SAKARI ORAMO CONDUCTS THE LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS, CLOSING AN EXTRAORDINARY SEASON OF MUSIC MAKING
Award-winning American soprano Angel Blue and one of Britain’s best-loved pianists, Sir Stephen Hough, join the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Singers at the Royal Albert Hall for classical music’s biggest party
BBC Radio 3 begins its Last Night of the Proms countdown at 9.30am, broadcasting live from the Royal Albert Hall throughout the day, until 11pm. Coverage of the Last Night concert will begin at 7pm. The TV broadcast will be live and in two parts: Part 1 on BBC Two at 7.05pm, and Part 2 on BBC One at 9pm.
The BBC Proms 2024 season culminates in the celebratory Last Night of the Proms on Saturday 14 September at the Royal Albert Hall. This year’s festival finale is led by Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo, whose contract with the BBC Symphony Orchestra was earlier this week extended for another five years, until 2030. Oramo will conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, and two starry soloists: American soprano Angel Blue and British pianist Sir Stephen Hough.
This year’s programme celebrates a summer of sport and music, marked by The Yale–Princeton Football Game by Charles Ives and the world premiere of Extra Time, composed by Iain Farrington and commissioned by the BBC. These sporting works will be performed aside a selection of symphonic and choral works, opera arias, spirituals, well-known theme tunes and of course, the traditional Last Night songs and festivities.
The Last Night of the Proms 2024 will feature two world premieres:
1. Carlos Simon’s Hellfighters’ Blues honours James Reese Europe (1880-1919), a leading figure on the Black American music scene in New York City at the beginning of 20th century. He was known as the bandleader for the Harlem Hellfighters, the 369th Infantry Regiment made up primarily of Black Americans during World War I. When the infantry’s band went to play in France in 1918, its members became the first Black Americans known for bringing Jazz to Europe.
1. British composer Iain Farrington’s Extra Time is a celebration of sport and its ability to create a rousing collective experience for its spectators. Composed during the final week of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, it quotes numerous musical themes that are associated with sports TV programmes. The piece aims to capture the various moods of attending a sports match: joy, passion, tension and humour.
Katie Derham will present The Last Night of the Proms on TV and will be joined by special guests Chris Addison, Anna Lapwood and Nicky Spence. TV audiences will see a specially commissioned poem written and narrated by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage titled The Proms about the experience of coming to the Proms whether you’re a musician or in the audience. The TV broadcast will be live and in two parts: Part 1 on BBC Two at 7.05pm, and Part 2 on BBC One at 9pm.
BBC Radio 3 begins its Last Night of the Proms countdown at 9.30am, broadcasting live from the Royal Albert Hall throughout the day, until 11pm. Coverage of the Last Night concert will begin at 7pm, presented by Petroc Trelawny and Georgia Mann with special guests Rachel Parris and Cassie Kinoshi.
David Pickard, Director, BBC Proms says: “In my final BBC Proms season as Director, I want to thank everyone who has enjoyed the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, at venues across the UK or at home on Radio 3 and BBC TV. I hope that the Last Night of the Proms will prove a fitting celebration of the outstanding music-making we have all enjoyed over the past 8 weeks.”
Sam Jackson, Controller, BBC Radio 3 & BBC Proms says: “This BBC Proms season has encompassed 90 concerts presented at the Royal Albert Hall and across the UK, record-breaking sales figures, and fantastic feedback from audiences. We are hugely grateful to David Pickard for programming a distinctive and compelling final season, after nine brilliant years at the helm of this very special festival”.
Last Night of the Proms Programme
William Walton Overture ‘Portsmouth Point’
Giacomo Puccini ‘O mio babbino caro’ with Angel Blue
Giacomo Puccini Madam Butterfly – Humming Chorus with Angel Blue
Giacomo Puccini Tosca – ‘Vissi d’arte’ with Angel Blue
Carlos Simon Hellfighters’ Blues – BBC co-commission: world premiere
Gabriel Fauré Pavane
Charles Ives The Yale–Princeton Football Game
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Summer Is Gone
Grace Williams Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes
Camille Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, ‘Egyptian’ – 2nd mvt with Sir Stephen Hough
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Iain Farrington Extra Time – BBC commission: world premiere
Henry Mancini The Pink Panther arr. Gavin Sutherland
Sir Stephen Hough In His Hands: Two Spirituals
Ruperto Chapí Las hijas del Zebedeo – ‘Al pensar en el dueño de mis amores’ (Carceleras)
Trad. arr. Henry Wood Fantasia on British Sea Songs
Arne arr. Sargent Rule, Britannia! Verses 1, 3, 6 with Angel Blue
Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
Parry arr. Elgar Jerusalem
The National Anthem arr. Britten
Trad. Arr. Paul Campbell Auld Lang Syne
Performers
Angel Blue soprano
Sir Stephen Hough piano
BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo conductor