| Orchestra or Band | BBC National Orchestra of Wales |
| Set List | 'Dido and Aeneas When I Am Laid In Earth (Didos Lament)', Purcell, arr. Stokowski,
'Cloudline', E Ogonek,
'Cello Concerto No.1 in A Minor', Saint-Saens
INTERVAL
'Symphony No.4 in E Minor', Brahms |
| Performance Notes | In 2021, the BBC Proms returns to the Royal Albert Hall for a summer of live music, as it has done every year since 1941. With 52 concerts over 44 days, featuring 30 orchestras and ensembles and more than 2,000 musicians, this ambitious season promises a celebration of live music on a scale not seen since before the pandemic. From the power of a symphony orchestra to the sheer joy of a single performer on the Halls magnificent organ, this summer we look forward to coming together through music. Every Prom will be live on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.
Musical borrowings, reworkings and reinventions run through this seasons Proms. The invisible thread linking tonights concert really begins with Bach. A lilting chaconne from his Cantata No. 150 underpins the finale of Brahmss Symphony No. 4, and the latters elegant synthesis of heart and head is itself the inspiration for American composer Elizabeth Ogoneks Cloudline, a lyrical homage to ancient musical forms and techniques. The chaconnes repeating patterns are echoed elsewhere in the circling bass line of Purcells powerful Lament from Dido and Aeneas. Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta is the soloist in anniversary-composer Saint-Saënss Cello Concerto No .1, which she first played at the age of 12.
BBC Co-commission and world premiere of 'Cloudline', E Ogonek.
The season was shortened to six, rather than eight, weeks because of the financial risk to the BBC not knowing audience sizes due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An afternoon (13:00) and an evening (18:00) Prom were held at Cadogan Hall, London. The Proms featured celebrated British clarinettist Michael Collins and cellist Adrian Brendel and pianist Michael McHale to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky. Charged with fin de siècle intensity and taut musical drama, the young Zemlinskys Clarinet Trio was much influenced by Brahms, at whose recommendation it was published. A contemporary said of Brahmss own Trio in A minor that it is as though the instruments are in love with each other. With its graceful waltz of an intermezzo and dashing finale with hints of Gypsy swagger, its a musical love affair played out in glorious technicolour. |
| Related Archival Material | Prospectus (RAHE/1/2021/5),
Programme (RAHE/1/2021/10) |