Yes, it’s your daily 2024 BBC Proms preview, courtesy of BBC Music Magazine! Below, we’re previewing Prom 61, which takes place on Thursday 5 September at the Royal Albert Hall in London. And the great conductor Sir Simon Rattle is in town.
Why not bookmark www.classical-music.com for the rest of the 2024 BBC Proms season – right up until the Last Night of the Proms, which takes place on Saturday 14 September? Then you can come back each day to find an inspiring, informative guide to that evening’s Prom. And, if you want to see all this year’s Proms in one place, you can also bookmark our action-packed 2024 BBC Proms guide, which lists all the Proms taking place this year both in London and in six other UK cities.
What’s on at the BBC Proms today?
Today, for Prom 61, there’s a UK premiere for a brand new work by the British composer Thomas Adès. Commissioned by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for Rattle’s inaugural season with them, Aquifer is a one-movement symphony for a large orchestra consisting of three flutes, piccolo, three oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contraforte, four horns, three trumpets, piccolo trumpet, three trombones, tuba, six percussion, piano, harp and strings.
Some 17 minutes in length and constantly evolving, the work has drawn comparisons, in form if not exactly in sound, with the late works of Sibelius – the Seventh Symphony (1918-24) and Tapiola (1926) – as well as Debussy’s ever-changing Jeux de vagues (from La Mer, 1903-05) and the ballet Jeux (1912).
After the interval: the Bruckner Fourth
Tonight’s major work, meanwhile, is Anton Bruckner‘s Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, or the ‘Romantic’ as it’s sometimes known. The Bruckner Fourth kicks off, memorably, with a melody on the French horn, much beloved of Romantic composers. Here, it’s a vivid aural symbol of the hunt, much beloved of German Romanticism (Carl Maria von Weber‘s opera Der Freischütz is a prime example).
Elsewhere, woodwind solos and those tremolo strings so beloved by Bruckner open a window on the natural world. Bruckner himself later wrote about the woodland magic that fills the Allegro first movement, with its forest murmurs and bird songs.
The second movement is an Andante of profound stillness and almost fairytale romance. We’re then treated to a Scherzo with echoes of Schubert, and a ‘the ‘folk festival’ finale.
Who is performing at the BBC Proms today?
This evening’s Prom is performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, based in Munich, Germany. They’re a highly esteemed unit, and definitely one of the best orchestras in the world. Its illustrious rollcall of past chief conductors have included Rafael Kubelik, Sir Colin Davis, and Mariss Jansons.
Tonight’s conductor is Sir Simon Rattle, who joined as the orchestra’s chief conductor in 2023. Rattle will need no introduction to classical music fans. With acclaimed tenures at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, he’s a noted conductor in much of the Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire, perhaps best known for his work with Sibelius and Mahler. He’ll be conducting the latter’s Sixth Symphony at the Proms tomorrow night (Prom 62, Friday 6 September).
What time does tonight’s Prom start?
Prom 61 gets going at 7.30pm. Tickets are priced from £26 to £80.