Prom 75: Last Night of the Proms – 8.09.18

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:15
ON TV
Royal Albert Hall

Hindemith: Neues vom Tage: Ouvertüre
Berlioz: Lélio - Fantaisie sur La Tempête' de Shakespeare
Roxanna Panufnik: Songs of Darkess, Dreams of Light (BBC Commission,World Premiere)
Stanford: Songs of the Sea
Stanford: The Blue Bird
Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens
Saint-Saëns: Suite algérienne - Marche militaire francaise
Milhaud: Scaramouche
Rodgers: Soliloquy – Carousel
Arr Anne Dudley: World War 1 Songs:
Roses of Picardy
It's a long, long way to Tipperary
Keep right on to the end of the road
Keep the home fires burning
Henry Wood: Fantasia on British Sea Songs
Arne arr Sargent: Rule Britannia!
Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance March No.1 'Land of Hope and Glory'
Parry arr Elgar: Jerusalem
Anon: The National Anthem (are. Britten)
Trad arr Paul Campbell: Auld Lang Syne

Jess Gillam saxophone
Gerald Finley baritone
BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sir Andrew Davis conductor

Sir Andrew Davis, the much-loved former Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a veteran steersman of the Last Night, returns to direct the greatest annual party in classical music. The popular nautical theme of traditional favourites by Henry Wood and Thomas Arne is extended in Stanford’s Songs of the Sea, featuring star Canadian baritone Gerald Finley.

Another British choral classic, Blest Pair of Sirens – honouring the ‘harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse’ – joins Jerusalem in the centenary year of Hubert Parry’s death.

There’s a dash of Broadway in the touching ‘Soliloquy’ from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, in which the wife-battering Billy finds new eloquence while vowing to change his ways, and a more mischievous streak in Milhaud’s delightful suite Scaramouche.

Roxanna Panufnik’s new commission, Songs of Darkness, Dreams of Light, rounds off a series of over 40 world, UK or London premieres this season, continuing the forward-looking vision of Proms founder-conductor Henry Wood.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A few observations:

I suspect the presenter(s) will go overboard about Jess Gillam.

An interesting programme, though I might have added Elgar's Une voix dans le désert as a WWI memorial

If Sargent's arrangement of Rule Britannia is to be used, then it will duplicate Sir Henry's version in the Fantasia. Therefore, I suspect Sargent's version of the Sea Songs may be used, though it could be a hybrid.

[mrbouffant]

Out of interest, where did you find this programme? It is somewhat more elaborate than that shown at https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ewwrn3

That aside, I was delighted to actually get Last Night tickets in the ballot this year. It will be a real bucket list moment to be there!

[Serial_Apologist]

I'll probably tune in for the Hindemith overture, which I don't happen to know, and then switch off.

[Andrew Slater]

Out of interest, where did you find this programme? It is somewhat more elaborate than that shown at https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ewwrn3

I wondered that, then I found this on the Radio Times site. (I haven't yet checked whether it matched Alpie's list):

The Last Night of the Proms, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and Chorus, plus soloists Gerald Finley and Jess Gillam.

Presented by Ian Skelly and Georgia Mann.

Hindemith: Neues vom Tage - Ouvertüre.

Berlioz: Lélio - Fantaisie sur La Tempête' de Shakespeare.

Roxanna Panufnik: Songs of Darkess, Dreams of Light (BBC Commission, World Premiere).

Stanford: Songs of the Sea;
The Blue Bird.

Parry: Blest Pair of Sirens.

8.15 Interval. Georgia Mann and Ian Skelly look back at the last two months of the BBC Proms, and Georgia gets a sense of the excitement in the arena with some of the Prommers.

8.35 Milhaud: Scaramouche.

Rodgers: Soliloquy - Carousel.

Arr Anne Dudley: World War 1 Songs - Roses of Picardy; It's a long, long way to Tipperary; Keep right on to the end of the road; Keep the home fires burning.

Henry Wood: Fantasia on British Sea Songs.

Arne arr Sargent: Rule Britannia!

Elgar: Pomp & Circumstance March No 1 'Land of Hope and Glory'.

Parry arr Elgar: Jerusalem.

Britten: The National Anthem.

Trad arr Paul Campbell: Auld Lang Syne.

Gerald Finley (baritone), Jess Gillam (saxophone), BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis (conductor).

[PhilipT]

Queuing arrangements

In case anyone is looking for them, the RAH's rules for queuing for the promming areas at the Last Night this year are here. Note that the rules and times may be different from what you have been used to in the past.

If you've never done this before, then a few simple points are worth mentioning: If you have a ticket for a promming area, that guarantees you'll get in, but it doesn't say anything about getting to the front. If you want to do that, you have to queue, and the queuing for the Last Night gets competitive. If you turn up early without a ticket you still have a good chance of getting in, because a lot of Season Ticket holders are only in it for serious music and choose to avoid the antics of the Last Night, but those who already have tickets get to go in first. The security bag checks are particularly tight on the Last Night.

Oh, and please remember NOT to sing the words the first time the big tune comes round in "Land of Hope And Glory". If the choir aren't singing, we don't sing. We hum, OK? And when we sing, we sing the words that are printed in the programme, not what anyone else thinks they are or ought to be.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I wondered that, then I found this on the Radio Times site. (I haven't yet checked whether it matched Alpie's list):

I did tweak it slightly. The BBC seems to think Britten composed the National Anthem.

[Stunsworth]

If the choir aren't singing, we don't sing. We hum, OK?

In that due to the heat in the auditorium?

[Andrew Slater]

I did tweak it slightly. The BBC seems to think Britten composed the National Anthem.

Hadn't spotted that. Perhaps they know something we don't

[bluestateprommer]

Nice start to the 2018 LNOP, with a 'novelty' to me, at least, as I've never heard anything from Hindemith's Neues vom Tage before. Given my general image of Hindemith and his music, the lightness and fizziness of goodly portions of it pleasantly surprised me. Post-wreath for Sir Henry, on to Berlioz.....

[Prommer]

I'll probably tune in for the Hindemith overture, which I don't happen to know, and then switch off.

How lofty. How grand!

[jayne lee wilson]

Nice start to the 2018 LNOP, with a 'novelty' to me, at least, as I've never heard anything from Hindemith's Neues vom Tage before. Given my general image of Hindemith and his music, the lightness and fizziness of goodly portions of it pleasantly surprised me. Post-wreath for Sir Henry, on to Berlioz.....

I wonder if the pate-polishers are familiar around here?

As a bit of a Hindemith-obsessive, perhaps I could recommend... OK, maybe later...

[Prommer]

Great to have Andrew Davis back...!

[bluestateprommer]

I'll probably tune in for the Hindemith overture, which I don't happen to know, and then switch off.

Too bad, because the Berlioz sounded pretty good just now (if a bit rushed in places). Admittedly a bit odd to hear Berlioz on modern instruments just 3 days after Sir JEG and the ORR. Plus, tuning out early isn't giving Roxanna Panufnik's new work a chance.

[jayne lee wilson]

Katie D
Always better on TV
Liner, lashes
LBD