Today at the Proms - Prom 9 & 10
Continuing our daily coverage of what's on at The Proms 2019, Susan Omand has a quick look at the programme for Prom 9: Strauss, Brahms & Broström and Prom 10: Public Service Broadcasting ...
Prom 10 will be shown on BBC Four on Friday 26th at 23:00
Two proms to listen to today, so don't say they don't give you value for money... *waits*.
We start with a bit of Strauss and a tone poem also known as Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. Till Eulenspiegel was a folk hero and, in this poem, he does hilarious antics like riding a horse through a market, flirts outrageously and upsets the clergy and the academics of the town. Things do take a darker turn though as he is apprehended and *spoiler* hanged at the end.
Talking of "dark turns" we have a UK premiere next of a concerto for two trumpets called Nigredo: The Dark Night of the Soul, which I (being a Douglas Adams fan) immediately misread as The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. But I digress. From the tiny clip that I could find online it sounds sumptuous and I can't wait to listen to the whole thing.
After the interval we get Brahms. Now, Brahms is a composer that I really don't get what all the fuss is about. For now I stand by what I said last year about his work, "For all that it's meant to be emotional, I find it lacks passion and is all just a bit too 'safe and staid' imho." However, this symphony is meant to be "turbulent" so I'll give it a go.
Fast forward a couple of hours and for once, I am interested in the late prom as it features the work of Public Service Broadcasting and an orchestral arrangement of their 2015 album The Race for Space. If you've not heard of the band before, they take samples from old public information films, archive footage and propaganda material and mix them into ambient instrumental compositions.
Have a listen to the first track off the album and imagine what they can do with a full orchestra!
Here's the full programme for this evening's Prom which you can listen to live on Radio 3 or on the iPlayer
Prom 9 - 19:00
Richard Strauss
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche(15 mins)
Tobias Broström
Nigredo: Dark Night of the Soul (concerto for two trumpets and orchestra)(28 mins)BBC co-commission with Malmö Symphony Orchestra: UK premiere
INTERVAL
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No 1 in C minor(45 mins)
Prom 10 - 22:15
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