Proms 10 & 12: 23/24.07.16 - Ten Pieces II

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

11:00 Saturday 23 Jul 2016
16:00 Sunday 24 Jul 2016 ON TV
Royal Albert Hall

Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Leonard Bernstein: Mambo (from West Side Story)
Georges Bizet: Carmen Suite No 2 (Habañera; Chanson du toréador)
Anna Clyne: Night Ferry
Joseph Haydn: Trumpet Concerto
Gabriel Prokofiev: Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No 10 in E minor
Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
Giuseppe Verdi: Requiem (Dies irae: Tuba mirum)
Richard Wagner: Die Walküre – Ride of the Valkyries

Naomi Wilkinson (presenter)
Lemn Sissay (presenter)
DJ Mr Switch (turntables)
Matilda Lloyd (trumpet)
Esther Yoo (violin)
Wayne Marshall (organ)
Ten Pieces Choir
BBC Philharmonic
Alpesh Chauhan (conductor)

After the success of last year's Ten pieces Prom comes a new selection of classical essentials, this time aimed at secondary-school pupils. In the culmination of the Ten Pieces II project which has taken classical music to schools across the UK this Prom brings the pieces live to the Royal Albert Hall. From the power of Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries' to the skills of DJ Mr Switch in Gabriel Prokofiev's Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra, the Ten Pieces II Prom also showcases creative responses from teenagers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07lf5sf

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Please note - Prom 10 is not being broadcast.

[pastoralguy]

Please note - Prom 10 is not being broadcast.

At all, Alpie?

I thought the Beeb were obliged to broadcast all the Proms.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

At all, Alpie?

I thought the Beeb were obliged to broadcast all the Proms.

I think they can be forgiven as Prom 12 is identical. Of course Prom 10 could be broadcast as a "repeat" a few days or months later.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Did anybody go to this morning's concert, and is able to make a comment?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Live at last.

[french frank]

I thought the Beeb were obliged to broadcast all the Proms.

I think it would only be the Beeb that might insist: it's not a statutory obligation.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

My initial reaction is that it's an interesting collection of pieces. My experience of secondary school children is that they don't like to be treated as though they are 6-year olds, The Blue Peter effect soon wears off, and this was confirmed by the response of the audience from the start.

But this kind of thing is never going to please everyone, and different approaches are often needed. It's just that the BBC doesn't really try different approaches.

The choice of Naomi Wilkinson is a bit strange, as she's better suited to the primary school age range.

[Pulcinella]

I think it would only be the Beeb that might insist: it's not a statutory obligation.

But they do say in lots of their promotions that every Prom is broadcast live on Radio 3, which is patently untrue!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

But they do say in lots of their promotions that every Prom is broadcast live on Radio 3, which is patently untrue!

As the two Proms are technically identical, wouldn't it be rather pointless to broadcast them both?

[Pulcinella]

As the two Proms are technically identical, wouldn't it be rather pointless to broadcast them both?

True, but they should not claim that they do!
Perhaps one for Pedants' Paradise, though.

[mrbouffant]

Did anybody go to this morning's concert, and is able to make a comment?

I was at the Sunday afternoon edition and was struck by the vulgarity of the organ playing. We had

- An abridged fugue played so fast (so not to bore the children) that it lost clarity
- Most of the work played on near-full organ (calculated to overwhelm the audience - no HIPP for Wayne!)
- The closing page of the fugue was marred by Wayne's own "flourishes" which didn't relate to the score at all

In short, disappointing. They should have just stuck with the toccata, instead of butchering the poor fugue.

The rest of the concert was ok - clearly the kids were hugely engaged but I was struck by the number of grown ups in the audience who hadn't any children with them. Peculiar?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I was at the Sunday afternoon edition and was struck by the vulgarity of the organ playing. We had

- An abridged fugue played so fast (so not to bore the children) that it lost clarity

A common error based on skimpy evidence.

- Most of the work played on near-full organ (calculated to overwhelm the audience - no HIPP for Wayne!)
- The closing page of the fugue was marred by Wayne's own "flourishes" which didn't relate to the score at all

In short, disappointing. They should have just stuck with the toccata, instead of butchering the poor fugue.

Fair comment.

The rest of the concert was ok - clearly the kids were hugely engaged but I was struck by the number of grown ups in the audience who hadn't any children with them. Peculiar?

Surely a concert like this can provide a musical introduction to anyone, regardless of age. I might have gone, even out of curiosity.

[french frank]

Surely a concert like this can provide a musical introduction to anyone, regardless of age. I might have gone, even out of curiosity.

It does depend, to some extent, on the age of a young audience and the style of presentation: but parents of very young children would probably get quite a lot from it, because it would be closer to the way they present things to their own children.

I had doubts about whether Ten Pieces would work so well with the older age group, though I imagine there is already a sort of sifting out process: those who totally reject the idea out of hand won't be there anyway. I wonder where the 'pressure' to attend comes from? With young children it would certainly be the parents. What about older children? And if there were adults without children, all to the good: they may be more comfortable feeing it will be an audience of other 'novice listeners'.

For myself, I'd rather see more if this kind of concert and fewer of the 'light Proms' because in these Proms, classical music is the draw. In the light Proms I suspect it's 'the pill' for a lot of people who attend for the sugar coating.

[mercia]

Dave's chord of the week II

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p042y2kx