Royal Albert Hall
Standard day at the office. Cycled in.
Tonight - for the first time since before the weekend - I am listening to the live broadcast on BBC Radio 3. No house guests or work travels for the rest of the week - only the build up to the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday night!
I listen tonight on the kitchen DAB, where I would say the majority of these Proms have played out over the summer. As with all these things when they near their end, there comes a melancholy mixed in with the relief. It will soon be over - so I may as well savour these last couple of nights which, for me, will go on to define the summer of '25.
We have this evening a return of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and with them a choir 102-strong.
The first piece is by Giovanni Gabrieli. I must have intuitively known it was Italian, because, when trying to think of an assessment, all I can hear in my head is Steve Pemberton in character as Pop, exclaiming 'Is good! Is good!'. I even go so far as to imagine the cliched Italian hand gesture that's used as a signal of discerning approval. In short, I do approve.
Next it's Stravinsky's Requiem Canticles, for which the presenter tells us is 'only' fifteen minutes long. No need to apologise - at this stage I personally think we could do with dialling down the syphonies and concertos, and make way for a fantasia or two. Tell you what, though, this is great. The bows are bouncing on and off the strings at the beginning, and it sounds fab. If a little erratic. Then it's choral - must be these 102 voices that we've heard about.
The second half harks back to what becomes a second helping of Giovanni Gabrieli [I don't note much of significance about it - not to say there wasn't.]
Finally, it's the Brahms. I should mention now that - while I've obviously heard of Brahms - he is a composer whose works I have never familiarised myself with. The only reference I can think of is the one from Fawlty Towers, where Basil shouts to Sybil (with irony) that he's listening to 'Brahms' Third Racket'.
What do we have in store then, I wonder?
Well... it's gentle. A racket this is not. I'm not sure what to imagine in my head, or indeed if I'm supposed to be imagining anything. There is little in the way of melodic hooks, and I can't place it in a film or movie. I ask ChatGPT for a clue, and it tells me that he [Brahms] wrote this in the summer of 1877, when he was on holiday somewhere around the Austrian Alps.
Okay. Now, at least, I've got an image to work with. And it fits!
As the piece ends I can hear a cacophonic blend of 'Bravo!' and 'More!' from the audience. I can't help but assent, even with my Mr. Bumble hat on.
Photo by me, from 20th July 2025.
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