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Last Night Of The Proms.


passion_chorale

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A bit off topic/Sorry to be negative. BUT:

 

1). But I really get the feeling that if the musical planners behind the Proms didn't include so many vulgar descants, harmonizations, and hackups of perfectly good national songs, the second half would be easier to sit through.

 

2). The RAH may have the acoustic of an aircraft hangar. But that is a whole lot better than an open-air situation. Why do they seek to demonstrate this, during the broadcast? Do the powers-that-be think that no one notices the difference?

 

3). Does anyone else not enjoy the flicking between the locations? Cameras panning to the sky...to the floor...up and down...(Producer on crack??)..does it not ruin the continuity?

 

4). Of course the variation in locations would be easier to take in if they didn't try (as in Henry Wood) actually varying the audio feed between the locations. Fanfare in London. Then a Fanfare from Belfast. Primary school kids in Scotland. No logic to it, at all. They have the technology, therefore it must be used. They also have the feelings of the Northern Irish/Scottish/Welsh and....er....Mancunians? to consider, therefore they must be included.

Who cares, after all, if in the process of changing the audio feed, there is a slight but irritating variation in rhythm. That is a pedantic, petty interest. Obviously.

 

Degradation of standards and cohesiveness in the pursuit of the prevailing fasionable views on the identity of the nations? never.......

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A bit off topic/Sorry to be negative. BUT:

 

1). But I really get the feeling that if the musical planners behind the Proms didn't include so many vulgar descants, harmonizations, and hackups of perfectly good national songs, the second half would be easier to sit through.

 

2). The RAH may have the acoustic of an aircraft hangar. But that is a whole lot better than an open-air situation. Why do they seek to demonstrate this, during the broadcast? Do the powers-that-be think that no one notices the difference?

 

3). Does anyone else not enjoy the flicking between the locations? Cameras panning to the sky...to the floor...up and down...(Producer on crack??)..does it not ruin the continuity?

 

4). Of course the variation in locations would be easier to take in if they didn't try (as in Henry Wood) actually varying the audio feed between the locations. Fanfare in London. Then a Fanfare from Belfast. Primary school kids in Scotland. No logic to it, at all. They have the technology, therefore it must be used. They also have the feelings of the Northern Irish/Scottish/Welsh and....er....Mancunians? to consider, therefore they must be included.

Who cares, after all, if in the process of changing the audio feed, there is a slight but irritating variation in rhythm. That is a pedantic, petty interest. Obviously.

 

Degradation of standards and cohesiveness in the pursuit of the prevailing fasionable views on the identity of the nations? never.......

 

 

i went to an organ recital followed by the pub. I think I probably got the better deal.

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How dare you! Are you some kind of extreme and possibly dangerous Republican socialist revolutionary? There are camps for people like you, don't you know.

 

You'll be wanting them to CHANGE THE PROGRAMME next and include something different by Elgar! (Did he write any more tunes?)

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I totally agree, PC. If the BBC must be "inclusive" there are surely better ways of doing it than by mangling Henry Wood's Fantasia. Whatever happened to "Spanish Ladies"? Slaughtered in the name of political correctness, that's what. Does anyone else find the "inserts" nauseatingly patronising?

 

On the plus side, it was so gratifying to hear Mark Elder's plea for the promotion of singing in primary schools and an end to dumbing down.

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Spoilsport! :P It's still a good romp that gets a lot of people enthused for a brief while.

 

I must say that each time Mark Elder was shown I thought of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter :unsure:

 

Does anyone else remember the year they had an alternative sea songs medley (was it by Arnold?) which had the hornpipe in five time to put the prommers out?

 

Paul

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Guest Lee Blick

Oh dear, the fossils are moaning again.

 

Look, the Last Night of the Proms is suppose to be a bit of a party where people can let their hair down. I watched some of it tonight and I liked the cuts to the other locations where concerts were taking place.

 

If you want some more serious music there are 100 other concerts in the Proms programme you could have listened to.

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Oh dear, the fossils are moaning again.

 

Look, the Last Night of the Proms is suppose to be a bit of a party where people can let their hair down.  I watched some of it tonight and I liked the cuts to the other locations where concerts were taking place.

 

If you want some more serious music there are 100 other concerts in the Proms programme you could have listened to.

 

Actually, I liked the 2006 series a lot, was exposed to a lot of newer music which I enjoyed, and incidentally dislike the 'fossil' epithet, which implies I am not progressive enough for your tastes. This is a bold deduction to make from the limited source material available on these boards. Perhaps you should be more careful before you arbitrarily attach labels to people.

 

.....Yes, it is meant to be a party. But the extent to which it is now stage-managed, and the lowest common denominator approach the BBC have to the (admittedly sensitive) nationalist aspect give it this corny, tacky, embarrassing atmosphere. A party which you wouldn't admit to your friends you were going to, if you like.

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Guest Lee Blick
and incidentally dislike the 'fossil' epithet, which implies I am not progressive enough for your tastes. This is a bold deduction to make from the limited source material available on these boards. Perhaps you should be more careful before you arbitrarily attach labels to people

 

Perhaps you should get a sense of humour.

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How dare you!  Are you some kind of extreme and possibly dangerous Republican socialist revolutionary?  There are camps for people like you, don't you know.

 

You'll be wanting them to CHANGE THE PROGRAMME next and include something different by Elgar! (Did he write any more tunes?)

 

====================

 

And should you ever have children......they will be identified as trouble-makers before they are born.

 

You have been warned.

 

MM

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Spoilsport! :P  It's still a good romp that gets a lot of people enthused for a brief while. 

 

I must say that each time Mark Elder was shown I thought of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter :lol:

 

Does anyone else remember the year they had an alternative sea songs medley (was it by Arnold?) which had the hornpipe in five time to put the prommers out?

 

Paul

 

 

===================

 

I can't help but think that these "location" shots are a bit darft.

 

They're OK when the sun is shining, but in previous years, the "enthusiasm" seemed to have all the elements of a 1960's Welsh pit-strike, as they all whimpered away dressed in water-proofs, plastic bin-liners and with prom programmes held above their heads to fend off what the forecasters laughingly call "showers" rather than deluges. We've had quite a few persistent proms in past years.

 

Of course, this time, the technology worked better than in previous years. When they first started, any attempt to perform the 1812 overture, resulted in the canon being heard in 1813 and the brass (on the ball as ever) in 1811.

 

I must admit that I agree with Paul about Mark Elder. I don't think I would like to be a full-bodied Italian standing beside him, singing operatic arias! (I wonder if he tears strips off the orchestra during rehearsals?)

 

5-time sea-songs?

 

Good God! They'd eventually get to one end of the deck and then fall overboard, at a guess.

 

Arnold was obviously not a naval man.

 

MM

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In previous years I've shouted at the TV when they've started going round the country showing people standing in parks. Surely the RAH is the star and those in the parks are there because they couldn't get a ticket for the RAH. So do we really want to see shots of people watching us watching them? Gormless!

 

This year, I tried to ignore the last night but got sucked in when flicking channels and happened to catch sight of Viktoria Mullova in something shimmering and gold. I resisted the urge to shout at the screen this time, but had to laugh when, only minutes after Mark Elder had warned about dumbing down, the Beeb showed fireworks going off in a park during Jerusalem. On TV the fireworks were silent and made a lovely backdrop, but I can't help wondering how in the park Jerusalem fared against them?

 

Never mind the music, what fabulous fireworks! Just about sums up the Last Night, really.

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5-time sea-songs?

 

Good God!  They'd eventually get to one end of the deck and then fall overboard, at a guess.

 

Arnold was obviously not a naval man.

Found it here (or by another name here).

 

And here's the context that led me to the title:

It was around that time Malcolm Arnold was commisioned to write a new piece for the Last Night of The Proms.  It was the William Glock period and WG was doing his best to quietly shunt the festivities into the dustbin of history and even tried to drop Land Of Hope and Glory altogether (he didn't succeed.)  The piece Malcolm Arnold wrote replaced the Sea Songs and was called "Fantasy For Audience and Orchestra" and included a riotous singalong of "We Shall Not Be Moved" and a Sailor's Hornpipe with an extra beat.  Alas it only survived one performance and has never been heard of again.  The next year Glock commissioned Malcolm Williamson to write an *opera* for audience and orchestra called "The Stone Wall".  Again, one performance with the whole experiment dropped the next year.

Paul

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