new Proms 2004 press pack - BBC · 4 BBC Proms 2004 Introduction. There are also major events aimed...

BBC Proms 2004

Introduction, Overview & Top Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Proms Themes And Anniversaries

East/West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Back to Bohemia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

England at the Crossroads: 1934 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Other Anniversaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

New Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Royal Albert Hall Organ Restored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Swing to Opera at the Late Proms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Nation’s Favourite Prom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Proms In The Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Audiences Of The Future

Young Composers Competition; Silk Road Tales; Proms Out & About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Proms Extras

Proms Chamber Music; Composer Portraits; Pre-Prom Talks, etc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Broadcasting The Proms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Proms Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Family Events At The Proms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Proms Links To Look Out For

Faber Books;Warner CDs; British Library Silk Road Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Debut Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Factsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Contents

BBC Proms 2004

www.bbc.co.uk/proms

The 2004 BBC Proms season features thetraditional mixture of great music, great artistsand great occasions – including this year thebiggest ever celebration of Proms in the Parkaround the United Kingdom on the Last Night.It also introduces new music, new outreachevents, new interactive elements and moreProms on television than ever before, creatinga renewed commitment to the audience of the future.

Since the very beginning, the Proms has beenabout making the greatest music available toall; informing, educating and entertaining thewidest possible audience, and championingnew music, composers and artists. In 2004 theBBC renews all these great traditions,emphasising the great heritage of the HenryWood Promenade Concerts in their 110thyear, while creating a new model of a musicfestival for the new media of the 21st century.

More Proms on TV than ever before TheBBC Proms concerts are available to morepeople in more ways than ever before in 2004.BBC Four, which has broadcast the first twoweeks of the season since its launch, now addsthe final week of concerts; BBC One and BBCTwo broadcast 10 concerts between them.Thirty of the 74 main evening Proms aretelevised on BBC One,Two and Four, and allconcerts are broadcast live on BBC Radio 3and streamed via the BBC Proms website.

Increasing interactivity To ensure thataudiences have the richest possibleexperience, advances in the BBC’s interactiveand digital services are used to the full. Peoplecan access informative notes about the musicand musicians, wherever and however they are listening or watching, including for the first timeon DAB radio and on BBC Radio 3 viaFreeview, as well as online.The BBC Promswebsite provides unprecedented access to themusic and information about all aspects of theProms.This year there will be a special audiencevote online as well as by phone for Overturesto be played in The Nation’s Favourite Prom.The BBC Proms also launches a text club tokeep audiences up to date with news andconcert information during the season.

Music for all Ticket prices remain stable,reasonable and accessible to all.There are noprice increases this season. For every Prom1,600 standing places are available on the dayat £4.There are over 150,000 places, includingseats, available at £10 or under during theProms season, a price level made possible bythe BBC’s continuing promotion of the festivalas part of its public service mission.

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Introduction

Great traditions, great innovationsat the 110th season of BBC PromsFriday 16 July – Saturday 11 September 2004

The Proms look East The Proms East/Westtheme brings charismatic cellist Yo-Yo Ma andhis Silk Road Ensemble to the Proms for thefirst time, as well as new music by Easterncomposers Tan Dun, Zhou Long and BrightSheng. Many of the finest works of Westernmusic by composers such as Britten, Debussy,Mahler, Messiaen and Ravel are also heard.

Bohemian Rhapsodies Anniversaries forDvorák and Janácek have stimulated anexploration of Czech music which goesbeyond those composers to Biber (whoseanniversary is also marked), Martinu and other Czech masters.There are great classics:Dvorák’s last four symphonies under BernardHaitink, Mariss Jansons, Sir Charles Mackerrasand Vassily Sinaisky; Janácek’s Glagolitic Mass,and Biber’s Missa bruxellensis. ‘Back to Bohemia’also brings rare gems such as Dvorák’s little-known opera Dimitrij and music byneglected composers which might nototherwise be heard.

The rebirth of English music ‘England atthe Crossroads: 1934’ celebrates the work ofthe great patriarchs of English music, Elgar,Delius and Holst who all died in 1934, as wellas the births of two great Proms names oftoday, Sir Harrison Birtwistle and Sir PeterMaxwell Davies, both born that year. Popularclassics such as Holst’s The Planets are heardalongside rarer works such as Elgar’s elegiacchoral masterpiece The Music Makers andDelius’s Whitman setting Sea Drift.AnthonyPayne’s acclaimed realisation of Elgar’s ThirdSymphony receives a second Proms hearingwhile there are premieres of new works by SirHarrison Birtwistle.A first Proms hearing forSir Peter Maxwell Davies’s ‘Antarctic’Symphony and a concert on his actual birthdayform part of the celebrations for the newMaster of the Queen’s Music.

Creating the new The BBC Proms hasalways championed new music.This seasonthere are major commissions for the BBCorchestras from John Casken, Zhou Long andJoby Talbot, a commission from Sir HarrisonBirtwistle (as well as the first hearing here of anew co-commission) and new choral worksfrom Judith Bingham and Mark-AnthonyTurnage.The Proms also continues to placemusic by composers of today at the heart ofits season with more than 15 other premieresof works by popular composers of our time asdiverse as John Adams and Sir John Tavener.There are pieces by around 30 livingcomposers, and nearly 90 works which havenever been heard at the Proms before.

Audiences of the future In its ongoingcommitment to provide greater access to theriches of the Proms, there are three projectswhich aim to help build audiences of thefuture. BBC Proms: out & about events with theBBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC ConcertOrchestra take high-quality live orchestralmusic-making to the Hammersmith Town Halland the Hackney Empire as an upbeat additionto the 2004 season. Building on the success ofthe event with John Adams at the CarlingBrixton Academy in 2003, the aim is to givechildren from the local communities the chanceto experience the vibrancy of an orchestralconcert for the first time. In collaboration withthe British Library, another project bringstogether 120 teenage students from the UK’sTurkish, Chinese and Asian communities in aseries of creative workshops culminating in anevent involving Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk RoadEnsemble.The BBC Proms/Guardian YoungComposers Competition, now a well-established strand in the Proms’ audiencedevelopment programme, is expecting moreentries than ever from 12- to 18-year-oldsaround the country. Participants in all threeprojects are invited to attend Proms concertsat the Royal Albert Hall.

4 BBC Proms 2004

Introduction

There are also major events aimed atattracting younger audiences to the Proms.The Blue Peter Prom has been such a popularfixture in recent years that the BBC Proms isintroducing a repeat performance in 2004.Hosted by Blue Peter presenters SimonThomas and Liz Barker, this year’s event picksup the East/West theme as Japanese drumsand a Chinese Lion Dance troupe join theBBC Philharmonic under its Chief Conductor,Gianandrea Noseda.The fifth BBC Children’sProm in the Park, which follows the festivitiesof the Last Night in Hyde Park on Sunday 12September, introduces the best-loved music ofDisney to the Proms with plenty of on-stageaction and footage from the classic filmsrelayed on giant screens around the Park.

The organ is back A £1.7 millionrefurbishment of the Royal Albert Hall organ,which includes money raised by Promsaudiences, puts the country’s largestinstrument at the heart of the 2004 season. Ithas not been heard by Prommers since 2001and brings many of the world’s leadingorganists, including Naji Hakim, Martin Neary,Simon Preston,Thomas Trotter and DameGillian Weir to the Proms. Solo organ worksfeature in the 2004 season, from Bach’s famousToccata on the First Night to Barber’s Toccatafestiva on the Last, and there are many giantsof the choral and orchestral repertoire withprominent parts for organ, including Saint-Saëns’s ‘Organ’ Symphony, Janácek’s GlagoliticMass and Britten’s War Requiem.

Great artists From Sir Simon Rattle and theBerliner Philharmoniker to Wynton Marsalis andhis Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and fromWilliam Christie and Les Arts Florissants toPierre Boulez and Ensemble Intercontemporain,the range of top partnerships is unparalleled.Among the other great conductors andorchestras to look out for are Bernard Haitink

and the Dresden Staatskapelle and MarissJansons and the Bavarian Radio SymphonyOrchestra.Valery Gergiev gives his first Promwith the BBC Symphony Orchestra, while JiríBelohlávek brings his Prague Philharmonia forthe first time.

Great violinists include the return of Anne-Sophie Mutter (with the Violin Concerto writtenfor her by her husband,André Previn, whoconducts it in his first Prom for 17 years), JoshuaBell, Sarah Chang, Leonidas Kavakos, GidonKremer,Andrew Manze, Maxim Vengerov andPinchas Zukerman.Among the host of leadingpianists,Alfred Brendel plays his last Prom as heretires from live broadcast concerts, while hotly-tipped newcomers Simon Trpceski and LlyrWilliams make their Proms debuts.

Top opera Eight complete operas include: SirSimon Rattle conducting Das Rheingold, onperiod instruments, in the first instalment of afour-year cycle of Wagner’s Ring by differentperformers; Britten’s Curlew River speciallystaged for the Proms; and Holst’s Eastern-influenced chamber opera Savitri performed by a glittering trio of English singers.

Festive finale BBC Proms in the Parkspreads further on the Last Night than everbefore with all the fun of the Last Night of theProms spilling out of the Royal Albert Hall andinto big, outdoor events in Belfast, Glasgow,London and Swansea, with Manchester joiningthe party for the first time.As in previousyears, each city will have its own distinctiveconcert before joining together with big-screenlink-ups for the live relay of the famous finale.The concerts are broadcast live across BBCRadio and Television including Radio 2, RadioWales, Radio Scotland, Radio Ulster and GMRplus highlights of all five events are shown aspart of the live coverage of the Last Night ofthe Proms on BBC One and BBC Two.

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Introduction

• East/West – features Yo-Yo Ma and the SilkRoad Ensemble; premieres from Tan Dun, ZhouLong and Bright Sheng; plus Eastern-inspiredmusic by John Adams, Britten, Debussy, Mahler,Messiaen and Ravel

• Back to Bohemia – celebratesanniversaries for Dvorák, Janácek and Biber,and brings top Czech musicians to the Proms

• England at the Crossroads: 1934 – marks70 years since the deaths of Elgar, Holst andDelius, and 70 years since the births of SirHarrison Birtwistle and Sir Peter MaxwellDavies

• Diaghilev – 75 years after his death the Promsbrings together the most famous ballet scores

• Anniversary tributes – for Charles Ives,Luigi Dallapiccola, Sir John Tavener, JohannStrauss I, Marc-Antoine Charpentier andEngelbert Humperdinck

East/West

Western traders have been bringing backriches from the East for centuries and musicfrom the great Eastern civilisations and tradingroutes has been influencing Western music forjust as long.The 2004 BBC Proms seeks tobring music from the ancient Silk Road routesperformed by inspirational cellist Yo-Yo Ma andthe Silk Road Ensemble, as well as new worksby composers from China. East/West alsofeatures music by Western composers inspiredby Eastern culture and sources such as themighty Ottoman Empire, Hindu literature,Chinese exoticism, Balinese and Javanesegamelan, the stories of Ancient Egypt, the Noh

plays of Japan and a variety of Eastern folk traditions.

At the heart of the East/West season is aweekend of activity from Yo-Yo Ma (picturedbelow) and the Silk Road Ensemble in their firstUK visit.The Silk Road Project was set up byYo-Yo Ma to explore cultural exchanges alongthe old trade routes between China and theMediterranean.Yo-Yo Ma himself has learned toplay some of the ancestors of the cello – thePersian spike fiddle, the Tuvan horse-head fiddleand the Chinese erhu – and the project hasbrought together musicians from the Silk Roadlands and the West who perform newcommissions as well as traditional music.

Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble beginwith the UK premiere of a work by BrightSheng (born 1955), a composer who grew up

6 BBC Proms 2004

Themes and anniversaries

Proms themesand anniversaries

in China during the Cultural Revolution,worked for years with a folk music troupe in aremote province near Tibet before getting aplace at the Shanghai Conservatory and thenmoving to New York to study with LeonardBernstein. Bright Sheng’s 26-minute The Songand Dance of Tears was inspired by a two-month trip to China four years ago in whichthe composer set out to collect folk musicalong the route of the ancient Silk Road. It callsfor a quartet of pipa (a lute-like instrument firstbrought into China over 2,000 years ago),sheng (an ancient Chinese mouth organ), celloand piano. In the same concert is Messiaen’sTurangalîla Symphony, which is full of a variety ofEastern influences from its Sanskrit title, tonaming the percussion section ‘gamelang’.

The Silk Road weekend continues with aSunday Matinee (Prom 40) and a ChamberMusic Concert (PCM 5), giving UK audiencestheir first chance to hear a huge variety of themusic at the heart of the Silk Road Project –from Armenian folk songs and Iraniancomposer Kayhan Kalhor’s Blue as the TurquoiseNight of Neyshabur to Debussy’s Cello Sonata,which reflects the theme of cross-culturalexchange.The Ensemble also takes part in theProms’ major education project of the year,Silk Road Tales, a series of workshops at theBritish Library with around 120 teenagersfrom Asian and Turkish communities inLondon, in which children create new work forperformance at a concert involving Yo-Yo Maand the musicians of the Silk Road Ensemble.

As well as the UK premiere of Bright Sheng’sThe Song and Dance of Tears, new works byleading Chinese-American composers Tan Danand Zhou Long are a key component of theEast/West theme. Zhou Long’s The Immortal,the BBC World Service’s first commission forthe Proms and the first world premiere of theseason, is described by Zhou Long as ‘a tributeto the Chinese artists and intellectuals of the20th century’. Zhou Long (born 1953) is

married to Chen Yi, whose PercussionConcerto was played at last year’s Proms; likeBright Sheng and Tan Dun, he grew up duringthe Cultural Revolution in China but is now aUS citizen.The 15-minute orchestral work ispremiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestraand Leonard Slatkin (Prom 6).

Tan Dun (born 1957), most famous for hismemorable score for the film Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon, has already made a big impactat the Proms, particularly with his ‘Hong Kong’Symphony in 1997. He has much in commonwith Bright Sheng and Zhou Long besidesplace and time of birth. Like them, he livedthrough the Cultural Revolution, was sent towork in the fields, absorbed the rural folktraditions around him (though, uniquely,worked at Peking Opera for a time) and wentto study further in the USA, where he hassince made his home.The BBC SymphonyOrchestra give a concert, conducted by thecomposer himself, featuring the worldpremiere of a new version of his Concerto forWater percussion and orchestra (with EvelynGlennie) and his violin work Out of PekingOpera, featuring Taiwanese-American violinistCho-Liang Lin (Prom 24).

The Proms is not just celebrating music of the East, but music of the West inspired byEastern themes.Although Western music hasbeen absorbing Eastern influences since MarcoPolo travelled to China and the Crusadesbrought new instruments and ideas toWestern music, the Proms starts at the time of Beethoven when the mighty OttomanEmpire was dominant.The instruments of the Janissary Bands of the Turkish Army –cymbals, triangle,Turkish Crescent (JinglingJohnny) and bass drum – were being absorbedinto many of Europe’s own military bandsalongside the more traditional wind and brass– both of which can clearly be heard in thefinale of Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony (Prom 67).

7BBC Proms 2004


Other pillars of the Western repertoireinspired by Eastern themes at this year’sProms include Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde(The Song of the Earth), based on sixth-century Chinese poetry (Prom 57), Bartók’sballet suite The Miraculous Mandarin (Prom 28),Ravel’s two works related to the tale ofShéhérazade (Proms 29 and 33), excerpts fromPuccini’s Japanese opera Madam Butterfly(Prom 74) and Gilbert and Sullivan’s TheMikado (Prom 74), and Debussy’s greatgamelan-tinged piano work Estampes (PCM 4),but it is some of the lesser-known workswhich promise to be Proms highlights in 2004.

Holst and Britten both wrote operas based onEastern literature. Britten’s Curlew River,brought to the Proms in a production speciallycreated for the Royal Albert Hall by GrahamVick with his Birmingham Opera Company, isbased on a Japanese Noh play about amadwoman desperately looking for her lostson (Prom 17), while Holst’s smaller-scale s¯Savitri is based on an episode from the Hinduepic, the Mahabharata (Prom 54). Holst wasfrequently inspired by Hindu literature andeven taught himself Sanskrit, and this isreflected in his beautiful settings of ChoralHymns from the Rig Veda (Prom 48). Easterninfluence on Britten also went much furtherfollowing a tour of Asia in the mid-1950s. Heoften used gamelan-like sounds to evoke asense of other-worldliness and actually quotesand imitates Balinese gamelan music in hisexotic 1957 ballet The Prince of the Pagodas(Prom 62), and the gamelan-inspired sonoritiesof Ravel’s ‘Les vallées des cloches’ from Miroirsare realised in Percy Grainger’s extraordinaryarrangements in Prom 48.

Other highlights among the Eastern-influencedmusic promise to be the UK premiere of JohnAdams’s The Dharma at Big Sur which draws onHindu and Buddhist meditative traditions, andColin McPhee’s Pulitzer prize-winning toccataTabuh-tabuhan, inspired by the music of the

gamelan which he studied closely in Bali duringthe 1930s, both conducted by John Adams(Prom 49). Debussy’s little-known but exoticand sensual ballet Khamma, in which an ancientEgyptian dancing-girl sacrifices herself to thesun-god Amon Ra in order to save her city, isanother one to listen out for when the BBCSymphony Orchestra gives its first Promsperformance under Jukka-Pekka Saraste (Prom 58).

Back to Bohemia

In the year that the Czech Republic joins theEuropean Union, and inspired by majoranniversaries for some of the greatest namesin Czech music – Antonín Dvorák, LeosJanácek and Heinrich Biber – the BBC Promscelebrates Czech music in 2004.

8 BBC Proms 2004


It is a century since the death of Dvorák and150 years since the birth of Janácek. It is also300 years since the death of Biber, one of the17th-century’s most celebrated composers andviolin virtuosos.

The BBC Proms’ Bohemian feast does not endwith anniversary composers. It also featuresmusic of other Czech masters Martinu,Myslivecek, Novák, Smetana,Vejvanovsky andZelenka, and brings to the UK many of the topCzech performing groups including the CzechPhilharmonic Orchestra, the PraguePhilharmonia under its esteemed founder-conductor Jirí Belohlávek, the CzechPhilharmonic Chorus of Brno and the SlovakPhilharmonic Choir, as well as top-flight soloistsincluding Magdalena Ko_ená (pictured left)

Dvorák has long been the best-known amongCzech composers and actually conducted atthe Royal Albert Hall (his Stabat mater in1884).The BBC Proms marks the centenary ofhis death with performances of 20 of his bestworks, ranging from the famous ‘New World’Symphony (Prom 70) and Cello Concerto(Prom 29) to rarities such as the operaDimitrij, which picks up the story of TsaristRussia where Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov left off(Prom 3).

The BBC Proms is proud to announce that the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, whosefounding concert Dvorák himself conducted in1896, has chosen to mark the composer’sbirthday, 8 September, at the BBC Proms. SirCharles Mackerras conducts an all-Dvorákconcert which comprises his Scherzocapriccioso, the Violin Concerto (played bySarah Chang) and the ‘New World’ Symphony(Prom 70).

Dvorák’s last four symphonies are conductedby an impressive line-up of conductors duringthe season:Vassily Sinaisky conducts SymphonyNo. 6 (Prom 25); Bernard Haitink Symphony

No. 7 (Prom 66); Mariss Jansons SymphonyNo. 8 (Prom 19); and Sir Charles MackerrasSymphony No. 9 (Prom 70).

A particular Dvorák highlight promises to be hisrarely performed oratorio The Spectre’s Bride,originally commissioned for the BirminghamFestival, with star Czech soprano Eva Urbanováand the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorusunder the baton of internationally acclaimedCzech conductor Jirí Belohlávek (Prom 32).Other Dvorák highlights include: the CelloConcerto with Truls Mørk (Prom 29); the Massin D major, originally written for organ andorchestrated for a special London performance,here performed by the BBC SymphonyOrchestra and Chorus conducted by Sir AndrewDavis (Prom 13); the Czech Suite performed bythe Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Prom 15); anda Proms Chamber concert built around a little-known set of folk-inspired duets performed byBBC New Generation sopranos Sally Matthewsand Ailish Tynan, accompanied by Iain Burnside(PCM 3).

Leos Janácek’s anniversary is celebrated at the2004 Proms with the performance of nine ofhis most important works.The first tribute inthe Royal Albert Hall is the mighty GlagoliticMass with the renowned Czech PhilharmonicChorus from Janácek’s adopted hometown ofBrno, a starry line-up of soloists and theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra conducted byKurt Masur (Prom 16).The programme alsoincludes a rare chance to hear this fine Czechchorus sing Janácek’s Hukvaldy Songs, six folksong arrangements for unaccompanied choir.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra performs twoof the large-scale orchestral works at thecentre of Janácek’s output in two furtherconcerts: Sir Andrew Davis conducts therhapsody for orchestra Taras Bulba (Prom 18)and Jirí Belohlávek conducts the Sinfoniettawith its huge brass and percussion sections(Prom 32). Much rarer is The Eternal Gospel,a fascinating cantata based on the poet

9BBC Proms 2004


Vrchlicky’s retelling of the words of a medievalprophet, which gets its first outing at theProms in a concert with soprano Gweneth-Ann Jeffers and tenor John Daszak, the LondonPhilharmonic Choir and the BBC ScottishSymphony Orchestra under PrincipalConductor Ilan Volkov (Prom 36).

Janácek’s music starts and finishes the PromsChamber Music concerts.The first StringQuartet, ‘The Kreutzer Sonata’, launches thelunchtime series at the Victoria & AlbertMuseum, played by the leading Czech SkampaQuartet, and the exquisite Concertino forpiano, two violins, viola, clarinet, horn andbassoon, played by Rolf Hind and the BrittenSinfonia is the final concert.The lunchtimechamber series also includes Llyr Williams, ahotly tipped BBC New Generation Artist, withJanácek’s most famous piano work, In the Mists(PCM 4).

Three hundred years after his birth, HeinrichBiber’s anniversary is marked withperformances of some of his most celebratedworks including the exotic multichoral Missabruxellensis with soloists including EmmaKirkby, Michael Chance and Michael Georgejoining The Academy of Ancient Music Chorusand Orchestra conducted by Paul Goodwin(Prom 35), and the original and colourfulBattalia which is performed by one of Europe’sleading period-instrument ensembles, theFreiburg Baroque Orchestra conducted byGottfried von der Goltz (Prom 26).

A highlight of the Biber celebrations is aProms Chamber Music concert in whichAndrew Manze, who has built an impeccablereputation for his performances of Biber’snotoriously difficult works for violin, playsthree of his Mystery Sonatas, also know as theRosary Sonatas (PCM 6). In the first, which tellsthe story of the Annunciation of the birth ofChrist, the sober prelude introduces variationsof ever-increasing virtuosity. In the sixth andtenth Sonatas, ‘The Agony in the Garden’ and

‘The Crucifixion’, the intensity of the works’sound-worlds is enhanced by retuning theviolin’s strings.

Other key Czech music is celebrated at the2004 Proms, including excerpts from Smetana’sMá vlast (Prom 31) performed by the NationalYouth Orchestra of Great Britain conductedby Sir Roger Norrington, and quirky orchestralworks by Zelenka from the Freiburg BaroqueOrchestra (Prom 26).The elite PraguePhilharmonia conducted by its founder-director Jirí Belohlávek makes its first UKappearance with a treasure trove of Czechworks ranging from the 17th-century and18th-century composers Pavel Vejvanovsky andJosef Myslivecek to the work of Dvorák’s pupilVitezslav Novák, and Martinu’s DoubleConcerto of 1951 alongside Mozart’s ‘Prague’Symphony (Prom 7). Martinu’s work features intwo other concerts: his miniature symphonyThe Frescoes of Piero della Francesca is playedby the BBC Symphony Orchestra under SirAndrew Davis (Prom 18) and his La Revue decuisine closes the Proms Chamber Music seriesat the V&A (PCM 8).A leading contemporaryfigure in Czech music, Petr Eben, is celebratinghis 75th birthday in 2004 and the Proms paystribute with a performance of an organ work(Prom 48).

England at the Crossroads: 1934

The year 1934 was an extraordinary one forEnglish music. Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst andFrederick Delius, the great patriarchs of theEnglish musical renaissance died, and two ofthe most important and internationallycelebrated composers of today, Sir HarrisonBirtwistle and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies were born.

The Proms celebrates these great Englishcomposers throughout the season, starting onthe First Night with Edward Elgar’s heartfelt

10 BBC Proms 2004


cantata The Music Makers with celebratedAmerican mezzo-soprano Lorraine HuntLieberson in the solo role.Two of Elgar’s mostpopular works follow a few days later whenthe BBC National Orchestra of Walesperforms his Cockaigne Overture and theEnigma Variations (Prom 4). Other major Elgarhighlights include a performance of the ViolinConcerto given by the great virtuoso PinchasZukerman (Prom 13) and a revival of AnthonyPayne’s acclaimed completion of the ThirdSymphony (Prom 14). Of course, no Promsseason would be complete without the LastNight performance of his Pomp andCircumstance March No. 1 (‘Land of Hope andGlory’) and 2004 is no exception.

Gustav Holst was only 59 years old when hedied in 1934, just a few months after Elgar. ThePlanets is performed on the First Night. It is hismost celebrated work and has featured nearly70 times at the Proms since excerpts werefirst played in 1921.There are other works byHolst given this season, however, clearlydemonstrating that it is time for his ‘one-hitwonder’ reputation to be dropped.Two keyworks show Eastern influences: his forward-looking The Hymn of Jesus (Prom 4) isbecoming recognised as one of the high pointsof the English choral repertoire, and thehighly-original chamber opera Savitri, based onSavitri’s triumph over death because of herlove for her husband and performed by aglittering trio of English singers, SarahConnolly, John Mark Ainsley, and ChristopherMaltman (Prom 54). Savitri was a greatinspiration to Britten when he began work onhis Curlew River (Prom 17); and explains whycomposers of today including Thomas Adès, SirJohn Tavener and Sir Harrison Birtwistle haveall cited Holst as an important influence on their work.

Frederick Delius’s music is regarded as themost quintessentially English of them all and yethe lived in England for just a fraction of his life.

Nevertheless, his exquisite pastoral miniatureshave acquired strong associations with theEnglish countryside and many of his works haveremained perennial favourites in the repertoire,including his masterpieces Sea Drift, based onWalt Whitman’s verses of longing and loss,performed by the great American baritoneThomas Hampson (Prom 4), and ‘The Walk tothe Paradise Garden’ from the opera A VillageRomeo and Juliet (Prom 2).

English music did not die with these threegreats in 1934, however. Sir Harrison Birtwistleand Sir Peter Maxwell Davies were born and,though taking quite different directions, havehelped to keep English music on the worldmap well into the 21st century.

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (pictured above)recently appointed Master of the Queen’sMusic, celebrates his 70th birthday on 8 September and the Proms pays tribute witha special Late Night Prom given by one of thecountry’s leading contemporary music-theatreensembles Psappha (Prom 71). It includes his

11BBC Proms 2004


extraordinary theatrical parody for narrator and ensemble, Missa superL’homme armé, the more recent Linguae ignisfor cello and ensemble, and Fantasia and aGround on Two Pavans, after Purcell, alongsideStravinsky’s miniature Ragtime and shorttheatrical burlesque Renard.

Three other Proms feature music by MaxwellDavies.The composer conducts the Promspremiere of his Antarctic Symphony, a work hehas described as his last symphony and hismost recent substantial work (Prom 27); andhis first-ever BBC commission from 1962, FirstFantasia on an ‘In nomine’ of John Taverner, isheard alongside the 16th-century organ workon which it is based (Prom 14).The Proms alsopays tribute to this great English master whenhis Ojai Festival Overture, described by The Timesas a ‘six-minute whistle … fizzing, bright andcheerful’, is performed at the Last Night.

Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s first BBC commissioncame in 1965 and his music has been regularlyfeatured since.The BBC Proms marks his 70thbirthday with the world premiere of a BBCcommission of three new songs to poems byAlfred Brendel, to add to the one he hadalready composed, which are performed byWilliam Dazeley in a concert which alsofeatures Brendel himself playing Beethoven’s‘Emperor’ Concerto. Birtwistle celebrationsalso include the UK premiere of a BBC co-commission, The Ring Dance of theNazarene, written specially with this Prom’ssoloist, Roderick Williams and the BBCSingers, in mind (Prom 5), and a performanceof his highly praised recent work TheseusGame, for large ensemble and two conductors,performed by the London Sinfonietta, MartynBrabbins and Pierre-André Valade, whoconducted its world premiere last year (Prom 30).

Other anniversaries

Serge Diaghilev (d 1929) The ground-breaking founder and director of the BalletsRusses from 1909 until his death in 1929,commissioned many of the great ballet scoresof the 20th century.To mark the 75thanniversary of his death, the BBC Proms isbringing six of the works most stronglyassociated with him to the Royal Albert Hall.One of the most notorious was Debussy’sPrélude à L’après-midi d’un faune. Nijinsky’s 1912choreography emphasised the erotic imageryof the Mallarmé work on which it was based,dividing the audience between mirth andindignation. Diaghilev, seizing the chance of asuccès de scandale, ordered a repeatperformance.André Previn, in a long-awaitedwelcome return to the Proms, conducts it atthe opening of his concert with the OsloPhilharmonic (Prom 60).

The other Diaghilev works featured at the2004 Proms are all by Stravinsky. Many of themwere to help move classical dance and musicin a new direction. Stravinsky’s first threeworks for Diaghilev are perhaps his best-known: The Firebird (1910), performedcomplete by the BBC Philharmonic underGianandrea Noseda (Prom 8); Petrushka(1911), given by the City of BirminghamSymphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo (Prom11); and The Rite of Spring (1913), which, havingcaused a riot at its premiere thanks to itsmodern rhythms and hitherto unheardorchestral effects, is now one of his best-lovedworks, performed here by the BBC SymphonyOrchestra and Valery Gergiev (Prom 42).

Two of Stravinsky’s later, smaller-scale worksfor Diaghilev are also featured this season:Renard, a highly theatrical burlesque performed

12 BBC Proms 2004


by Psappha in its Proms debut (Prom 71),andLes noces, described by the composer as‘dance-cantata’. Stravinsky started Les noces in1914, but struggled with the orchestration anddid not settle on the version that we knowtoday until 1923, with the vocal partsaccompanied by two groups of percussion, onetuned (and containing four grand pianos) andthe other untuned. It is performed by the BBCSingers and Ensemble Intercontemporain withsoloists Catrin Wyn-Davies, Hilary Summers,Toby Spence and Tigran Martirossian underPierre Boulez (Prom 65).

Charles Ives (d. 1954) Two of Charles Ives’smost original and inspired works, one callingfor dramatically diverse performing forces, areperformed at the 2004 Proms to mark the50th anniversary of his death.The FourthSymphony, whose scale and technical difficultyprevented its premiere until nearly fivedecades after it was finished, is performed bythe City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestraunder Sakari Oramo (Prom 11). In completecontrast, Ives’s his piano work, the ‘Concord’Sonata (which calls briefly for a flautist in itsfinal bars), is performed by Pierre-LaurentAimard (and former BBC New GenerationArtist Emily Beynon) in the penultimate PromsChamber Music concert (PCM 7). John Adamsconducts his own arrangement of Ives’s Songsof Ragtime and Reminiscence in his concertwith the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Prom 49).

Sir John Tavener (b. 1944) Sir John Tavenerhas reworked his epic seven-hour vigil The Veilof the Temple, hailed by critics as one of thiscomposer’s best works to date at its all-nightpremiere last year, into a 160-minute concertwork specially for the BBC Proms and the vastspaces of the Royal Albert Hall, as part of his60th birthday celebrations (Prom 23).

Luigi Dallapiccola (b. 1904) Staying withground-breaking 20th-century composers, theBBC Proms also pays tribute to Italian LuigiDallapiccola, who would have been 100 thisyear. His miniature masterpiece Piccola musicanotturna for flute, oboe, clarinet, harp, celestaand string trio features in the final PromsChamber Music Concert (PCM 8).Dallapiccola’s 25-minute wartime work Canti di Prigionia, which again calls for unusualperforming forces including chorus, twopianos, two harps and two percussionists,launches this season’s Late Night Proms withthe BBC Singers and Endymion, conducted byStephen Cleobury (Prom 5).

Engelbert Humperdinck (b. 1854),Johann Strauss I (b. 1804) EngelbertHumperdinck was born 150 years ago and theBBC Proms pay tribute with a star-studdedperformance of his best-known opera, Hanseland Gretel with Jennifer Larmore and RebeccaEvans in the title roles, and the BBC ConcertOrchestra conducted by Jane Glover (Prom46).The BBC Concert Orchestra also paytribute to Johann Strauss I, born 200 years ago,with a gallop, a polka and his most famouswork, The Radetzky March (Prom 39).

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (d. 1704)Another major anniversary marked by the2004 Proms is that of Marc-AntoineCharpentier, who died 300 years ago.WilliamChristie and Les Arts Florissants (named afteran opera by Charpentier) pay their respectswith a concert of his sacred music includingthe elegiac Requiem Messe pour les trépassés(Mass for the Departed) and one ofCharpentier’s best-known works, the Te Deum,the prelude of which has been used as thesignature tune for The Eurovision SongContest for the past 50 years (Prom 72).

13BBC Proms 2004


• 7 world premieres of new BBC commissions

• 16 other major world, UK orLondon premieres

• Music by 31 living composers

• Nearly 90 works new to the Proms

The BBC Proms continues its great traditionof championing new music in 2004.The BBChas been the most active patron of new musicin the UK since its earliest years and hascommissioned many hundreds of hours of newmusic since it first invited Gustav Holst towrite his choral ballet The Morning of the Yearin 1927.This season there are majorcommissions for the BBC Orchestras fromJohn Casken, Zhou Long and Joby Talbot aswell as two commissions from Sir HarrisonBirtwistle and commissions for the BBCSymphony Chorus from Judith Bingham andMark-Anthony Turnage.

The BBC Proms also continues to place music by composers of today at the heart of its programme with 16 other majorpremieres of works by composers as diverseas John Adams, Hans Werner Henze and CarlVine, and performances of music by over 30living composers.There is also a worldpremiere of a brief organ piece by BenjaminBritten given by Timothy Bond, and firsthearings of major reworkings of music bycomposers including Sir John Tavener and Tan Dun.

Introducing British audiences to work theymight not have the opportunity to hear has

long been a Proms tradition thanks to Sir Henry Wood, who brought a huge range of‘novelties’ to Proms audiences from the very beginning.This season there are nearly 90 works new to the Proms by over 60composers including Britten, Mozart and Dvorák.

World premieres

The first of the world premieres is inspired bythe Season’s East/West theme. Zhou Long’sThe Immortal, the BBC World Service’s firstcommission for the Proms, is described by itscomposer as ‘a tribute to the Chinese artistsand intellectuals of the 20th century’. ZhouLong is married to Chen Yi, whose PercussionConcerto was played at last year’s Proms, andhe grew up during the Cultural Revolution inChina but is now a US citizen.The 15-minuteorchestral work is premiered by the BBCSymphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin(Prom 6).

Of the seven new BBC commissions, JohnCasken’s Symphony, ‘Broken Consort’,promises to be the most substantial at around35 minutes and scored for full orchestra,mandolin, cimbalom, piano accordion andelectric violin. It is Casken’s latest BBCcommission and was written specifically withplayers of the Manchester-based BBCPhilharmonic in mind.As Professor of Music atManchester University, Casken knows theorchestra well and wanted to pay tribute tocertain players’ versatility and expertise innon-classical styles of playing. He has taken theElizabethan term ‘broken consort’ to suggestthe presence of a gypsy ensemble in theorchestral texture (Prom 8).

14 BBC Proms 2004

New music

New music

Joby Talbot (pictured above), perhaps bestknown for his work with The Divine Comedyand his music for television (The League ofGentlemen, BBC Young Musician of the Year andComic Relief’s Robbie the Reindeer), completesa major orchestral work for the 2004 Promsseason. Sneaker Wave is named after adangerous US West Coast phenomenon inwhich a rare type of wave gathers force bytaking on the energy of the smaller ones thatit travels through.These waves can strike oncalm or stormy days, sneaking forcefully up thebeach and even on to dry land and Talbot’s‘wave of sound’ is a single movement for fullorchestra, which gathers its own energy, ideasand intricacies as it travels over 13 minutes(Prom 63).

Sir Harrison Birtwistle, one of the BBC Proms1934 anniversary composers, has twopremieres in this, his 70th birthday Promsseason.William Dazeley sings the worldpremiere of his settings of three poems by hisgreat friend Alfred Brendel to add to the onehe completed for the pianist’s 70th birthday.Dazeley joins the Philharmonia Orchestraunder its Principal Conductor Christoph vonDohnányi for this concert which also has

Brendel play Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto(Prom 43).

Birtwistle’s The Ring Dance of the Nazarene,with a text by Gawain librettist David Harsent,was written specially with the BBC Singers andbaritone Roderick Williams in mind. It was co-commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and TheNetherlands VARA Radio and given its worldpremiere in Amsterdam in October 2003.TheBBC Singers give the UK premiere here withEndymion providing the wind ensemble andMartin Allen playing the solo Iranian Drum(Prom 5).

Judith Bingham wrote The Secret Gardenespecially for the BBC Symphony Chorus (withwhich she used to sing while still a student inthe 1970s), organist Thomas Trotter and thenewly-restored Royal Albert Hall organ (Prom48). In the same concert we hear the worldpremiere of another work written specially forthe BBC Symphony Chorus, Mark-AnthonyTurnage’s Calmo.

Simon Holt’s BBC commission receives itsworld premiere at the last Proms ChamberMusic concert of the season with NicholasDaniel and the Britten Sinfonia. Holt wasinvited to write a piece which used any or allof the unusual combination of instruments inDallapiccola’s Piccola musica notturnaprogrammed for this concert in honour of thecomposer’s centenary.The new work, entitledThe Coroner’s Report, develops the subject ofhis recent opera, Who Put Bella in the WychElm?, to create a series of ‘exhibits’ related tothe case (PCM 8).

Other world premieres for the 2004 BBCProms are first performances of new versionsof major existing works. Sir John Tavener hasreworked his acclaimed seven-hour The Veil ofthe Temple into a 160-minute concert versionfor the 2004 BBC Proms (Prom 23).Tavenerhopes the new version will capture the

15BBC Proms 2004

New music

magisterial pacing of the entire vigil.Withoutstaying up all night, the audience willexperience the impact of the remarkableseven-hour work in the unique space of theRoyal Albert Hall.Tan Dun’s Concerto for waterpercussion and orchestra, to be performed byEvelyn Glennie and the BBC SymphonyOrchestra, has also undergone major revisionssince its 1999 New York premiere (Prom 24).

UK and London premieres

The BBC Proms has a sneak preview of JohnAdams’s new opera Doctor Atomic, based onthe story of Robert Oppenheimer and thecreation of the atom bomb, due to receive itsfull premiere in San Francisco in 2005.AudraMcDonald, who sang at the Last Night in 2002,takes on the role of Kitty Oppenheimer for a12-minute scene called ‘Easter Eve 1945’ withthe BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted bythe composer himself.The concert alsoincludes the UK premieres of two other newworks: The Dharma at Big Sur, performed at theopening concert of the new Walt DisneyConcert Hall in Los Angeles in October 2003to tremendous acclaim, and new arrangementsof songs by anniversary composer Charles Ives(Prom 49).

Four years after the UK premiere of HansWerner Henze’s Ninth Symphony at theProms, Ingo Metzmacher (the conductor atthat event) brings the UK premiere of hisTenth Symphony, inspired by Sir Simon Rattlewho gave its world premiere in 2002 (Prom44). Kaija Saariaho’s music also makes awelcome return to the Proms when Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the BBC SymphonyOrchestra give the UK premiere of Orion, a25-minute orchestral work which depicts Orionas a constellation, mythical hunter anddemigod in each of its three sections (Prom 69).

Among the other UK and London premieresto look out for are Alun Hoddinott’sEuphonium Concerto, written for BBC YoungMusician finalist David Childs (Prom 63), theLondon premiere of a new work for soloviolin by Esa-Pekka Salonen entitled LaughingUnlearnt (Prom 24), John Corigliano’s ClarinetConcerto played by Michael Collins (Prom 62)and Anders Hillborg’s substantial orchestralwork Exquisite Corpse, inspired by an oldparlour game adopted as a method of randomcollaboration by the Surrealists in which eachplayer adds a word or phrase to a poemwithout seeing the previous contributions(Prom 28).

New to the Proms

Prom 2 Boito Mefistofele – ‘Son lo spirito che nega’

Prom 3Dvorák Dimitrij

Prom 5 Ockeghem, arr. BirtwistleUt heremita solus

Prom 7 Vejvanovsky Sonata vespertina a 8;Myslivecek L’Olimpiade – ‘Che non mi disseun di!’; Mozart ‘Alma grande e nobil core’,K578; Novák Melancholic Songs of Love

Prom 9 George Benjamin Palimpsest I and II

Prom 13 Dvorák Mass in D major

Prom 14 Taverner In nomine

Prom 15 Dvorák Czech Suite

16 BBC Proms 2004

New music

Prom 16 Janácek Hukvaldy Songs

Prom 24 Shostakovich Overture on Russian andKirghiz Folk Themes; Cage The Seasons; TanDun Out of Peking Opera

Prom 25 Szymanowski Concert Overture in E major,Op 12

Prom 26Zelenka Overture a 7 in F major, ZWV 188,Concerto a 8 in G major, ZWV 186

Prom 27Sir Peter Maxwell Davies ‘AntarcticSymphony’ (Symphony No. 8)

Prom 28 Alfvén Skogen sover, Op. 28 No. 6;Stenhammar Songs; Sibelius Songs

Prom 29 Takemitsu Twill by Twilight

Prom 30Sir Harrison Birtwistle Theseus Game

Prom 33Ravel Shéhérazade – ouverture de féerie

Prom 34 Naji Hakim Ouverture libanaise ; In organo,chordis et choro; Messiaen Messe de laPentecôte – Entrée (Les langues des feu) ;Offrande au Saint-Sacrament

Prom 35Biber Missa bruxellensis; Muffat Armonicotributo – Sonata V in G major

Prom 36 Janácek The Eternal Gospel

Prom 39 Johann Strauss I Cachucha-Galop; Fredericapolka; Zeller Der Vogelhändler ‘Schenkt mansich Rosen in Tirol’; Stolz Im weissen Rössl –‘Meine Liebeslied muss ein Walzer sein’;Kálmán Die Csárdásfürstin – ‘Heia, in denBergen ist mein Heimatland’; LehárOperetta arias

Prom 42Rimsky-Korsakov Mlada – Act 3

Prom 46Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel

Prom 47Arne Artaxerxes – three arias

Prom 48Janácek Our Father; James MacMillan Letombeau de Georges Rouault; Petr EbenSunday Music – Moto ostinato; Holst ChoralHymns from the Rig Veda – Group 3

Prom 49 Ravel, orch. Grainger Miroirs – La vallée des cloches

Prom 51Kraus Symphony in C major,VB 138; FolkeRabe Sardine Sarcophagus; HK GruberThree MOB Pieces

Prom 52 Glinka Ruslan and Lyudmila – dances

Prom 53Dvorák Legend in G minor, Op 59 No. 3

Prom 54 Lambert Eight Poems of Li-Po

Prom 55 Rakhmaninov The Miserly Knight; PucciniGianni Schicchi

17BBC Proms 2004

New music

Prom 57 Berio Stanze

Prom 58 Debussy, orch. Koechlin Khamma

Prom 60André Previn Violin Concerto

Prom 65Pierre Boulez Sur Incises

Prom 71Sir Peter Maxwell Davies Fantasia and aGround on Two Pavans’ after Purcell; Missasuper L’homme armé; Linguae ignis

Prom 72 Charpentier Messe pour plusieursinstruments au lieu des orgues

Prom 73 Puccini La bohème – ‘Musetta’s Waltz Song’

Prom 74 Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs;Barber Toccata festiva; Sir Peter MaxwellDavies Ojai Festival Overture; Porter KissMe, Kate – ‘Where is the life that late I led?’

PCM 1Dvorák Piano Quintet in A major, Op 81

PCM 2Mozart String Quintet in C major, K515;Schubert String Trio in B flat major, D471

PCM 3Britten On This Island; Dvorák MoravianDuets – selection; Strauss Songs

PCM 4Debussy Estampes; Skryabin Piano Sonata No. 5

PCM 5Kayhan Kalhor Gallop of a ThousandHorses; Jia Da Qun The Prospect of Colored Desert

PCM 6 Biber Mystery (Rosary) Sonatas Nos. 1, 6 &10; Froberger Lamentation ‘Ferdinand letroisième’ ; Suite in C; Schmelzer Sonataeunarum fidium – Sonata No. 4

PCM 7Ives ‘Concord’ Sonata; Messiaen Le merle noir

18 BBC Proms 2004

New music

• £1.7 million restoration of the largestorgan in the UK puts RAH organ atheart of 2004 Proms season

• The world’s leading organists to play –Naji Hakim, Martin Neary, Simon Preston,Thomas Trotter, Dame Gillian Weir

• Two world premieres including a BBCcommission and a recently discoveredwork by Britten

The newly-restored Royal Albert Hall organ(pictured above) is heard again by Prommersfor the first time since 2001 in concertsthroughout the 2004 season. It is featured frombeginning to end, with Bach’s Toccata in Dminor on the First Night and Barber’s Toccatafestiva for organ and orchestra on the Last.Between are many other solo works, threeworld premieres and many giants of the choraland orchestral repertoire with prominent partsfor organ – ranging from Saint-Saëns’s ‘Organ’Symphony to Janácek’s Glagolitic Mass – playedby the world’s leading organists.

The largest instrument in the country (with9,999 pipes and 147 stops), the Royal Albert Hall’s Father Willis organ has a rich history. Itwas the biggest, most ambitious and expensiveinstrument in the world on its completion in1871.A total of £7,500, 4% of the entirebudget for the construction of the Hall, wasset aside for its creation and some of the pipeswere so big they had to be installed before therest of the building. It has been played by such greats as Marcel Dupré,Anton Bruckner andCamille Saint-Saëns and has been prominent inthe Proms since they moved to the RoyalAlbert Hall in 1941. It has undergone £1.7m of refurbishment in the past few years whichshould ensure that Prommers of the futurewill continue to enjoy it for many decades tocome, while organists can rest assured that itwon’t fail them.

Many of the world’s leading organists makeimportant contributions to the 2004 Promsseason. Martin Neary leads the way with thefirst piece of the season when he plays Bach’sfamous Toccata in D minor. Full orchestratakes over for the Fugue in the famousarrangement by Sir Henry Wood first heard byPrommers in 1929.

Dame Gillian Weir makes a welcome returnfor Saint-Saëns’s much-loved Symphony No. 3for organ and orchestra. She has given morethan 14 Proms since her debut on the FirstNight in 1965 when, still a student, she playedthe Poulenc Concerto under Sir MalcolmSargent (Prom 39).

Simon Preston, famous for writing ‘Salieri’smusic’ in the film Amadeus, is one of theworld’s most distinguished organists.After a

19BBC Proms 2004

Organ restored

Royal Albert Hallorgan restored

dozen previous Proms concerts, which haveincluded many of the great organ favourites, hetakes centre stage at the Last Night of theProms for a performance of Barber’sformidable Toccata festiva for organ andorchestra, with its virtuoso cadenza for pedals(Prom 74).

A particular organ highlight is the worldpremiere of a specially-commissioned newwork by Judith Bingham given by the BBCSymphony Chorus and Thomas Trotter, forwhom it was written.Trotter also performsJames MacMillan’s 14-minute organ piece Letombeau de Georges Rouault, which was alsowritten with him in mind, alongside Janácek’sexquisite setting of the Lord’s Prayer OurFather for choir, solo tenor, harp and organ,and a work by leading Czech organist andcomposer Petr Eben, in celebration of his 75thbirthday (Prom 48).

Other organ highlights include one of the UK’sfastest rising young organists, David Goode, inJanácek’s monumental Glagolitic Mass with theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra under KurtMasur (Prom 16). Naji Hakim, OlivierMessiaen’s successor as organist at La Trinité inParis, gives a special Late Night Prom in whichhe plays two of his own works for solo organalongside a selection of Messiaen (Prom 34),and Timothy Bond gives the world premiere ofthe Voluntary on Tallis’s Lamentations byBenjamin Britten. Britten left this short workin America when he returned to the UKduring the war where it remained unnoticeduntil recently. Bond also plays the organ part inBritten’s War Requiem (Prom 22). CatherineEnnis plays Taverner’s solo organ work Innomine, the work on which Sir Peter MaxwellDavies based the Fantasia heard in the sameconcert (Prom 14).

20 BBC Proms 2004

Organ restored

• Wynton Marsalis and his Lincoln CenterJazz Orchestra return to the Proms

• 70th birthday concert for new Masterof the Queen’s Music, Sir Peter MaxwellDavies

• Four major premieres at Late Nightconcerts including new works by JudithBingham, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, SirJohn Tavener and Mark-Anthony Turnage

• Operas including Britten’s CurlewRiver and Holst’s Savitri

The Late Night Proms are now an integral and popular part of the BBC Proms’ mainseason, attracting diverse audiences to theBBC Proms. In 2004 the 12 concerts include a broad range of repertoire and some of the most exciting and unusual events of theseason.

The Late Nights begin with the UK premiereof Birtwistle’s The Ring Dance of the Nazarenewith Roderick Williams, for whom it waswritten, and the BBC Singers, part of thecomposer’s 70th birthday celebrations at the2004 Proms.This concert also pays tribute toanother anniversary, the centenary ofDallapiccola’s birth. His 25-minute Canti diprigionia uses a characteristically unusualcombination of instruments including twoharps, two pianos and a range of percussion(Prom 5).Another major Birtwistle tributetakes place at another Late Night concertwhen the London Sinfonietta performs hisrecent orchestral work Theseus Game withtwo conductors, Martyn Brabbins and Pierre-André Valade (Prom 30).

Maxwell Davies’s 70th birthday falls on 8 September and is marked by a Late NightProm given by leading contemporary andmusic-theatre ensemble Psappha (Prom 71).It includes his theatrical parody for soloist and ensemble, Missa super L’homme armé, themore recent Linguae ignis for cello andensemble, and Fantasia and a Ground on TwoPavans, after Purcell; alongside Stravinsky’sRagtime and Renard.

Wynton Marsalis (pictured above) and hisLincoln Center Jazz Orchestra make awelcome return following their sell-out 2002concert. ‘Out here to swing!’ celebrates thebig-band sound of the 1930s and 1940s and isone of the major highlights of the season(Prom 21).

21BBC Proms 2004

Late Night Proms

Swing to operaat the Late Night Proms

Another world leader in its field, but at theopposite end of the spectrum, the FreiburgBaroque Orchestra also return to the Promswith works by Bohemian composers Zelenkaand Biber as well as Bach’s Orchestral SuiteNo. 1 (Prom 26).

There are four important premieres at theLate Night Proms, not least of which is theworld premiere of a new 160-minute concertversion of Tavener’s epic vigil The Veil of theTemple (Prom 23). Bingham’s substantial newBBC commission for the BBC SymphonyChorus, The Secret Garden, also receives itsworld premiere at a Late Night Prom (Prom48).This concert also includes the worldpremiere of a much shorter new work, Calmo,from Turnage, also commissioned by the BBCand performed by the BBC Symphony Chorus.

Other major highlights of the Late Nightsinclude a specially semi-staged performance ofBritten’s Curlew River directed by Graham Vick, inwhich most of the action is to take place in theArena among the Prommers (Prom 17); Holst’shighly original chamber opera Savitri performedby a glittering trio of singers, Sarah Connolly,John Mark Ainsley and Christopher Maltman(Prom 54); Naji Hakim, Olivier Messiaen’ssuccessor as organist at La Trinité in Paris (Prom34); and leading contemporary music group,Ensemble Intercontemporain, conducted by itsfounder Pierre Boulez in one of his mostthrilling works, Sur Incises (Prom 65).

22 BBC Proms 2004

Late Night Proms

• Audiences vote for favourite overturesto be heard in The Nation’s FavouriteProm, Saturday 17 July, 7.00pm

• Concert includes other favourites:Mozart arias and Rakhmaninov’s Paganini Rhapsody

The BBC Proms continues to involve itsaudience as much as possible – not only canaudiences have their say on the Proms websiteand BBC interactive services, they can alsovote for what they want to hear in part of aProms concert. BBC Proms website visitorsand readers of the BBC Proms Guide andRadio Times are asked to vote from a selectionof overtures to be performed by the HalléOrchestra under Mark Elder at The Nation’sFavourite Prom on Saturday 17 July.

For the first time audiences can vote for theirfavourite works by text message and remindthemselves which overture is which bylistening to excerpts on the BBC Promswebsite.

Two of the world’s top soloists join theconcert for performances of other popularworks: Jonathan Lemalu sings arias by Boito,Gounod and Mozart; and Louis Lortie playsRakhmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.The concert’s finale is Tchaikovsky’s 1812Overture.The Nation’s Favourite Prom isbroadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and on BBCOne on Sunday 18 July at 10.15pm.

The shortlisted overtures are:

Beethoven EgmontBerlioz Roman CarnivalGlinka Ruslan and LyudmilaMendelssohn HebridesMozart Marriage of FigaroNicolai Merry Wives of WindsorRossini William TellRossini Thieving MagpieSmetana Bartered BrideJohann Strauss II FledermausVerdi Force of DestinyWeber Freischütz

There are three ways to vote:

• Online at www.bbc.co.uk/proms (whereyou can listen to sound-clips)• By telephone on 09066 800 601 (calls cost 25p a minute)• By SMS: text PROMS plus the first word ofyour chosen overture’s title (eg ‘PROMSEGMONT’) to 83111 (messages cost amaximum of 12p).

Voting closes at 12.00 midnight on Monday 21 June.

Full information on voting is available in theRadio Times, on the BBC Proms website and inthe Proms Guide.

23BBC Proms 2004

The nation’s favourite Prom

Vote for the nation’sfavourite overture

• Biggest Proms in the Park ever withLast Night events in London, Belfast,Glasgow, Swansea and Manchester

• Terry Wogan, Evelyn Glennie,Operatunity winners and conductor CarlDavis among the stars in Hyde Park

• BBC Children’s Prom in the Parkfeatures classics from the great Disneyfilms with plenty of action on stage and screen

Following the huge success of Proms in thePark in all four nations of the United Kingdomfor the first time in 2003, the 2004 Last Nightcelebrations go one further as Manchesterjoins the party.With events in London, Belfast,Swansea, Glasgow and Manchester, this will bethe biggest year yet for Proms in the Park.Asin previous years, each city will have its owndistinctive concert before joining togetherwith big-screen link-ups for the live relay ofthe famous finale of the Last Night of theProms from the Royal Albert Hall.

Bill Morris, Project Director, BBC Live Events,says: ‘We thought BBC Proms in the Parkcouldn’t get any bigger than holding events inall four nations of the United Kingdom, but weare delighted to welcome Manchester in 2004,making the biggest Last Night of the Proms celebrations to date.’

In Hyde Park, world-renowned percussionistEvelyn Glennie, winners of the popular TVseries Operatunity Denise Leigh and JaneGilchrist, and the Canadian sensation MichelBublé, who has caused a stir with recordingsof such standards as Come Fly with Me and

Crazy Little Thing, are among the stars who jointhe BBC Concert Orchestra to perform someof the nation’s best-loved music.The legendaryCarl Davis conducts.Terry Wogan once againhosts the evening’s entertainment and theRoyal Choral Society leads the singing as the2004 Proms season comes to its rousingconclusion. Celebrations begin in the lateafternoon when Radio 2’s Ken Bruce presentsABBA tribute stars Björn Again, the colourfulScottish/Latin group Salsa Celtica and the RayGelato Giants.

The Hyde Park celebrations continue with afamily event on Sunday 12 September.Thisyear, the BBC Children’s Prom in the Parkcelebrates Disney’s Enchanted Evening.Thiscollaboration between the BBC Proms in thePark and Disney features the music offavourite classic Disney movies such as TheLion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin andMary Poppins.There will be plenty of actionand surprise guests joining the BBC ConcertOrchestra on stage, and big screens will carryfootage of the featured films.The event willculminate in a giant firework display.

24 BBC Proms 2004

BBC Proms In The Park

BBC Proms In The ParkSaturday 11 and Sunday 12 September

The Proms in the Park family grows oncemore as Manchester joins for the first time foran event using the backdrop of URBIS in thegrounds of the Cathedral Gardens andfeaturing the world-class Hallé Orchestraconducted by John Wilson.

Northern Ireland hosts BBC Proms in thePark for the third time with audiences in thegrounds of City Hall in Belfast’s DonegalSquare joining the Ulster Orchestra for a feastof entertainment. Conducted by ThierryFischer, songs come courtesy of acclaimedbaritone Bruno Caproni and home-grown star,flautist James Galway.

In Swansea, the BBC National Orchestra ofWales is conducted by Grant Llewellyn.National favourite Aled Jones presents theconcert and is joined by Welsh tenor DennisO’Neill, broadway star Kim Criswell and theall-girl string quartet Celticana, while atGlasgow’s Pacific Quay the BBC ScottishSymphony Orchestra joins the fun for thesecond year.

BBC Proms in the Park, a regular fixture of theLast Night of the Proms since 1996, is now anestablished part of the BBC Proms seasonattracting capacity audiences to London’s Hyde

Park and other venues throughout the UK.Theconcerts are broadcast live across BBC Radioand Television. Radio 2 broadcasts livecoverage from Hyde Park, and BBC RadioWales, Scotland, Ulster and GMR willbroadcast their local events.Televised highlightsof all five Proms in the Park will be shown aspart of BBC One and BBC Two’s live coverageof the Last Night of the Proms.

Digital satellite, Freeview and digital cableviewers can press the red button to access aninteractive TV service for the Last Night of theProms on BBC Two and BBC One.Theinteractive service will enable digital satelliteand digital cable viewers to access programmenotes for the concert in the Royal Albert Halland live footage from Proms in the Parkconcerts across the country. Freeview viewerswill be able to access programme notes forthe concert in the Royal Albert Hall and livefootage from Hyde Park.

The BBC Proms in the Park website alsoprovides full details and booking facilities foreach concert at www.bbc.co.uk/proms/pitp

Tickets available as follows:

BBC Proms in the Park, London(Saturday 11 September)Hyde Park. Gates open 4.00pm;entertainment on stage from 5.30pm.Tickets: £19.00 (under-3s free)Telephone booking: 0870 899 8100 (24 hrs national rate, £2 transaction feeapplicable) and (after 14 June) from the RoyalAlbert Hall on 020 7589 8212(9.00am–9.00pm, £2 transaction fee applicable)or online via www.bbc.co.uk/proms

25BBC Proms 2004


BBC Proms in the Park, Belfast(Saturday 11 September)Donegal Square.Admission by FREE ticket.For information call 0870 333 1918.

BBC Proms in the Park, Swansea(Saturday 11 September)Singleton Park.Tickets: £6.50 in advance or£8.00 on the day (under-12s free), from theBBC NOW line on 0870 013 1812 or theGrand Theatre Box Office on 01792 475 715,or in person from the Grand Theatre BoxOffice, Singleton Street, Swansea SA1 3QJ.

BBC Proms in the Park, Glasgow(Saturday 11 September)Pacific Quay.Admission by FREE ticket(available from 1 July). For information call08700 100 300.

BBC Proms in the Park, Manchester (Saturday 11 September)URBIS, Cathedral Gardens.Admission by FREEticket (available from 12 June). For informationcall 08700 100 300.

BBC Children’s Prom in the Parkcelebrates Disney’s Enchanted Evening (Sunday12 September)Hyde Park. Gates open 5.00pm; entertainmenton stage from 6.30pm. Event ends at 8.30pmTickets: £12 (adults) £7.50 (children 3-16;under-3s free)Telephone booking: 0870 899 8001 (24 hrsnational rate, £2 transaction fee applicable) and(after 14 June) from the Royal Albert Hall on020 7589 8212 (9.00am–9.00pm, £2transaction fee applicable) or online viawww.bbc.co.uk/proms

26 BBC Proms 2004


The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts werefounded on the principles of accessibility –informal, cheap concerts providing anybodyeasy opportunities to hear the best music andmusic-making in the world. In that sensenothing has changed.The Proms continues toreach out to new and diverse audiences toensure that future generations of Prommershave a chance to see that the Proms is forthem.As well as the large-scale events forchildren, the Blue Peter Proms and the BBCChildren’s Prom in the Park (see page 39) the Proms this year are working on threeschemes which develop contact with new andyounger audiences.

Silk Road Tales

BBC Proms and British Library

• Silk Road Tales brings together 120students from diverse communities forevent with Yo-Yo Ma.

Around 120 teenagers from London’s Turkish,Chinese and Asian communities are invited tojoin workshops in music, theatre, creativewriting and visual art to create a performanceto take place on Saturday 14 August in the Shaw Theatre, alongside a performance by Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.

This major learning and audience developmentproject, entitled Silk Road Tales, takes itsinspiration from the British Library’s exhibitionThe Silk Road:Trade,Travel,War and Faith (7 May-12 September 2004) and the work of Yo-YoMa’s Silk Road Project, and examines theancient Silk Road as a source of exchange and

discovery, informing and shaping the ways that cultural traditions developed.The youngpeople and their families will also be invited toattend the British Library’s exhibition and theSilk Road Ensemble’s Proms concert with Yo-Yo Ma on Sunday 15 August.

The project will consist of four separatestrands focused on different art forms.Theworkshops, run by the British Library and theBBC Proms, will all begin in the exhibitionwhere students will seek out images, narrativesand sounds to develop in creative workshops.The projects will be led by top practisingartists including composer Alec Roth andvisual artist Ming Wong (Pearson CreativeFellow at the British Library).

See page 41 for information about the BritishLibrary’s exhibition.

Proms: Out & About

Hammersmith Town Hall andHackney Empire

• BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra play gigs inHammersmith Town Hall (6 May) and Hackney Empire (23 June) givingchildren aged 7-12 a first taste of live orchestral music

• Builds on huge success of CarlingBrixton Academy gig last year with John Adams

BBC Proms: out & about events in May and Junewith the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBCConcert Orchestra go to venues where they

27BBC Proms 2004

Proms outreach and education

Proms outreachand education

would not normally go.The concerts aim to give7-12-year-old youngsters and their families anopportunity to experience live classical music ofthe highest quality, breaking down the barriersassociated with classical concert-going andallowing them to interact with the orchestra andexperience the power and vibrancy of anorchestral concert for the first time.

The two events in 2004 build on theenormous success of the BBC SymphonyOrchestra’s concert with John Adams at theCarling Brixton Academy in 2003 when 1,200local youngsters and their families turned up,joined in and heard music by Adams, Bartók,Bernstein, Britten, Copland and Stravinsky.More than 300 people subsequently took upan offer to attend particular Proms concerts atthe Royal Albert Hall.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra goes toHammersmith Town Hall on Thursday 6 May and is conducted by Pascal Rophé in aconcert which takes The Elements (Earth,Fire,Water,Air) as a theme. Music will includeManuel de Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance,Alec Roth’sDolphin Dances and Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes.The BBC Concert Orchestragoes to the Hackney Empire with aprogramme themed around dance music onWednesday 23 June.The orchestras will workwith local schools, housing estate communitycentres, youth centres and the like in thebuild-up to the concerts, when youngsters can get really close to the instruments and musicians.

After the events, the audience will have thechance to buy reduced tickets to speciallyselected BBC Proms concerts, before each ofwhich there will be activities and a tour of theRoyal Albert Hall.

Young composers competition

BBC Proms and The Guardian

• Opportunity for tomorrow’s composersin all genres

• Judges include Evelyn Glennie (picturedbelow), George Benjamin,Tansy Daviesand Fraser Trainer

• Winners receive Sibelius software and Roland keyboard, and hear their workperformed by Endymion

Young composers aged between 11 and 18 areinvited to enter the BBC Proms sixth annual

28 BBC Proms 2004


Young Composers Competition and have theirmusic performed by top musicians andbroadcast on BBC Radio 3, and have theopportunity to discuss their work with leadingmusicians and composers.

In association with The Guardian thecompetition is judged by Evelyn Glennie, theworld-famous percussionist who has beenspearheading a campaign to improveyoungsters’ access to music; George Benjamin,one of Britain’s leading composers andconductors;Tansy Davies, a composer who wasrecently included in The Guardian survey of ‘TopGirls (50 women on their way to the top)’ inbusiness, arts and sports; Fraser Trainer,composer and creative director of the LondonSinfonietta;Andrew Kurowski, the BBC’sExecutive Producer for new music; and PeterKingston of The Guardian, who chairs the panel.

Evelyn Glennie says: ‘This competition offersyoung composers an incredible opportunity todemonstrate their abilities at such a high-profile event. I believe also it is essential torecognise and encourage young talent at suchan early stage in their career.’ Evelyn Glennieperforms the world premiere of a specially-written new version of Tan Dun’s Concerto forwater percussion and orchestra, which allentrants are invited to attend.

Everyone who enters is invited to the BBCProms Young Composers Forum on Monday 2August, where they have the chance to meetother young composers from around thecountry, attend talks and workshops, and grill apanel of composers.They will also be able toattend that night’s concert which will featureEvelyn Glennie’s performance of the Tan Dunpremiere.The day will include the third YoungComposers Concert at the Victoria & AlbertMuseum featuring winning pieces performed

by one of the UK’s leading ensembles,Endymion. Endymion’s performances of thewinning pieces are also broadcast during theProms season on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune andcan be heard on The Guardian’s and the BBCProms’ website (www.bbc.co.uk/proms).The three winners in the under-16 categorywill receive a Roland keyboard, while the threewinners of the over-16 category will receive aSibelius music software package.And in theunder-16 category there are also prizes for thewinners’ schools.

The closing date for entries is Saturday 22 Mayand results will be announced in The Guardianin late June.

29BBC Proms 2004


• Proms Chamber Music

• Composer Portraits

• Pre-Prom Talks

• Proms Question Time

• Audience Forum

Proms Chamber Music

Mondays, 1.00pmLecture Theatre,Victoria & Albert Museum(Exhibition Road entrance).Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and repeated the following Saturday lunchtime at 12.00 noon.

The BBC Proms and the Victoria & AlbertMuseum continue their popular collaborationpresenting the Proms Chamber Musicconcerts on Monday lunchtimes throughoutthe Proms season in the Museum’s LectureTheatre.The series provides an extraordinaryopportunity to hear such artists as PinchasZukerman and Yo-Yo Ma in unusually intimatesurroundings, and showcases some of thebrightest talent of the future with BBC NewGeneration Artists.The eight concerts pick up some of the main themes and anniversariesof the season and include a speciallycommissioned new work from Simon Holt (PCM 8).

The season opens with two pinnacles of thechamber repertoire by the two giants ofCzech music celebrating major anniversaries inthe 2004 season: Janácek’s String Quartet No.1, ‘The Kreutzer Sonata’, and Dvorák’s Piano

Quintet in A major, Op. 81, performed by the Czech Republic’s celebrated Skampa Quartet,who are joined by Itamar Golan for the latterwork (PCM 1). More Czech music followswhen BBC New Generation sopranos Sally Matthews (pictured below) and Ailish Tynansing Dvorák’s folk-inspired Moravian Duets(PCM 3). Janácek’s work features in twofurther concerts when one of Britain’s mosthotly tipped young pianists, LlyrWilliams, playsJanácek’s In the Mists (PCM 4) and the BrittenSinfonia with pianist Rolf Hind perform hisConcertino for piano, two violins, viola, clarinet,horn and bassoon (PCM 8).

The Czech celebrations do not end withJanácek and Dvorák.Virtuoso Baroque violinistAndrew Manze tackles three of the highly

30 BBC Proms 2004

BBC Proms Extras

BBC Proms Extras

original Rosary Sonatas by Heinrich von Biber,who died 300 years ago, which call for theviolin to be retuned (PCM 6), and the BrittenSinfonia bring the Chamber Music series to aclose with Martinu’s La revue de cuisine for piano,trumpet, clarinet, violin and cello (PCM 8).

The BBC Proms is paying tribute to CharlesIves in 2004, 50 years after his death, and theinclusion of his extraordinary ‘Concord’ Sonataplayed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard in PCM 7 isone of the highlights.This 48-minute pianowork is a characteristically original andvisionary work, perhaps one of his greatest.Another anniversary composer is LuigiDallapiccola, one of the most important Italiancomposers of the 20th century, whose Piccolamusica notturna for flute, oboe, clarinet, harp,celesta and string trio is performed in the finalChamber concert by the Britten Sinfonia.

Further highlights of the Proms Chambermusic series include a concert given bylegendary violinist Pinchas Zukerman andmembers of his National Arts CentreOrchestra from Toronto who play Schubert’sString Trio in B flat major and Mozart’s StringQuintet in C major (PCM 2), and anotherconcert with Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk RoadEnsemble which includes Debussy’s CelloSonata as well as non-Western music andmusicians from China, Iran and other countriesalong the ancient trading route.

Performing Art, the popular pre-concert talks,return this year and for the first time can beheard on the BBC Proms website. Each talk,hosted by Christopher Cook, focuses on anitem in the V&A’s collection of decorative artand sculpture and aims to shed light on theshared worlds of art and music.The talks takeplace in the Lecture Theatre before eachMonday’s Proms Chamber Music concert.

Tickets for Proms Chamber Music concertsare £8.00 and available from the Royal AlbertHall Box Office or online at

www.bbc.co.uk/proms, and from the V&Aon the day (subject to availability; advancebooking is advised).

Proms Composer Portraits

Lecture Theatre,Victoria & Albert Museum(Exhibition Road entrance).Recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3immediately following the evening’s main Prom.

Tuesday 20 July, 6.00pmZhou LongMusicians from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Thursday 22 July, 6.00pmJohn CaskenAdam Swayne (piano); musicians from theRoyal Northern College of Music

Wednesday 4 August, 5.30pmSir Peter Maxwell DaviesArtea String Quartet (from the Royal Academy of Music)

Tuesday 17 August, 6.00pmSir Harrison BirtwistleContemporary Consort of the Royal Collegeof Music

Proms Composer Portraits feature music forchamber ensemble by four distinguishedcomposers, all of whom have major worksbeing performed at the Proms this year.

During these early-evening events thecomposers, in conversation with BBC Radio3’s Andrew McGregor, discuss their worksbeing heard in the main evening Prom, andpresent a different aspect of their creativeactivities through the smaller-scale piecesperformed by young musicians from leadingmusic colleges and conservatoires around the UK.The series opens with the Chinese-

31BBC Proms 2004

BBC Proms Extras

American composer Zhou Long and continues with three leading figures in British contemporary music today: JohnCasken, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and SirHarrison Birtwistle. Each Composer Portraitwill be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 later thesame evening, immediately following the mainevening Prom.

Admission is free but there is limited space.Tickets can be collected from the PromsInformation Desk at the V&A from an hour beforehand.

Pre-Prom Talks

Twenty-seven Pre-Prom Talks, aiming toembrace as wide an audience as possible, are amix of repertoire- or composer-basedintroductions by leading writers and journalistsas well as interviews with artists andcomposers.Among the many highlights are SirJohn Eliot Gardiner on Bach’s Mass in B minor,Robert King on Monteverdi’s Vespers and JohnAdams, John Corigliano, Joby Talbot and KaijaSaariaho introducing their own work. Pre-PromTalks take place in the Royal Albert Hall or theRoyal College of Music.Admission is free witha ticket for the concert which follows.

Proms Question TimeBroken Sounds? Reinventing the symphonyorchestra for the 21st century.

Friday 13 August, c10.00-10.45pm (post concert)

The two pieces in tonight’s concert – BrightSheng’s The Song and Dance of Tears andMessiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony – present aradical approach to orchestral sound andpractice. In this post-concert event,Christopher Cook chairs a debate about therole of the symphony orchestra in a changing

world: How can it remain relevant in anincreasingly culturally diverse environment?How does the orchestra maintain its edge in acompetitive technological age? Where domusicians, conductors, composers andaudiences fit in to the plans? What is theimpact of specialist period and new musicensembles on the standard symphonyorchestra? And to what extent should we betrying to preserve the historical traditions ofthe orchestra?

The panel – including Bright Sheng and DavidRobertson – will be responding to questionsfrom a live audience, and listeners at home cantake part via text and e-mail through the BBCProms website at www.bbc.co.uk/proms

Audience Forum

Monday 6 September, 5.45pm

An opportunity for any members of theaudience to put questions about the season to Proms Director Nicholas Kenyon and David Elliott, Chief Executive of the RoyalAlbert Hall.

32 BBC Proms 2004

BBC Proms extras

• Record number of Proms televised onBBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four –almost half entire season

• All Proms broadcast and streamed live on BBC Radio 3 and via the BBCProms website

• Access to live radio broadcasts andaudio-on-demand Proms via the BBCProms website

• Enhanced digital services providingdetailed information about eachbroadcast on air and online

Radio and television audiences are given moreopportunity than ever to experience the BBCProms in 2004 with more Proms beingbroadcast on television than ever before.Thirty concerts, almost half of the eight-weekProms season, are broadcast across BBC One,BBC Two and BBC Four, making 2004 a recordyear for TV transmissions. BBC Radio 3continues to broadcast and web-stream everyProm live via the BBC Proms website.

Twenty live concerts are broadcast on BBC4,including two concerts performed by SirSimon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker,and two world premiere performances. Lastyear BBC Four broadcast the first two weeksof Proms concerts, and this season it is takingthe final week as well. Expert presentersinclude regular Radio 3 names CharlesHazlewood (pictured right), Stephanie Hughes,Tommy Pearson and Verity Sharp.

BBC One and BBC Two between thembroadcast 10 concerts, including The FirstNight of the Proms and The Last Night, with

performers including Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink and Leonard Slatkin.

All Proms televised on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four will allow digital viewers to access programme notes during each performance.

BBC Proms on Radio 3

BBC Radio 3 continues to broadcast eachProm live nationwide and stream each Promlive via the BBC Proms website. Relatedprogramming gives listeners the opportunityto explore the musical and cultural context ofthe season’s key events, and regular strandsintroduce listeners to featured performers andcomposers. Listeners are given another chanceto hear many of the season’s concerts duringthe repeat broadcasts on Radio 3 eachweekday afternoon at 2.00pm.

33BBC Proms 2004

Broadcasting the Proms


BBC Proms on TV

The following Proms concerts will beshown on BBC One:

Prom 2 – The Nation’s Favourite Prom istransmitted on Sunday 18 July at 10.15pm.TheHallé Orchestra, conducted by Mark Elder,performs orchestral favourites, including twoovertures voted for by audiences (see page 34for more information about the Nation’sFavourite Prom).

Prom 42 – Broadcast date and time tbc:Valery Gergiev conducts the BBC SymphonyOrchestra in an all-Russian programmeincluding Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

Prom 74 – The Last Night of the Proms (Part2) is broadcast live on Saturday 11 Septemberat 9.10pm. Part 1 of The Last Night isbroadcast live on BBC Two from 7.30pm.

The following Proms concerts will beshown on BBC Two:

Prom 1 – broadcast live on Friday 16 July at7.30pm. Leonard Slatkin conducts the BBCSymphony Orchestra in the opening concertof the BBC Proms 2004 with a programmeincluding Holst’s The Planets.

Prom 20 – broadcast live on Saturday 31 Julyat 7.00pm. Mariss Jansons conducts theBavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra inTchaikovsky’s ‘Pathétique’ Symphony andShostakovich’s First Violin Concerto withsoloist Gidon Kremer. (Prom 19, also featuringthe Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra andMariss Jansons, is broadcast LIVE on Friday 30July at 7.30pm on BBC Four.)

Prom 31 – broadcast live on Saturday 7August at 7.00pm. Sir Roger Norrington

conducts the National Youth Orchestra ofGreat Britain in a programme includingMahler’s Symphony No. 1.

Prom 47 – broadcast LIVE on Saturday 21August at 7.00pm.The English Concert,conducted by Andrew Manze, perform aprogramme including music by Handel, Bachand Vivaldi and featuring soprano Emma Bell inarias by Thomas Arne.

Prom 57 – broadcast on Saturday 28 Augustat 6.45pm.The Orchestre de Paris conductedby Christoph Eschenbach in a programme ofmusic by Mahler and Berio.

Prom 66 – broadcast live on Saturday 4September at 7.00pm.The DresdenStaatskapelle, conducted by Bernard Haitink inhis 75th birthday year, performs a programmeof Haydn, Bartók and Dvorák.

Prom 74 – The Last Night of the Proms2004. Part 1 of The Last Night of the Proms isbroadcast live on BBC Two on Saturday 11September, starting at 7.30pm. Part 2 of TheLast Night of the Proms is shown LIVE onBBC One from 9.10pm.

The following Proms concerts will beshown on BBC Four:

Prom 4 – broadcast on Monday 19 July at7.30pm.The BBC National Orchestra of Walesis joined by baritone Thomas Hampson andthree choirs to perform an all-Englishprogramme, conducted by Richard Hickox.

Prom 6 – broadcast live on Tuesday 20 July at7.30pm.The BBC Symphony Orchestra withconductor Leonard Slatkin and pianist Jean-YvesThibaudet perform a programme of music byStrauss and Liszt, and the world premiere of aBBC World Service commission by Zhou Long.

34 BBC Proms 2004


Prom 7 – broadcast live on Wednesday 21July at 7.30pm. Mezzo-soprano MagdalenaKo_ená performs with the PraguePhilharmonia conducted by Jirí Belohlávek.

Prom 8 – broadcast live on Thursday 22 Julyat 7.30pm.The BBC Philharmonic is conductedby Gianandrea Noseda in the world premiereof a new work by John Casken, along withStravinsky’s The Firebird and Ravel’s PianoConcerto in G major, performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

Prom 9 – broadcast live on Friday 23 July at7.30pm.The Ensemble Modern is conductedby composer George Benjamin inperformances of his own works along withmusic by his teacher Messiaen.

Prom 11 – broadcast live on Saturday 24 Julyat 7.30pm.The City of Birmingham SymphonyOrchestra and Chorus are conducted bySakari Oramo in music by Bernstein, Ives and Stravinsky.

Prom 13 – broadcast live on Sunday 25 Julyat 7.30pm.The BBC Symphony Orchestra andChorus are conducted by Sir Andrew Davis inDvorák’s Mass in D major and Elgar’s ViolinConcerto, with soloist Pinchas Zukerman.

Prom 14 – broadcast live on Monday 26 Julyat 7.30pm.The BBC Scottish SymphonyOrchestra is conducted by Martyn Brabbins ina programme including works by Beethoven,Maxwell Davies and Anthony Payne’s celebratedcompletion of Elgar’s Third Symphony.

Prom 15 – broadcast live on Tuesday 27 July at 7.30pm.The Scottish ChamberOrchestra is conducted by Joseph Swensen in music by Dvorák and Schumann, and SimonTrpceski is the soloist in Saint-Saëns’s SecondPiano Concerto.

Prom 16 – broadcast on Wednesday 28 Julyat 7.30pm. Kurt Masur conducts the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra and the CzechPhilharmonic Chorus of Brno in music byJanácek and Schubert.

Prom 17 – a Late Night Prom on Wednesday28 July, recorded for broadcast on Sunday 1August (time tbc).The Birmingham OperaCompany and Birmingham ContemporaryMusic Group give a semi-staged performanceof Britten’s church parable Curlew River, withstage direction by Graham Vick.

Prom 18 – broadcast live on Thursday 29 Julyat 7.30pm.The BBC Symphony Orchestraconducted by Sir Andrew Davis performsworks by Mozart, Martinu, Mahler and Janácek,with pianist Paul Lewis and mezzo-sopranoAlice Coote.

Prom 19 – broadcast live on Friday 30 July at7.30pm.The Bavarian Radio SymphonyOrchestra conducted by Mariss Jansonsperforms Dvorák’s Eighth Symphony andStrauss’s Ein Heldenleben.

Prom 67 – broadcast on Sunday 5 Septemberat 7.30pm. Sir Simon Rattle conducts theBerliner Philharmoniker and City ofBirmingham Symphony Chorus in aperformance of Schoenberg’s Variations forOrchestra and Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony.

Prom 68 – broadcast live on Monday 6September at 7.30pm.The BerlinerPhilharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle performDebussy’s La mer and Messiaen’s Éclairs surl’Au-delà…

Prom 69 – broadcast live on Tuesday 7September at 7.30pm.The BBC SymphonyOrchestra conducted by Jukka-Pekka Sarasteperforms Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and

35BBC Proms 2004


gives the UK premiere performance of a newwork by Kaija Saariaho.

Prom 70 – broadcast on Wednesday 8September at 7.30pm. Marking the birthday ofanniversary composer Dvorák, Sir CharlesMackerras directs a concert devoted to hismusic with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra,including the ‘New World’ Symphony, and theViolin Concerto performed by Sarah Chang.

Prom 72 – broadcast live on Thursday 9September at 7.30pm. Marking 300 years sincehis death, music by Charpentier is performedby William Christie, the Choir and Orchestraof Les Arts Florissants and a stunning cast of soloists.

Prom 73 – broadcast live on Friday 10September at 7.30pm. Soprano Anna Netrebkosings arias by Dvorák, Puccini and Bellini,accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic andPrincipal Conductor Gianandrea Noseda.Theprogramme also includes Shostakovich’sSymphony No. 5.

The Proms on BBC Radio 3

Special Proms-related programmingon BBC Radio 3 includes:

Summer Selection (Saturdays 9.00am-12.00noon). Guest presenters including SimonRussell Beale, Richard Eyre, Jackie Kay andRobert Winston share their selection offorthcoming Proms alongside other choices.

Proms Preview Evening (Monday 12 July, 7.30-10.30pm)Musical highlights and the inside story on thecoming season.

Proms Chamber Music concerts are allbroadcast live and repeated the followingSaturday at 12.00 noon.

Proms Composer Portraits are broadcastimmediately following the main evening Prom. Twenty Minutes, broadcast during theintervals of evening Proms, includes featuresand talks around this year’s Proms themes and anniversaries.

In Tune (weekdays 5.00-7.30pm) featuresProms-related interviews, performances andnews, and winning works in the BBCProms/Guardian Young ComposersCompetition.

Morning On 3 (weekdays 7.00-10.00am,weekends 7.00-9.00am) will carry updates onthe season.

Performing Janácek (Saturdays 2.00-3.00pm).Janácek’s dramatic works are in the repertoryof opera houses around the world, thanks totheir vividly drawn characters, colourful andidiosyncratic scoring and creative challenges. Inthis series of eight programmes, Ivan Hewetttalks to singers, conductors and producersabout the unique demands and rewards ofperforming Janácek.

Proms Sunday Features:

My Country (Sunday 25 July 9.35pm) exploresthe melting-pot of art and politics in the 19th-century Czech national revival and theircontinuing resonances today.

East Meets West Meets East (Sunday 1 August8.15pm) examines the many ways in whichartists from Eastern traditions are refashioningand reinventing Western cultural classics.

A Renaissance Man? (Sunday 15 August 9.50pm)Messiaen’s work is explored in the light of hismultifaceted character as Catholic, composer,organist, ornithologist and teacher.Times subject to change

36 BBC Proms 2004


BBC Proms Online

The 2004 Proms website allows exclusiveaccess to Proms audio-on-demand, allowingusers to listen again to many Proms concertsfor up to seven days after the BBC Radio 3broadcast.Also exclusive to the website will bethe opportunity to listen to the popularPerforming Art talks, which precede the eightProms Chamber Music concerts.As inprevious years, every Prom will be streamedlive on the website.

For the second year running, there will be anonline voting system for the public to choosetheir favourite piece of music (this year anoverture) for inclusion in The Nation’sFavourite Prom.Additionally, this year thepublic can text in their choices from theirmobile phones.

For futher details about the Proms website,see page 38

Digital Proms Service 2004

In 2004 the BBC offers Proms audiences moreways to access programme notes about theconcerts, wherever and however they arelistening or watching.These notes provide auseful and informative guide to theperformances.Audiences can accessprogramme notes while listening to theconcerts on television, radio and the web.

Proms on television – An Interactive Television Service

For all televised Proms on BBC One, BBC Twoand BBC Four, digital TV viewers (digitalsatellite, Freeview and digital cable) can pressthe red button to access programme notesduring each performance.These programme

notes provide viewers with an in-depth guideto the music as it is being performed including:

– biographical information about the composer– the inspiration, origin, influences and statusof the work– contextual references (ie political andcultural events influencing the creation orperformance of the work)– historical information on past performancesof the work– explanation of the structure of the work (egwhat is a symphony; why are keys important)– specific interesting features of the music (egcertain things to listen out for in the score)– editorial opinion of the work.

On the Last Night of the Proms, digital TVviewers to the programme on BBC Two andBBC One can press their red button andaccess programme notes for the concert inthe Royal Albert Hall and live footage fromProms in the Park concerts around the UK.

Audiences to the interactive television serviceon digital satellite, digital cable and Freeviewwill be able to choose from the following:– The concert in the Royal Albert Hall withprogramme notes displayed at the bottom ofthe screen– Live footage from the Proms in the Parkconcert at Hyde Park, London– A mix of live footage from Proms in the Parkconcerts in Swansea, Belfast and Glasgow (notavailable on Freeview).

For the first time, audiences listening to theProms on BBC Radio 3 via Freeview will beable to see programme notes throughout theperformance in the LiveText service.

Also, audiences listening to BBC Radio 3 viaDAB radio will be able to see programmenotes throughout the performance in theLiveText service.

37BBC Proms 2004


• Join new Proms Text Club online

• Listen to all Radio 3 Proms broadcastlive online

• Sample repertoire in advance withListen Online and hear Proms youmissed via audio-on-demand

• Vote online for the overtures you wantto hear in The Nation’s Favourite Promand hear clips

• Performing Art talks availableexclusively online

The BBC Proms website is launched at 6.00pmon Thursday 29 April.The website received inexcess of 2.1 million hits during the eightweeks of the season in 2003 and it remainsthe most up-to-date source of informationabout the BBC Proms.As well as up-to-the-minute news there are complete concertlistings, booking information, programme notesfor every Prom, a beginner’s guide to theseason, press reviews of the concerts, a virtualtour of the Royal Albert Hall and the ever-popular Proms message board.The efficientand informative online booking system, whichattracted almost a quarter of all ticketpurchases in 2003, continues to run alongsidethe postal form, published in the BBC PromsGuide, and telephone booking.

People can listen live online to every Prom(broadcast on BBC Radio 3) and, with audio-on-demand, they can listen to selected Promsat any time they choose in the week followingthe original broadcast. More than 50,000people listened to the 2003 Last Night of the

Proms in the week following last year’s original broadcast using audio-on-demand.Exclusively this year, website users can listen to the series of Performing Art talks which precede the Proms Chamber Musicconcerts at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Detailed notes about the music are availableonline two hours before each concert and theaudience can ‘have their say’ on the BBCProms’ popular online message board.Theywill also be able to vote for their favouriteovertures in The Nation’s Favourite Prom (17July), create their own Fantasy Prom, send intheir reviews of the concerts and comparethem to those of the critics, enter numerouscompetitions to win tickets, and join theProms mailing list.

For the first time the BBC Proms launches aText Club, enabling Prommers to receive dailyconcert listings and news updates via theirmobiles. Given that most phones can only dealwith 150 characters, the BBC Proms websitewill contain a list of the musical textabbreviations and information about how tojoin the new club.The first message will go outon the First Night.

Performing Art, the popular talks which focus onitems from the Victoria & Albert Museum’scollection of decorative art and sculpture,take place in the Lecture Theatre before eachMonday’s Proms Chamber Music concert andcan be heard for the first time on the Promswebsite this year.The talks, hosted byChristopher Cook, are online the morningafter they take place alongside pictures of theobjects themselves and links to the relevantand related collections on the V&A website.

38 BBC Proms 2004

BBC Proms website

BBC Proms websitewww.bbc.co.uk/proms

Blue Peter Prom – Beating Drums,Dancing Lions

Saturday 24 July, 11.00am–c1.00pmSunday 25 July, 3.30pm–c5.30pm

Because of the huge demand for tickets inprevious years the BBC Proms stages the BluePeter Prom twice this year, allowing double thenumber of children and their families to join inthe fun.

The Blue Peter Prom conjures up thespectacular sights and sounds of the Far Eastas two special groups of performers join BluePeter presenters Simon and Liz and the BBCPhilharmonic for an exotic and colourfulprogramme inspired by the season’s East/Westtheme.The big Japanese drums of KagemushaTaiko and the traditional Chinese costumes ofthe Choy Lee Fut Kung Fu School Lion Dancetroupe will be seen at the Proms for the firsttime.The Royal Albert Hall’s organ makes anappearance with Strauss’s Also sprachZarathustra (the theme from 2001:A SpaceOdyssey) and there’s orchestral music byTchaikovsky, Ravel and Stravinsky.The concertalso includes music from Harry Potter, andeveryone can join in with the orchestra andthe City of Birmingham Youth Chorus in ataste of the familiar festivities of the Last Nightof the Proms, by singing ‘Land of Hope andGlory’.The BBC Philharmonic’s PrincipalConductor Gianandrea Noseda is assisted by newcomer Jason Lai.

BBC Children’s Prom in the Parkcelebrates Disney’s Enchanted Evening

Sunday 12 September, 6.30-8.30pm

The Hyde Park celebrations don’t end withthe Last Night on Saturday evening! Theweekend’s music party continues on Sundayfor the fifth large-scale event for children andtheir families staged by the BBC Proms.Thisyear the BBC Concert Orchestra plays someof Disney’s best-known tunes.There will beplenty of on-stage action with dancing, singingand storytelling, and footage from the greatfilms relayed on giant screens around the park.It is hoped that Mickey Mouse will conductsome of the great numbers and the eveningwill end with a spectacular finale.

Gates open at 5pm; entertainment on stagefrom 6.30pm; events end c8.30pm.Tickets: £12 (adults), £7.50 (children 3-16;under-3s free)

Telephone booking: 0870 899 8001 (24 hrsnational rate, £2 transaction fee applicable) and(after 14 June) from the Royal Albert Hall on020 7589 8212 (9.00am–9.00pm, £2transaction fee applicable) or online viawww.bbc.co.uk/proms

39BBC Proms 2004

Events for children

Events for children

• Warner Classics releases collection of live recordings made at BBC Proms 2003

• Faber & Faber add two more to titlesto their concise Proms Guides

• British Library hosts Silk RoadExhibition complementing East/West theme

Warner Classics releases fiveBBC Proms live CDs Released 12 July 2004

Warner Classics releases five CDs of musicrecorded live at the 2003 BBC Proms season.Featuring artists such as Nikolai Lugansky,YanPascal Tortelier,Angela Gheorghiu, LeilaJosefowicz,Alexander Lazarev, Sir AndrewDavis and Catherine Wyn-Rogers, theserecordings capture the range, richness andvitality of the BBC Proms, including the Firstand Last Nights and the special Prom for HM

The Queen which celebrated the 50thanniversary of her Coronation in 2003.

The recordings incorporate themes from the2003 BBC Proms season: two works by SergeyProkofiev for his anniversary year and worksby Paul Dukas (Polyeucte Overture) and IgorStravinsky (Perséphone) inspired by Greek mythology, as well as the great events of the season.

Each CD is accompanied by a fully annotatedbooklet.

• First Night of the PromsProkofiev Ivan the Terrible Irina Tchistyakova (mezzo-soprano); James Rutherford (baritone); BBC Symphony Chorus;BBC Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin2564 61549-2

• Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 in B flat major;Piano Concerto No. 1 in D flat major*National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain/YanPascal TortelierNikolai Lugansky (piano)*; Royal ScottishNational Orchestra/Alexander Lazarev*2564 61551-2

• Stravinsky Perséphone; Dukas PolyeucteOverture*BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sir AndrewDavis/Yan Pascal Tortelier*2564 61548-2

• The Royal PromElgar Sea Pictures; Walton Coronation TeDeum; Britten Young Person’s Guide to theOrchestra; Bax November WoodsBBC Symphony Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis2564 61550-2

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Proms links

Proms links

• Last Night of the PromsSaint-Saëns Introduction and Rondocapriccioso; Fauré Pavane; Catalani La Wally–‘Ebben? Ne andrò lontana’*; VaughanWilliams The Wasps – Overture; BorodinPrince Igor – Polovtsian Dances; MassenetThaïs – Méditation+; George GrigoriuValurile Dun_rii – ‘Muzica’*; Elgar Pomp andCircumstance March No. 1; Wood &Grainger, arr.Wilson Fantasia on British SeaSongs; Parry orch. Elgar Jerusalem;TheNational Anthem;Traditional:Auld Lang SyneAngela Gheorghiu (soprano)*; Leila Josefowicz(violin)+; BBC Singers; BBC Symphony Chorus;BBC Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin 2564 61552-2

Proms guides to the greatmasterpieces of music from Faber

Released 15 April 2004, £8.99 paperbacks

Following the success of the BBC Proms Guidesto Great Symphonies and Great Concertos, Faberhas published two more titles in this conciseand informative series, edited by NicholasKenyon – The BBC Proms Guide to Great ChoralWorks and The BBC Proms Guide to GreatOrchestral Works.These books collectprogramme notes written for the nightlyconcerts at the Royal Albert Hall and makethem more widely available.

The first volume examines some of thegreatest choral works in the repertory, rangingfrom Tallis, Handel and Bach to Verdi’s Requiemand innovative 20th-century works by Elgar,Walton and Britten.The second covers animpressive range of popular orchestral music,from Barber’s Adagio to Wagner’s operas, andsome of the most popular concert works suchas Debussy’s La mer, Holst’s The Planets, Ravel’sBolero and Strauss’s Don Juan.

“These are eminently readable and reliablecollections, featuring the work of familiarwriters we have long since learned to trust.”Classical Music

Silk Road exhibition at British Library

The Silk Road:Trade,Travel,War and FaithThe British Library in collaboration with the British MuseumOpen daily, 7 May – 12 SeptemberAdmission free

Exhibition sponsored by the Pidem Fund

The British Library, in collaboration with theBritish Museum, presents an exhibition of

41BBC Proms 2004

Proms links

more than 400 manuscripts, artefacts, soundsand artworks from the complex network oftrade routes extending over 6,000km, from theshores of the Mediterranean, through thefabled central Asian cities of Bukhara andSamarkand, to the heartland of China for morethan 2,000 years.

The exhibition explores the landscape, historyand cultures of the Silk Road, as well as theeveryday lives of people living along the route.Their concerns are timeless to the humancondition. Exhibits range from anti-war poetry,court documents to reclaim land fromsquatters and prayers to assuage deaths fromthe plague, down to mousetraps, desert shoesand a letter apologising for getting drunk andbehaving badly at a dinner party.

Music was one of the great Silk Roadtravellers: musicians accompanied armies onthe march; travelling bands on camels and cartsoffered entertainment at the many festivals enroute, Silk Road restaurants employed dancinggirls and singers, while music was an integralpart of Buddhist and other religious services.The origins of the violin and the Chinese pipa(lute) can be traced back to the Central Asian

steppes and itinerant musicians brought withthem knowledge of new instruments andunfamiliar musical forms, traditions, songs anddances. Musical exhibits includes 10th-centurynotation; paintings of orchestras; figurines ofdancers and musicians; fragmentary remains ofa third-century lute; and over 20 recordings ofmusic, some of which trace their ancestry backto the eighth-century Silk Road.The exhibition links to the Proms East/Westtheme and especially to the concerts given byYo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble on 13,15 and 16 August.The BBC Proms iscollaborating with the British Library on SilkRoad Tales, a series of workshops with teenagestudents from Chinese,Asian,Turkish, whiteand other communities in London andelsewhere in the UK. Silk Road Tales takes thisexhibition, and the work of Yo-Yo Ma and theSilk Road Ensemble, as its inspiration.

See pages 27 for more information about SilkRoad Tales.

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Proms links

Conductors

Petr FialaNicholas Kok

Singers

Susan B.Anthony sopranoDaniel Auchincloss tenorJaël Azzaretti sopranoGustáv Belácek bassRichard Berkeley-Steele tenorJeremy Birchall bassBertrand Bontoux bassPavol Breslik tenorOleg Bryjak baritoneAlessandro Corbelli baritoneRobert Davies bassKaren England mezzo-sopranoRobert Evans bassJoão Fernandes bassMassimo Giordano tenorAnthony Dean Griffey tenorThomas Guthrie baritoneManfred Hemm bassRuthie Henshall singer (pictured)

Jared Holt baritoneBenjamin Hulett tenorCharles Humphries countertenorDalibor Jenis baritoneJonas Kaufmann tenorZdena Kloubová sopranoAnna Larsson contraltoTopi Lehtipuu tenorMarc Mauillon tenorMaxim Mikhailov bassNicholas Mulroy tenorYvonne Naef mezzo-sopranoMary Nelson sopranoRebecca Outram sopranoIain Paterson baritoneAdrian Peacock bassDagmar Pecková mezzo-sopranoOlga Pitarch sopranoRenata Pokupic sopranoEric Roberts baritoneLuigi Roni bassKate Royal sopranoAndrew Rupp baritoneAlbert Schagidullin baritoneOlga Schalaewa sopranoStuart Skelton tenorDavid Stark trebleKrassimira Stoyanova sopranoPeter Straka tenorJeffrey Thompson tenorAilish Tynan sopranoViateschlav Voinarovski bassSimon Wall tenorKeel Watson bassMatthew White counter-tenorMark Wilde tenor

Groups

Birmingham Opera Company

43BBC Proms 2004

Debut artists

Artists new to theProms this year

Choy Lee Fut Kung Fu SchoolCzech Philharmonic Chorus of BrnoHamburg Philharmonic OrchestraKagemusha TaikoLausanne Chamber OrchestraLondon Oratory School Chamber ChoirPrague PhilharmoniaPsapphaRoyal Stockholm Philharmonic OrchestraSilk Road EnsembleSkampa QuartetSlovak Philharmonic ChoirSwedish Chamber OrchestraTemple Church, Choir of the

Instrumentalists

Martin Allen percussionSimon Breyer hornDirk Campbell dudukDonnie Deacon violin/violaJoel Fan pianoAmanda Forsyth celloItamar Golan pianoMarcel Javorcek pianoJessica Linnebach violinJethro Marks violaRumi Ogawa xylorimbaRachel Podger violin

Pavel Rehberger timpaniRainer Römer glockenspielTracy Silverman electric violinSimon Trpceski piano (pictured, left)James Vivian organUeli Wiget pianoLlyrWilliams pianoSioned Williams harpWu Man pipaWu Tong sheng/suona

44 BBC Proms 2004

Debut artists

What are the BBC Proms?A series of approximately 70 concerts, mostlyorchestral, given nightly every summerbetween mid-July and mid-September.The BBCProms are also widely known as the HenryWood Promenade Concerts.

Where?The Proms are held at the Royal Albert Hall inLondon. Until 1941, the Proms took place atthe Queen’s Hall, which was destroyed duringa wartime bombing raid.

Why ‘Promenade’ Concerts?Traditionally Proms are concerts at which theatmosphere is informal and wherePromenaders stand in the central Arena of theRoyal Albert Hall.The Gallery provides anotherpromenade area where there is more room tosit or even lie down and listen to the music.

When did the Proms begin?The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts beganat 8.00pm on Saturday 10 August 1895. Eventhen, prom concerts were not a new idea: theystarted in France in the 1830s and wereintroduced to the UK shortly afterwards.

Whose idea were they?The Proms were the brainchild of impresarioRobert Newman, whose ambition, along with ayoung conductor named Henry Wood, was toenable people to enjoy ‘serious music’. DrGeorge Cathcart, a London throat specialist,provided the financial support necessary forthe new venture to be launched.At that time,concerts were usually expensive, so ticketscosting only one shilling meant that largeaudiences could hear a variety of orchestralmusic for the first time. Even now, you can

prom for £4 a night, and it’s possible, if youbuy a season ticket, to attend for less than £2a night in the Arena or Gallery!

Who was Henry Wood?The first conductor of the Proms, aged only26, and the energetic and inspired programme-planner of many Proms seasons. He conductedalmost every concert for nearly half a century.

Why the ‘Henry Wood PromenadeConcerts’ and how did the BBCbecome involved?The BBC had taken over the running of theProms in 1927. In 1944, shortly before hisdeath, Sir Henry asked the BBC if it wouldcontinue to present the concerts after hisretirement, offering the corporation theexclusive right to use the title ‘Henry WoodPromenade Concerts’ for as long as itcontinued to promote them.

How can I find out what’s on at the Proms?The BBC Proms 2004 Guide, published onFriday 30 April 2004, contains full details of thecomplete programme of concerts, along witharticles about the music and artists, and apriority booking form. Priced £5.00, it isavailable from all good bookshops and can beordered from the BBC Shop, 50 MargaretStreet,W1W 8SF; telephone 0870 241 5490.Booking facilities are also available on the BBC Proms website, www.bbc.co.uk/proms,itself a comprehensive source of informationand insight into the 2003 Proms season.

Box Office: 020 7589 8212www.bbc.co.uk/proms

45BBC Proms 2004

BBC Proms factsheet

BBC Proms factsheet

new Proms 2004 press pack - BBC · 4 BBC Proms 2004 Introduction. There are also major events aimed...

Documents

Transcript of new Proms 2004 press pack - BBC · 4 BBC Proms 2004 Introduction. There are also major events aimed...