Beautiful music in a beautiful space.
So today we went to Royal Albert Hall for The Proms. I have seen these on BBC and had no idea quite what it is. The Proms are a concert series in the summer. They are mostly held at the Royal Albert Hall, although according to my research, some are held elsewhere. “Proms” is short for “promenade concert,” and comes from the practice in the past, of strolling through gardens while an orchestra plays.
Today was a Ten Pieces Proms. It’s a program designed to teach children about classical music. Today, we heard these songs:
- No Place Like by Kerry Andrew
- Anthology of Fantastic Zoology – Sprite; A Bao A Qu by Mason Bates
- Symphony No. 1 in G major – Allegro (1st movement) by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
- Rodeo - Hoe-Down by Aaron Copland
- Symphony No. 9 in E minor, 'From the New World’ – Largo (2nd movement) by Antonín Dvořák
- ‘Enigma’ Variations – Theme (Enigma), variations 11, 6 & 7 by Edward Elgar
- Carmina Burana - 'O fortuna' by Carl Orff
- Abdelazer – Rondeau by Henry Purcell
- Finlandia by Jean Sibelius
- The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers and Russian Dance by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
I wish I could show you what a beautiful space Royal Albert Hall is. . . It’s simply breath-taking. It’s HUGE – it holds up to 5,272 seats and opened in 1871. You wouldn’t believe all the people who have appeared there = every musical act you can imagine as well as important people. From the Spice Girls to Muhammed Ali, everyone has been here it seems. Classical musicians to sumo wrestlers to Cirque de Soleil, it’s amazing.
There is a great interactive “map” here that shows you people who have appeared: http://appearing.royalalberthall.com/
So here are a few pictures I took today before it started.
B