Great British Classics

 Great British Classics at the Royal Albert Hall

Tonight is, for me, the perfect antidote to all the Mahler, which I struggle with (though I understand I am in the minority). It's Great British Classics this evening, and the title suggests it all - big, brash, pomp. Just what this prommer ordered. 

The first piece [William Walton's Coronation March] is very famous and I recognise it instantly. I didn't know up until this point the history of the piece, which was written for the ill-fated coronation of Edward VIII, who famously abdicated for the purpose of getting his leg over Wallis Simpson. The music was then used to its full effect at the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth. It certainly feels regal, and that of course aligns with the overall feel of the Proms as an institution.

The second offering of the evening is Ralph Vaughn Williams' The Lark Ascending, and it is beautiful music, completely lending itself to the intended imagery. Choral works follow up to complete the first half.

At this juncture I will mention that it was 'Burrito night' for myself. The dishes, while there was a few, did not present a major challenge.

The second half seems to travel between the feeling of Christmas carols, to getting lost in a magical Narnia forest. Choral sounds somewhere between Bach and Walt Disney. Not at all unpleasant.

Elgar's Enigma is everything the label claims.

Mahler and Boulez

Mahler and Boulez at the Royal Albert Hall

I decide that I will try to give Boulez a second chance after the hideous late-nate paring of Boulez and Berio earlier in the season. I needn't have bothered. Still struggling to understand how anyone can listen to this music for enjoyment? Surely the best place for it would be over a movie scene where the drugged-up protagonist has been dumped in a hall of mirrors? Perhaps 'confusion' was Boulez's artistic intention, but for calling it music he should have been prosecuted. 

Image: Pixabay.com

The second half is Mahler, whom I slightly prefer. The music is still chaotic; nay, apocalyptic. But at least it is glued together properly. A grandstand of chaos, one might call it. I'm drawn to the words of Harold Steptoe, as I think it was he who once said: "Mahler... compared to you, Picasso is a load old crap."

Soul Revolution

Tonight is Soul Revolution night at the Royal Albert Hall, and I wish I was there (I'll have to wait another six days for that). It is a welcome break from the hard-core classical; mixing things up with a party atmosphere.

The upbeat introduction from the orchestra reminds me of the opening See See Rider from Elvis Presley's On Stage album (1970), which is an old favourite of mine.

There's too much to include as highlights, as it was all so good. Stevie Wonder's Living for the City, and the gospel How I Got Over stand out for me. I also like that the show has been intertwined with an educational element, in highlighting the role these songs have played in supporting the civil rights movement. The finale (a cover of Edwin Starr's War), is the evening's final testament to this. 

While I'm listening I am also plotting yet another trip to the Albert Hall - not the one next week, but the one on Saturday 13th September when I try my luck for the Last Night of the Proms. My travel and accommodation for that weekend is now settled. By hook or by crook (but hopefully by hook) I will get there!

Photo taken by me.

Mahler’s Resurrection

 Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony

I was at home with my parents on Saturday night - we had a night of Fawlty Towers on DVD - so I am therefore listening to Mahler's Resurrection Symphony on BBC Sounds on Sunday afternoon. This is evidently a BIG prom for classical aficionados, as apparently the tickets to this one sold out on the day tickets were released back in May. We are about to hear a lengthy piece of work, with many existential questions being asked. 

My bike got a flat tyre last week when I was cycling to work, so I decide to try to fix this while I'm listening. I'm not successful in prizing the tyre off,  partially snapping both of the tyre levers I bought yesterday. I resort to using the flat end of a tablespoon - and this does help - but I only get the first side of the tyre off the rim. As I struggle and get frustrated, the music plays on. I'm reminded of that darky comic scene on Abigail's Party when Beethoven's Fifth blurs out of the stereo, as one of the leading characters suffers a heart attack. 

Admitting defeat, a vocal movement of the music begins, followed by an increase of catastrophic bursts. I know how Mahler feels.

Viennese Waltzes

It’s a ‘stroll around Vienna’ with the BBC concert orchestra this morning. I start off listening in my car, but a bit of Saturday shopping puts a stop to this and so I listen back on BBC Sounds in the afternoon.

The first piece is very famous tune, I just didn’t know that it was Strauss. It’s got pomp and pretentiousness. Just what I like to hear. The playbill follows in the same vein; it’s all music that would be utilised to full effect in a ballroom scene of a period drama.

After Strauss it’s “Ich sing mein Lied im Regen und Schne” - I identity the words as sung within the song , and its helps me out with the pronunciation of ‘Schne’ //Shh- knee//

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The interval is great, with a fountain of information about the origins of this style of music. 

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2nd half keeps the grand momentum with Land of Smiles.

During Amy Beach’s Bal Masque I’m imagining just that. 

Frühlingsstimmen aka Spring Voices is a tour de force, showcasing Erin Morley’s soprano chops.

The finale is Strauss’s By the Beautiful Blue Danube. Another famous piece I’ve heard all through my life, just didn’t realise it was Strauss. My mind here, I’m afraid, will forever be taken to that episode of Mr Bean where he performs his own dental work in Richard Wilson’s dentists chair. 

Adams, Rachmaninov again!, and Berio...again.

 It's Friday evening and I am in a good mood, and not just for the usual reasons of finishing work for the weekend. It's August 1st, and the weather is overcast and the temperature in the air has dropped slightly. I always feel a light sense of melancholy when August arrives, with it being an indication that we are now entering late-summer, and on the descent towards dark nights and inclement weather. BUT - tonight is a bit special because I ran ten kilometers! I had only gone out for six, intending to lead up to ten by the end of this month. It think the air and clouds contributed to my success, and now at least I know I am capable!

To the music and tonight's programme opens with John Adams's The Chairman Dances. I've never heard it before but I like it. I like it a lot. It brings to my mind an image of a well-oiled machine; cogs and pistons interweaving seamlessly. There is a word for this style of playing but I can't bring it to mind in the moment. Writing this now, I think it might be spiccato - there's another piece by Paul Simon (Can't Run But) that also brings this pleasant motion to my mind. I ask ChatGPT and it also suggests 'motoric' or 'mechanistic'. Sounds about right, anyway!

Image: Pixabay.com

We then transition to Rachmaninov, a composer we have heard for the last three nights on the trot. Not that I'm complaining. It starts off big - sounds to me like Liberace playing alongside the climatic parts of Hedwig's Theme.

There is a break in proceedings when some sort of siren sounds at the hall. I am not aware of this - probably my cooking drowning out any incidental noises - but the radio presenter lets us know. The next movement is more chilled (which I suppose is to be expected from the second part of a concerto?)

I start typing up my blog about last night's late-night prom during the interval. 

The second half is Berio, who I have sort of already established is not really the composer for me. But I listen through and there are some interesting, albeit garish, motifs.

Happy Friday!

Arvo Pärt at 90 - late night prom

 Arvo Pärt at 90 - late night prom.

I settle into bed having got all my things and clothes ready for Friday at the office. After last week's nightmarish Boulez and Bario, I am unsure what to expect. But tonight is completely different. The music is gentle and choral-focused - much more appropriate for bedtime in my opinion! It's the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir tonight. My only prior encounter with Estonian music is when I voted for them in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.

As well as celebrations of Arvo Pärt, we are treated to a bit of Bach (never a bad thing in my view).

I settle down for the last piece, though it's arguably the most unsettling of the programme. Primeval chants, the likes of which would be led by Christopher Lee in The Wicker Man, prevail. It's understandable when I find out the theme of the piece is to highlight the atrocities of war.

The Lord's Prayer finishes the show, and I turn out the light.