BBC Proms “Bach Day”, 14th August 2010, Saturday. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and The English Baroque Soloists at Cadogan Hall, London.
1. Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Bach’s great Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565, actually a piece of organ music, orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, at the Royal Albert Hall.
2. Prelude in C sharp from the Well Tempered Clavier BWV 848 and the Prelude from the Partita No. 3 in E major BWV 1006
Sir Henry Wood’s orchestrations of two Bach pieces form part of his self-styled suite no. 6. The pieces are the prelude in C sharp from the Well-Tempered Clavier BWV 848 and the prelude from the Partita No. 3 in E major BWV 1006. Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, at the Royal Albert Hall.
3. Latent Manifest (Tarik O’Regan)
A piece by Tarik O’Regan inspired by the prelude to Bach’s Violin Sonata No.3 in C major, BWV 1005. Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, at the Royal Albert Hall.
4. The Wise Virgins part 1
Part 1 of William Walton’s arrangement of Bach pieces which form his ballet The Wise Virgins. The pieces are:
- Movement 1: What God hath done is rightly done – Cantata BWV 99 Opening Chorus – Vivace assai
- Movement 2: Lord, hear my longing – BWV 727 Chorale Prelude – Adagio
- Movement 3: See, what his love can do – Cantata BWV 85/Mvt. 5 – Tranquillo
- Movement 4: Ah! How ephemeral – Cantata BWV 26 Opening Chorus – Vivace
Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, at the Royal Albert Hall.
5. The Wise Virgins part 2
Part 2 of William Walton’s arrangements of Bach pieces which form his ballet The Wise Virgins. The pieces are:
- Movement 5: Sheep may safely graze – Cantata BWV 208 – Adagio
- Movement 6: Praise be to God – Cantata BWV 129 – Moderato
Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, at the Royal Albert Hall.
6. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
Sir John Eliot Gardiner and The English Baroque Soloists perform Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 at the Cadogan Hall.
Movements:
- Allegro
- Andante
- Allegro assai
7. Blithe Bells
Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (The lively hunt is all my heart’s desire), BWV 208, also known as the Hunting Cantata, is a secular cantata composed in 1713 by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 31st birthday of Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels. Aria 4, “Schafe können sicher weiden” (“Sheep May Safely Graze”), is the most familiar part of this cantata.
Percy Grainger’s arrangement of Sheep May Safely
8. Air on the G String
Air on the G String is August Wilhelmj’s arrangement of the second movement in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068. Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, at the Royal Albert Hall.
9. Allegro (Viola da Gamba sonata in G minor BWV 1029)
Alissa Firsova’s arrangement of the final movement of Bach’s Viola da Gamba
10. Sleepers Wake
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Awake, calls the voice to us), BWV 140, also known as Sleepers Wake, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the 27th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 25 November 1731.
Grenville Bantock’s arrangement of Sleepers wake. Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, at the Royal Albert Hall.
11. Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582) actually is an organ piece. Presumably composed early in Bach’s career, it is one of his most important and well-known works, and an important influence on 19th and 20th-century passacaglias: Robert Schumann described the variations of the passacaglia as “intertwined so ingeniously that one can never cease to be amazed.”
Orchestrated by Respighi and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, at the Royal Albert Hall.
Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, best known for holding The Proms concerts annually each summer since 1941. It has a capacity of up to 5,272 seats.
Cadogan Hall is a 900-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea / Belgravia in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London.
BBC Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Founded in 1895, each season currently consists of more than 70 concerts in the Albert Hall, a series of chamber concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the United Kingdom on the last night, and associated educational and children’s events.
Prom is short for promenade concert, a term which originally referred to outdoor concerts in London’s pleasure gardens, where the audience was free to stroll around while the orchestra was playing. In fact, this tradition has been revived in parks and stately homes around the UK at promenade concerts such as the Battle Proms. In the context of the BBC Proms Promming now refers to the use of the standing areas inside the hall (the arena and gallery) for which ticket prices are much lower than for the reserved seating.
Sources
- The Proms on Wikipedia
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