sure about that? The story I heard was that some time after the premiere of The Planets he was sent the words with a request to set them to music. Sitting at the piano he played the melody and then commented "It sounds familiar." to which Imogen responded "That's because you've already written it.".

Here's Imogen in A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Holst's Music (Faber, 1974):

"At the time when he was asked to set these words to music [ie: I vow to thee...], Holst was so over-worked and over-weary that he felt releived to discover that they 'fitted' the tune from Jupiter." This was in 1921.