Bringing classical music to a wide audience~the Proms 2011

                                             
  "The world's greatest classical music festival."  Six weeks of classical music concerts, founded to bring the best of classical music to a wide audience in an informal and welcoming atmosphere. 
After attending seven Proms concerts, what struck me most about these concerts is that they were accessible to a wide audience.  Tickets are as cheap as £5. ( about $7.90) The reason the Proms concerts were started over 100 years ago was because classical music tickets were expensive. Most people only heard good music when they walked in the London parks where there were Promenade Concerts.  In 1895, Robert Newman had the idea of organizing concerts where ordinary people could go.  He wanted to have concerts where people could have standing places that didn't cost much money.  At Royal Albert Hall, the entire center of the hall (it's in the round) is for people to stand that have paid £5 for a ticket.  And yes,  they really do stand the whole time.  (They can get more people in that way).

Mozart Requiem-people lined up for £5 tickets 

 I promise my next blog will be a non music blog, but I had to describe this amazing festival.  There were seventy-four concerts from July 15 to September 10. The Last Night at the Proms is a huge event all over the U.K. We went to eight of the concerts including The Last Night at the Proms in the Park.  Royal Albert Hall holds six thousand people and all the concerts that we saw were full, some even sold out.  We heard everything from Mahler to Bruckner, Britten, Beethoven and Liszt. We heard artists and orchestras from all over Europe as well as the U.S. and the U.K.  We went to two Proms Plus Sings on Sunday afternoons and sang the music  that was to be performed that night.  (another clever marketing tool for getting people involved in the concerts).  A leading choir master introduced and rehearsed parts of the work that was to be sung that night.  I went to a rehearsal of Britten's Spring Symphony and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.  It was a fantastic two hours of singing challenging repertoire and certainly gave me an insight into the music for that night.                              

standing places in Royal Albert Hall (cheap tickets)

The Proms Plus Sing is a part of a series of events that is called Proms Plus.  It's purpose is to get people closer to the music during the Proms.  Here's how the Proms book describes the Proms Plus.  "Opportunities to hear musicians talking about their favorite literature, an encounter in Kensington Gardens with music and performers from all over the planet, even a session on junkyard instruments.  You can join the Proms Family Orchestra and Chorus or take part in music-inspired poetry workshops.  Or why not drop into the Royal College of Music as part of RCM Sparks 2011, take part in a day of creative music-making?" A festival within a festival. Proms Plus Intros, Proms Plus Lates (concerts start at 10:15), Proms Plus Literary, Proms Poetry Competition, Proms Plus Family, Proms Plus Sing, Proms Plus Portraits.  There is something for everyone.

Britten's Spring Symphony with Trinity Boys Choir,  BBC Singers, Symphony Chorus and Orchestra

Proms in the Park ~Last Night of the Proms (in Hyde Park)

As many of my friends know, I have been looking forward to this night for a long time. I had seen You Tube videos of this mass of people in parks all over the U.K. and in Royal Albert Hall  singing together and waving flags from all over the world.  It was something I wanted to experience!  Especially since they always sing my favorite hymn, Jerusalem.  (not well known in the states since it's all about England)  As soon as we moved here, I bought tickets for the Last Night of the Proms in the park.  The Royal Albert Hall tickets are very hard to obtain and they sell out early but I thought being in the park would be fun.  Since Tom had been out of town last week, I invited a friend to come along and Tom met us there upon his arrival back in London (somewhat jet lagged).  Keith Lockhart conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra while the BBC Symphony Orchestra was playing in Royal Albert.  Josh Groban was supposed to sing but cancelled because of illness (not many people that we talked to even knew who he was). At 10:00, they piped in the concert from Royal Albert and everyone combined for a sing along.  A few musical hits, You'll Never Walk Alone, Climb Every Mountain, and the traditional Rule, Britannia, Jerusalem and God Save the Queen.  Here are some highlights of the night in pictures and a concluding video of my favorite hymn sung on Saturday night:

Tapas for two~typical park food

Our new found Irish friends who joined us in singing

Irish friend feeling the urge to conduct the singing!

The end of a night to remember

       Jerusalem  by  Hubert Parry
       poem~ William Blake

And did those feet in ancient time.

Walk upon England's mountains green:

And was the holy Lamb of God,

On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,

Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was Jerusalem builded here,

Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;

Bring me my Arrows of desire:

Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!

Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,

Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:

Till we have built Jerusalem,

In Englands green & pleasant Land

A Day in Canterbury

Don't worry!  My blogs will not all be about Evensong.  However, considering the title of my blog, I thought it fitting that my first blog be about our day in Canterbury ending with the service of Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral.

Last weekend was a Bankers Holiday (three day weekend in the U.K.) So Tom and I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and hopped on a train out of Victoria Station on Sunday morning to explore the town of Canterbury. It's an easy 1 1/2 hour ride from Victoria and the Canterbury station is an easy walk to town.    Canterbury~ the place where Thomas Becket was murdered in the cathedral in 1170.   Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.  St. Augustine's Abbey, where Augustine came to convert England to Christianity.  There is so much history in this one town that it would be impossible to say much about it but here is a glimpse of Canterbury, Kent, England.

Canterbury from the top of Roman burial mound

The town of Canterbury was originally an important settlement for a Celtic tribe.  The Romans invaded Britain and took over the Celtic settlement. The town flourished for about 300 years until the Romans left Britain. The Roman walls surrounding the town are walkable and have been maintained also as a bike path.  It was a great way to see the town from all angles.

Roman walls in background 

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Ruins of St. Augustine Abbey

               St. Augustine Abbey was a fascinating look into life at the beginning of Christianity in England.  The grounds are now an outdoor museum of ruins where you can see what it was like during these early days of Christianity. In 597, Pope Gregory sent Augustine to England to reconvert the English people to Christianity. Augustine settled in this part of England and founded a monastery just outside the walls of Canterbury.

From the grounds of St. Augustine Abbey, we walked toward the Cathedral which is in the center of town.  It was easy to find because of it's massive size.  You could see it from anywhere you were in the town.

Canterbury Cathedral is the "seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury as Primate of all of England, Diocesan bishop for the diocese of Canterbury, and leader of the Anglican Communion throughout the world." Wow!  I had to copy that from the Canterbury Cathedral short tour guide because I couldn't have written that by remembering it!  I can't imagine what the long tour guide was because by the time we got done with the short tour my brain was on overload.

the front of Canterbury Cathedral

shrine to Thomas Becket 

Thomas Becket was murdered in this part of the Cathedral where you see the picture of the shrine .  He was getting ready for an Evensong service and two of Henry II's knights attacked him with swords.  It is this place where thousands of people made pilgrimages to see the shrine of this martyr.  This was also the inspiration for Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, a collection of tales by a group of pilgrims as they journey from London to Canterbury to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket.     

Canterbury Cathedral has some of the most important medieval stained glass in Europe.  These are just a few examples of the windows in the cathedral.  

The choir stalls

After touring the Cathedral we attended the 3:15 Evensong service.  Because the regular choir was on summer holiday, they had a visiting choir from Wallingford parish in Oxfordshire.  I love Evensong (no surprise there!) because it's all sung.  The organ postlude, Bach's fugue in E flat Major was a perfect ending to our cathedral tour.  The organ filled the cathedral and everyone sat mesmerized by the beauty of the music.

                               

                            our final stop of the day

We couldn't head back to London without a stop at the local pub.
 Evensong and pubs.  Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.