BBC Proms 2007

Category: BBC Proms & Orchestras
Date: 25.04.2007
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The BBC Proms is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the partnership between the BBC and the Proms, which dates from 1927 when the BBC took over the season and began to broadcast the concerts.

Throughout this season the BBC Proms is celebrating Proms Firsts, highlighting just a few of the great works introduced to audiences by the BBC Proms, many of them now classics of the repertory and performed around the world.

The union of the Proms, already a national institution and 32-years-old in 1927 and the young BBC (then just five), was farsighted on the parts both of Henry Wood, the Proms' founder-conductor, and John Reith, Director General of the BBC.

It was especially brave given that at the time the new concept of broadcasting was regarded as the enemy of live concerts.The synergy between them, however, was perfect: Henry Wood co-founded the Proms with a view to 'truly democratising the message of music' and Lord Reith felt that 'saving' the then financially stricken Proms for the nation was crucial to the BBC's public service mission to 'entertain, educate and inform'.

The hopes of both men, and the visions of both organisations, have been richly rewarded over the decades. Regular broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 are now joined by more BBC Television relays than ever, and a constant online presence, making the most of today's new technologies from big screens to mobile phones, bringing an enormous range of the best classical music – and more – to the widest possible audience.

Reaching vast numbers is not the only great accomplishment of the partnership. Henry Wood's co-founder Robert Newman set out to 'run nightly concerts and train the public by easy stages … until I have created a public for classical and modern music'. Neither he, nor Henry Wood, was afraid of introducing 'novelties' and the BBC has continued to bring the work of new and often challenging voices to the high-profile platform the Proms continues to offer.

The vision, funding and infrastructure of the BBC – together with the famous open-mindedness and enthusiasm of Proms audiences – has brought countless masterpieces to a wide public and many more into existence.The 2007 season highlights just a fraction of those introduced during the past eight decades.

Proms Firsts begins on the opening weekend of the season with two premieres from that historic first BBC season in 1927:Walton's evergreen Portsmouth Point overture, which was given its London premiere, is played on the First Night; and Frank Bridge's miniature classic There is a willow grows aslant a brook, which was given its world premiere is played at the first Proms Saturday Matinee of the season at Cadogan Hall.

Proms Firsts includes classics that Henry Wood introduced before the war, by Ravel, Sibelius, Delius and Walton, and continues with new works heard during the war by Copland, Barber,Vaughan Williams and Shostakovich.

From the fertile period after the war there are premieres by Britten, Strauss, Martinu°, Rakhmaninov and Prokofiev, and then the pioneering work of Proms director William Glock in the 1960s is celebrated with works he introduced here by Berio, Ives, Mahler and Varèse.

The widening scope of BBC commissioning for the Proms under Robert Ponsonby is marked with pieces by Hans Werner Henze, Arvo Pärt and Elizabeth Maconchy, and there is a special concert of new works that the late Sir John Drummond programmed and commissioned, by James MacMillan, Lutospawski and Sir Harrison Birtwistle. And a selection of the successful commissions and premieres of the last decade are also heard again: works by György Kurtág, HK Gruber, Henri Dutilleux and Judith Weir.

The tradition of Proms premieres continues apace this year with a sequence of new and recent works from established composers including John Adams, Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Hans Werner Henze,Thea Musgrave and Esa-Pekka Salonen, to more recent talent including Sam Hayden, Peter Wiegold, Rachel Portman and Guto Puw.

Highlights

• Antonio Pappano conducts Berio's Sinfonia, a famous premiere in the William Glock era, in an all-Italian programme (16 July).

• Thierry Fischer in his first concert as Principal Conductor of BBC NOW revives Henri Dutilleux's moving tribute to the victims of oppression, The Shadows of Time, which made a deep impression at the Proms at its UK premiere in 1998 (20 July).

• Roger Muraro makes his Proms debut with Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, a classic 'novelty' which Henry Wood introduced to the UK in 1932 (20 July).

• Sir Andrew Davis conducts a selection of quintessentially British Proms Firsts including Delius's Song of Summer, Vaughan Williams's Fifth Symphony and Tippett's Triple Concerto (26 July).

• H K Gruber's wild and wacky trumpet concerto Aerial returns to form part of Brass Day, performed by the original soloist, Håkan Hardenberger, who played it here to great acclaim in 1999 (28 July).

• Edgard Varèse's Ecuatorial, premiered in 1966, epitomises the Glock era, when many European composers were introduced to the UK for the first time (31 July).

• György Kurtág's powerful and enigmatic score Stele has been taken up by many orchestras since its UK premiere at the Proms in 1996 – here Ilan Volkov conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (1 August).

• Mark Elder conducts Shostakovich Symphony No. 7, one of the most famous wartime Proms premieres given just two months after the score was smuggled out of the Soviet Union (4 August).

• Lawrence Power is the soloist in Walton's Viola Concerto, one of the earliest world premieres during the BBC era (9 August).

• The BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform Rakhmaninov's Symphonic Dances, introduced in 1954 and one of the few premieres given by Malcolm Sargent (9 August).

• Tribute to former Proms director Sir John Drummond with Birtwistle's notorious Panic and James MacMillan's Veni, veni Emmanuel (one of the most successful BBC commissions of all time, with more than 400 performances worldwide) from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (16 August).

BBC Orchestras

The BBC's four symphony orchestras all give special concerts with their chief conductors, dominated by Proms Firsts, many of which have become classics.

Other BBC orchestra concerts feature individual Proms Firsts programmed alongside works that are new this season:

Visiting Orchestras

Major visiting and UK orchestras contribute to the celebration of Proms Firsts:

Proms firsts in 2007 season

WP = World premiere UKP = UK premiere LP = London premiere

Walton: Overture 'Portsmouth Point'	1927 LP	13 Jul (Prom 1)	BBC SO/Bĕlohlávek
Bridge: There is a willow grows aslant a brook	1927 WP	14 Jul (PSM 1)	Britten Sinfonia/Shelley
Sibelius: Tapiola	1928 UKP	31 Jul (Prom 24)	BBC Scottish SO/Volkov
Walton: Viola Concerto	1929 WP	09 Aug (Prom 36)	Lawrence Power (viola); BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Atherton
Delius: A Song of Summer	1931 WP	26 Jul (Prom 18)	BBC SO/A. Davis
Ravel: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand	1932 UKP	20 Jul (Prom 9)	Roger Muraro (piano); BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Thierry Fischer
Kodály: Dances of Galánta	1934 UKP	04 Sep (Prom 68)	Vienna PO/Barenboim
Britten: Piano Concerto	1938 WP	31 Jul (Prom 24)	Steven Osborne (piano); BBC Scottish SO/Volkov
Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem	1942 UKP	07 Aug (Prom 33)	BBC Philharmonic/Noseda
Copland: Billy the Kid – Suite	1942 UKP	21 Aug (Prom 50)	BBC SO/Adams
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7	1942 UKP	04 Aug (Prom 29)	National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain/Mark Elder
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5	1943 WP	26 Jul (Prom 18)	BBC SO/A. Davis
Barber: Violin Concerto	1944 UKP	25 Jul (Prom 16)	James Ehnes (violin); Bournemouth SO/Also
Britten: Four Sea Interludes	1945 LP	26 Aug (Prom 56)	BBC SO/Bĕlohlávek
R. Strauss: Oboe Concerto	1946 UKP	05 Aug (Prom 31)	Alexei Ogrintchouk (oboe); Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Gatti
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5	1946 UKP	26 Aug (Prom 56)	BBC SO/Bĕlohlávek
Honegger: Symphony No. 3, 'Symphonie liturgique'	1949 UKP	30 Aug (Prom 62)	Bavarian Radio SO/Jansons
Rakhmaninov: Symphonic Dances	1954 UKP	09 Aug (Prom 36)	BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Atherton
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2	1955 UKP	28 Aug (Prom 59)	Alexander Toradze (piano); London Symphony Orchestra/Gergiev
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7	1955 LP	28 Aug (Prom 59)	London Symphony Orchestra/Gergiev
Copland: Symphony No. 3	1956 UKP	25 Jul (Prom 16)	Bournemouth SO/Alsop
Martinu°: Piano Concerto No. 4, 'Incantation'	1957 UKP	26 Aug (Prom 56)	Ivo Kahanek (piano); BBC SO/Bĕlohlávek
Brahms (arr. Schoenberg): Piano Quartet in G minor	1962 UKP	13 Aug (Prom 40)	Frankfurt Radio Symphony/Paavo Järvi
Mahler (compl. D. Cooke): Symphony No. 10	1964 WP	07 Aug (Prom 33)	BBC Philharmonic/Noseda
Ives: Symphony No. 4 (complete)	1966 UKP	17 Jul (Prom 5)	BBC SO/Robertson
Varèse: Ecuatorial	1966 UKP	31 Jul (Prom 24)	BBC Scottish SO/Volkov
Berio: Sinfonia	1969 UKP	16 Jul (Prom 4)	Swingle Singers; Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome/Pappano
Henze: Ragtimes and Habaneras	1975 WP	28 Jul (Prom 20)	Grimethorpe Colliery Band/Withington
Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten	1979 UKP	19 Jul (Prom 8)	BBC Philharmonic/Sinaisky
Tippett: Triple Concerto	1980 WP	26 Jul (Prom 18)	Daniel Hope (violin); Philip Dukes (viola); Christian Poltéra (cello); BBC SO/A. Davis
Maconchy: Music for Strings	1983 WP	04 Aug (PSM 2)	Scottish Ensemble/Morton
Lutospawski: Chantefleurs et Chantefables	1991 WP	16 Aug (Prom 44)	Solveig Kringelborn (soprano); BBC Scottish SO/Brabbins
MacMillan:Veni, veni Emmanuel	1992 WP	16 Aug (Prom 44)	Colin Currie (percussion); BBC Scottish SO/Brabbins
Birtwistle: Panic	1995 WP	16 Aug (Prom 44)	Martin Robertson (alto saxophone); Peter Erskine (drums); BBC Scottish SO/Brabbins
Kurtág: Stele	1996 UKP	01 Aug (Prom 26)	BBC Scottish SO/Volkov
Dutilleux:The Shadows of Time	1998 UKP	20 Jul (Prom 9)	Choristers from Eton College Chapel Choir; BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Thierry Fischer
HK Gruber: Aerial	1999 WP	28 Jul (Prom 21)	Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet); BBC Philharmonic/de Ridder
Knussen: Violin Concerto	2003 LP	17 Aug (Prom 45)	Leila Josefowicz (violin); BBC SO/Knussen
Weir: The Voice of Desire	2003 WP	16 Jul (PCM 1)	Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano); Graham Johnson (piano)

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