Proms 2017

[Bryn]

The binaural sound tasters are great. No commentary whatever. Just the music and some applause. Trouble is, it's somewhat pot luck what you will find there. It's not particularly well maintained. However, the stuff from the Malcolm Sargent Prom is well worth catching. According to a right-click on the image area the source is 320kbps (presumably AAC-LC).

[Hornspieler]

So HS
How do you rate James Morrison compared to Dennis or Pip or Arkady Shilkloper ?
And why doesn't he play the French Horn?

Not my favourite repertoire but his technique

Hi GG,

Playing the horn does not require a fingering technique - in fact, there are only 2 or three notes on the entire compass of the instrument which require the use of the 3rd valve(piston)

It all has to be done with the lip and the tongue.

So rather than speak of Dennis, I would Suggest that my great friend Ifor James, who started music as a cornet player in the famous Bessies o' the Barn brass band was more equipped than most to display the amount of finger dexterity that was akin to Harry James or Wynton Marsalis.

Pip is a pupil of Anthony Halstead and both of those have a great lip and tongue facility and right hand inside the bell of the horn, which is of immense difficulty but not otherwise concerned with the fingers.(I always wonder how the flautists and other woodwind players cope with the speeds required of them (not to mention those poor violinists, who shoulder most of the work.

What we hear from Mr Morrison makes different demands upon his playing, but cannot really be compared with those musicians that you mentioned.

An interesting discussion which we might well develop further.

Hornspieler.

[MrGongGong]

I was more thinking about his high note technique rather than fingering articulation.
I know that when I play the Flugel in the village band it all seems rather easy compared to when I play the horn, for the obvious reason of where the notes are in the series.
What is impressive about Morrison (and the others I mentioned) is the security and clarity of their playing particularly in the higher register where everything is a bit "close together".

[Hornspieler]

I was more thinking about his high note technique rather than fingering articulation.
I know that when I play the Flugel in the village band it all seems rather easy compared to when I play the horn, for the obvious reason of where the notes are in the series.
What is impressive about Morrison (and the others I mentioned) is the security and clarity of their playing particularly in the higher register where everything is a bit "close together".

My brother has a CD titled "James Morrison and Friends"

In fact, there are only 2 "friends" - Freddie Green (Guitar) and that famous Bass player whose name I can't remember.

All the other instruments, Trombone, Piano, Reeds, Drums etc are dubbed in by James Morrison himself! A remarkable achievement by both JM and his recording technicians.


See if you can find a copy.

Best of Luck!

HS

[MrGongGong]

My brother has a CD titled "James Morrison and Friends"

In fact, there are only 2 "friends" - Freddie Green (Guitar) and that famous Bass player whose name I can't remember.

All the other instruments, Trombone, Piano, Reeds, Drums etc are dubbed in by James Morrison himself! A remarkable achievement by both JM and his recording technicians.


See if you can find a copy.

Best of Luck!

HS

Thanks for this
Think i'll take the flugel to band practice this morning (but they always want me to play the french horn !)

[StatMallard]

Determined, as ever, to listen every prom in its entirety, I've just finished listening to Prom 39 from Monday night including a new piece of "music" by Mark Anthony Turnage. Am I alone in finding this the most unstructured, cacophonous piece of audible rubbish ever to be inflicted by the BBC on a paying audience in its entire history?

The very top line in the front cover of the Proms prospectus describes the Proms as "the world's greatest classical music festival". It is already, apparently, acceptable that their are blatantly non-classical proms; The Scott Walker Prom, The Charles Mingus Prom and The Stax Records Prom to name but three. Why then has the new "music" been increased to such an unacceptable degree? To name three more, pieces by Anders Hillborg, Erkki-Sven Tuur and Brian Elias have been particularly dreadful but this ear shattering drivel from Turnage has surpassed the lot. Come on BBC and Radio 3 give us back our CLASSICAL MUSIC festival.

[Serial_Apologist]

The newly discovered dinosaur has been found to be not just vegetarian but carnivorous.

[pastoralguy]

Determined, as ever, to listen every prom in its entirety, I've just finished listening to Prom 39 from Monday night including a new piece of "music" by Mark Anthony Turnage. Am I alone in finding this the most unstructured, cacophonous piece of audible rubbish ever to be inflicted by the BBC on a paying audience in its entire history?

The very top line in the front cover of the Proms prospectus describes the Proms as "the world's greatest classical music festival". It is already, apparently, acceptable that their are blatantly non-classical proms; The Scott Walker Prom, The Charles Mingus Prom and The Stax Records Prom to name but three. Why then has the new "music" been increased to such an unacceptable degree? To name three more, pieces by Anders Hillborg, Erkki-Sven Tuur and Brian Elias have been particularly dreadful but this ear shattering drivel from Turnage has surpassed the lot. Come on BBC and Radio 3 give us back our CLASSICAL MUSIC festival.

With respect, that's only YOUR opinion and hearing a new work once or twice doesn't really give anyone the right to condemn it. God knows, there are still works that after 40 years of listening to that I'm still struggling with but realise that the fault in my lack of appreciation may rest with me.

There are many staples of the repertoire that were denounced upon their first hearing including Tchaikovsky's First piano concerto and violin concerto, Mozart's 'Dissonance' Quartet, Beethoven's late string quartets and Brahms and Bruch's violin concertos!

If we simply rely on the favourites then 'classical music' simply becomes a museum and ceases to be relevant. Yes, a lot of contemporary music will fall by the wayside but the nuggets that are left will form the bedrock of future repertoire. However, if it's not written, rehearsed and performed then we'll never know.

Lecture over!

[Serial_Apologist]

With respect, that's only YOUR opinion and hearing a new work once or twice doesn't really give anyone the right to condemn it. God knows, there are still works that after 40 years of listening to that I'm still struggling with but realise that the fault in my lack of appreciation may rest with me.

There are many staples of the repertoire that were denounced upon their first hearing including Tchaikovsky's First piano concerto and violin concerto, Mozart's 'Dissonance' Quartet, Beethoven's late string quartets and Brahms and Bruch's violin concertos!

If we simply rely on the favourites then 'classical music' simply becomes a museum and ceases to be relevant. Yes, a lot of contemporary music will fall by the wayside but the nuggets that are left will form the bedrock of future repertoire. However, if it's not written, rehearsed and performed then we'll never know.

Lecture over!

[vinteuil]

.

... this should perhaps be here rather than on the Mahler thread -

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... such a good idea. I think we shd have a year of Proms with no Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Mahler, Bruckner, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Bach, Handel, Strauss, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, or any other 'big name' ....

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So what would you like to hear?

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.
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... ideally, one year with nothing at all - a palate-cleanser to make people appreciate (a) what had come before and (b) what is to come.

Then perhaps five years with music composed before 1685 and music composed after 1976, but excluding anything 1685-1976.

A little relaxation thereafter, but no British music pre-1976 for the next fifteen years.

That should about do it...

.

[Serial_Apologist]

[kernelbogey]

Proms Queuing

I haven't even been to a Prom this year, but this letter in the Guardian is shocking news to me. Forgive me if this information has already been posted.

[teamsaint]

Proms Queuing

I haven't even been to a Prom this year, but this letter in the Guardian is shocking news to me. Forgive me if this information has already been posted.

I think this cuts both ways.
If you have to travel from outside of London,for instance it does give you the opportunity of not making a wasted journey at considerable expense. And of course you don't get a favoured place in the queue.
On the other hand,it might be unfair on those prepared to queue.
The numbers of the prebooked tickets are apparently limited, although I'm not sure to how many.
I think it might be good to not offer them for the most popular proms. It would be interesting to know,if anybody can find out, how many concerts have completely sold out this season.

[PhilipT]

Promming Queues

I think the original writer is aiming at the wrong target.

There have always been pre-purchased tickets for promming places: Season and Half-Season tickets, and Weekend Passes which are a more recent innovation. I see no problem with pre-purchasing a ticket online for a single Prom, with the same entry rule as for other pre-purchased tickets - you have to enter at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the concert - provided the numbers are indeed limited, so that those queuing to pay at the door have a decent chance of getting in. There are separate queues for holders of pre-purchased tickets and those buying at the door; confusingly, this year, the two Arena queues now enter by the same Door, and likewise the two Gallery queues, because the building works have closed Doors 10 and 11.

What has changed radically this year is that the RAH no longer expect people queuing, in any queue, to remain physically close to the Hall all the time. The RAH haven't said what their reason is, but one can guess. This does mean, as has been said elsewhere, that people who travel in and are prepared to queue all day are being beaten to queue places by people who work nearby and don't actually queue at all. But that isn't a consequence of selling pre-paid tickets online.

Mahler 2 was certainly sold out; I don't know about the others.

[Darkbloom]

That letter has brought out the usual moaners who claim that Promming is somehow elitist and full of arcane rules that the general public doesn't understand. I wish they would stop, because it isn't true and only puts people off from going, if they think it's like joining the Freemasons. The only people who have a bad experience are those who push in the queue, or in the arena. All you need is a basic respect for other people, is that so hard?