My first touch of classical music was during assembly on the first day of primary school. The head teacher asked us to name a composer who was well known in the local area and I apparently put my hand up and said ‘Tchaikovsky’. The proper answer was John Lennon, but the teachers were quite impressed that I’d even heard of the Russian composer at such an early age. I think it was just the first indication anyone had that I was going to be a bit different and probably a handful. And so it goes.
Lunch time brought bacon butties and the Blue Peter Prom 12, a 'jamboree' presented by CBBC’s Gemma Hunt and Chief Scout and former BP presenter Peter Duncan (the current presenting team for the programme off flying the world as their videoed apologies explained). Hunt was fine, but for some reason Duncan was affecting his twenty year old kids tv presenting voice with perhaps an even greater injection of theatricality which sounded a bit odd on Radio 3 but the kids seemed to like. Since this was audio only, I could imagine that he’d turned up in that green and white checked suit that someone designed for him in competition all those years ago.
I love the idea of the BP Prom, the idea of getting kids interested in classical music at a young age. The mix of Copland and Grieg, Bernstein and Williams was inspired with as much audience participation and storytelling as music so the children couldn’t get bored. I’m not sure that the injection of Bollywood in the middle worked as well as it could on radio what with not being able to see the dancers . This concert also included the apparently controversial appearance of Connie Fisher (with the inevitable justification from the Radio 3 commentator) who actually ended up being one of the highlights even though she seemed to sound more like Julie Andrews than herself for once. Pete seemed very pleased to meet her.
It’s lucky I enjoyed Prom 12 because I’m going to be listening to it again. It was a repeat of Prom 10 which wasn’t broadcast and if I’m going to listen to all of the Albert Hall Proms, pretending that twelve equals ten seems like the best way to make up the numbers. So yes, I’ve decided to listen or watch them all, right through to the 8th September which will either be a life landmark or drive me insane. I’m even looking at the Prom booklet and seeing the list of films and wondering if I can fit them in. The Bridge on the River Kwai’s OK, but anyone got a copy of the Copland documentary that’s being shown on the 2 September?
Which is why I spent the second half of the afternoon listening to Prom 9 on listen again (I was on that fabulous flickr tour at the time). I’m not sure I followed all of Berlioz’s loud and long Symphonie fantastique and I think I liked the title of Dutilleux’s The Shadows of Time more than the piece itself. Similarly I loved the idea of Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand even if likePaul Wittgenstein who commissioned the work, I couldn’t see that he’d got the balance of piano to orchestra quite right. But then if you’ve only one hand on the keyboard that’s bound to happen isn’t it? I think my appreciation of the whole concert was probably lowered by the sound quality the real audio stream -- which I've heard is a bit of muso thing to say. One of them, one of them.
And finally tonight, BBC Four’s broadcast of Prom 13 were a disappointingly half full Albert Hall greeted Brett Dean’s Vexations and Deviations and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and I can honestly say that this was my second favourite concert so far (behind the Striggio). The latter was a fairly traditional burst of the one of Ludwig’s I’ve always the cherished, but the Dean offered this extraordinary sound which I thought questioned the line drawn between classical music and fine art -- was this performance art presented in a concert hall instead of a white cube? I thought it interesting that none of the people commenting made the comparison including the composer so either I’m wrong or a less fixed idea of were the borders between the arts actually are.
The notes in the Radio Times listings pages describe the sound fairly well: ‘a blow against reality TV, automated answering services, the dehumanisation of contemporary society and the warped language of corporate jargon’ which on reflection makes the work sound like the most pretentious thing in the world, but it really isn’t. It was certainly more accessible than Unlike Sam Hayden’s Substratum and the people in the hall could be seen grinning and tittering as each ‘movement’ drifted through.
It’s a sort of modernist mix of rhythms from the orchestra, chatter from the choirs along with choral settings of poetry and corporate jargon. Sample:
"The loneliness of watching others on television.This is laced with the sound of an old fashioned telephone and a digital recording of what purports to be an answering service, the Hall filled with an Australian accented husky voice saying things like ‘Your call is important to us’ and ‘Please hold the line and advisor will be with you shortly’ before drifting off into the surreal ‘If you can find something to hold please hold it’ and ‘We apologise for any anxiety caused’.
Burning their sparkler lives right down to the butt
Your careful hands have bever smoked
Lying heavy like unwanted dogs on your lap
And warn you tonight you might live forever."
But the real key to its success is that it gave the orchestra and mostly the choir something to do other than be sound generators. The BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra were joined by Gondwana Voices the national youth choir of Australia as well as being part of the harmony, also provided chatter, rang bells, shook tin foil and at one point played patty-cake with each other highlighting that human contrast was possible in the middle of what could have been quite a stark message.
Two of their members and a choir master were interviewed in the interval and it turns out that they hire based on musical talent from throughout Australia and their collective is based on talent crossing class and social lines -- the parents of one child are farmers and had to sell five of their cows so that their daughter could afford the trip -- but another member is the daughter of the composer. This sounds like an extraordinary idea and I wonder if this kind of choir exists in this country.
About the only disappointment about the broadcast was the discovery in the interval that the Promundrums have been canceled because of the shenanigans in other parts of the BBC. The name of a winner was read out, but not the answer, which is the kind of thing that you could write to Points of View about -- if the answer wasn’t printed on the website. Here it is:
Solution: AGESo actually I was along the right lines -- I thought it was Anxiety - I just didn’t think it through enough. I’m rubbish at the Times crossword, and The Guardian’s Quick as well for that matter. Gosh, is that the time? I’m off to bed. Aptly, tomorrow night is Haydn’s The Seasons -- expect jokes about the weather.
Clue 1: Rotates to spell out CAGE - but the anomalous time-signature is a cue to strike out C - leaving AGE. 'Ansiosamente' means 'with anxiety' - hence reference to Prom 5, Bernstein's Symphony No. 2 'The Age of Anxiety'.
Clue 2: Remove the letters CLEAR from CRAEG LEA - the house inhabited by the Elgars from 1899-1904 - to leave AGE.
No comments:
Post a Comment