Prom 1: First Night of the Proms - 13.07.18

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'm not entirely sure why anyone would expect "substance" from a Proms commission - particularly a First-Nighter. As hmvman has pointed out - there are Proms traditions to be maintained.

Whatever shall we do when we run out of WW1 centenaries next year

2019 is the 80th Anniversary of the start of WW2, of course - expect another Shosty #7. (And RVW #5, Walton Spitfire, Penderecki Threnody, Britten Sinfonia da War Requiem, a commission from Charlotte Bray ... )

[DracoM]

Sorry, but that Prom was enough to put me off for the season completely if I didn't already know what's coming. Trashy and meretriciouis waffle IMO.

[BBMmk2]

I’m glad that the BBC stuck with the schedule. Couldn’t bear it if the tennis got in the way!

[aeolium]

Whatever shall we do when we run out of WW1 centenaries next year There's always Scapa Flow to commemorate, I suppose. The Versailles Treaty? The Peace Day Riots? Withdrawal of British troops from Archangel even ... ?

There are a few 1819 events to commemorate, for instance the Peterloo Massacre, for which Malcolm Arnold wrote an overture commissioned by the TUC (though I think I'm more interested in Mike Leigh's forthcoming film on the event, currently in production). And Byron's poem Mazeppa was published in 1819, later to inspire a symphonic poem by Liszt and an opera by Tchaikovsky. And 1719 was the occasion of perhaps the most famous non-meeting in musical history, when Bach travelled from Köthen to Halle where Handel was home on a visit, only to find that Handel had left town the day before.

[Alison]

Part one was pretty good. The Knussen definitely added something and the Planets came up fresh.

[oddoneout]

The combination didn't work for me, I'm afraid. Might watch it again with the sound turned down and something else on.

It was doubtless a considerable technical achievement but I found the light show uncomfortable to watch, especially seeing those brass players fully face on to it(did they have to memorise their parts?), so turned away. Found the music pleasant enough as a sound, but didn't pick up on what it was trying to convey(quite possibly due to my lack of info other than the basic letters home) and found it sounded like reworkings of parts of The Planets towards the end - again, not having any information perhaps that was intentional?

[BBMmk2]

It was doubtless a considerable technical achievement but I found the light show uncomfortable to watch, especially seeing those brass players fully face on to it(did they have to memorise their parts?), so turned away. Found the music pleasant enough as a sound, but didn't pick up on what it was trying to convey(quite possibly due to my lack of info other than the basic letters home) and found it sounded like reworkings of parts of The Planets towards the end - again, not having any information perhaps that was intentional?

IIRR, I don’t think that btgere was enough info, as far the tv side went on the work, IMO.

[Nick Armstrong]

Vaughan Williams's choral masterpiece. It's an apprentice piece written at the tender age of 35. The start is so full of Parry that I'm surprised that Hubert didn't sue for plagiarism. It's an exercise en route to the Sea Symphony. ...Time to replace it on its dusty shelf.

Well I love TTUR, I'll listen to it any time - yes, it prefigures Sea Symphony (RVW in "Whitman mode") but I don't hear any Parry particularly - just a really gorgeous work for chorus and orchestra that really did it for me in this performance.

[jonfan]

Well I love TTUR, I'll listen to it any time - yes, it prefigures Sea Symphony (RVW in "Whitman mode") but I don't hear any Parry particularly - just a really gorgeous work for chorus and orchestra that really did it for me in this performance.

Agree. Rich sonorities and just a feel good piece. It went well with the Planets which developed into a great performance.
My pupil was one of the trombones in the Meredith and yes they played from memory and wore grey to help the image projection. I should imagine the view of the lighting effects was best from a static place in the Hall. There was too much darting around on television. A brave piece tackling an emotive subject in an original and effective way.

[edashtav]

Well I love TTUR, I'll listen to it any time - yes, it prefigures Sea Symphony (RVW in "Whitman mode") but I don't hear any Parry particularly - just a really gorgeous work for chorus and orchestra that really did it for me in this performance.

Well, you're lucky not to have been brought up on a diet of Stainer and Parry, Cali. I was and thus applauded when Peter Pirie wrote of TTUR, in 1979 "...although the opening bars on the orchestra will amuse anyone who knows the style of Hubert Parry. It was also a practice run for a much bigger work that was to come on 1909." [The English Musical Renaissance, pub. V.G.]

[oddoneout]

Agree. Rich sonorities and just a feel good piece. It went well with the Planets which developed into a great performance.
My pupil was one of the trombones in the Meredith and yes they played from memory and wore grey to help the image projection. I should imagine the view of the lighting effects was best from a static place in the Hall. There was too much darting around on television. A brave piece tackling an emotive subject in an original and effective way.

Agreed, and I think that was why I found it uncomfortable to watch. I also felt that as presumably the visuals were intended to be viewed from a static position as part of the whole work that it was rather a liberty to impose fancy camerawork. It's an old point of disagreement however - the same approach that, for instance, lurches around a ballet performance to investigate individual bits of the dancers rather than present the whole picture.

[Nick Armstrong]

you're lucky not to have been brought up on a diet of Stainer and Parry, Cali.

Lucky indeed! (Mind you I don't mind a bit of Parry. Used to exit fast when my granny started to sing bits of Stainer though! )

[cloughie]

Lucky indeed! (Mind you I don't mind a bit of Parry. Used to exit fast when my granny started to sing bits of Stainer though! )

Don’t tell me Cali - she crucified it!

[Nick Armstrong]

Don’t tell me Cali - she crucified it!

We were the crucified!

[jonfan]

Agreed, and I think that was why I found it uncomfortable to watch. I also felt that as presumably the visuals were intended to be viewed from a static position as part of the whole work that it was rather a liberty to impose fancy camerawork. It's an old point of disagreement however - the same approach that, for instance, lurches around a ballet performance to investigate individual bits of the dancers rather than present the whole picture.

I’ve experienced the whole on iplayer using headphones and I found it more visceral and involving. The roving camera work less obtrusive and to be honest on second viewing hardly any at all, which was contrary to my first impression. Recommend giving headphones a try.