It’s the grand finale to eight weeks of fabulous classical music performances by some of the world’s leading performers. And it’s always a night for celebration, featuring a mix of specially chosen works and time-honoured favourites. Here’s all you need to know about the 2024 Last Night of the Proms – including repertoire, performers, and how to watch and listen.
When is the 2024 Last Night of the Proms?
This year’s Last Night of the Proms takes place on Saturday 14 September 2024, at the Royal Albert Hall. The concert will start at 7pm, and will be broadcast live on both BBC Radio 3 and BBC Two.
Who is conducting the 2024 Last Night of the Proms?
Standing on the conductor’s podium at this year’s Last Night of the Proms will be the Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo. He has been chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra that performs at both the Last Night and First Night of the Proms, since 2012. As such, this will be Oramo’s sixth time conducting the Last Night.
Who conducted last year’s concert?
Last year’s Last Night was helmed by the American conductor Marin Alsop. That was her second Last Night, in fact: in 2013, Alsop became the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms.
Who are the performers for this year’s Last Night of the Proms?
This year, Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra will be joined by soprano Angel Blue (pictured top), who will perform arias by Puccini among others. Pianist Stephen Hough, meanwhile, will give us the slow movement from the exuberant Fifth Piano Concerto by Camille Saint-Saëns, one of the greatest French composers of all time.
What else is on the programme this year?
In addition to the familiar classics, fanfares and anthems, the programme will include arias by Puccini, a famous sporting piece by Charles Ives, and Gabriel Fauré’s beautiful Pavane.
Expect the Last Night staple Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs, a medley of British sea songs arranged by Wood in 1905 to mark the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
Here’s the full programme for the 2024 Last Night of the Proms.
2024 Last Night of the Proms: full programme
Walton – Portsmouth Point (Overture)
Puccini Gianni Schicchi – ‘O mio babbino caro’; Madam Butterfly – Humming Chorus; Tosca: ‘Vissi d’Arte’
Carlos Simon Hellfighters’ Blues (BBC co-commission: world premiere)
Fauré Pavane
Ives Yale–Princeton Football Game
Coleridge-Taylor Summer is Gone
Grace Williams Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes
Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, ‘Egyptian’ – II. Andante
[interval]
Iain Farrington Extra Time (BBC co-commission: world premiere)
Henry Mancini The Pink Panther
Stephen Hough In His Hands: Two Spirituals
Ruperto Chapí Las hijas del Zebedeo – ‘Al pensar en el dueño de mis amores’ (Carceleras),
Arr. Wood Fantasia on British Sea-Songs
Arne, arr. Sargent Rule, Britannia!
Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D major (‘Land of Hope and Glory’)
Parry, orch. Elgar Jerusalem
Arr. Britten The National Anthem ‘God Save the King’
Trad., arr. P. Campbell Auld lang syne
Find out what we picked as the best Last Nights of the Proms from history.
What exactly happens at the Last Night?
The Last Night of the Proms has followed in the same format since Malcolm Sargent took over from Proms founder Henry Wood as chief conductor in 1947. It was he that decided to expand the viewership of the Proms and appeal to the masses with the concert sequence of ‘Rule Britannia’, Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ and Parry’s Jerusalem.
It was also Sargent who was responsible for helping cement the tradition of speech-giving at the Last Night. Henry Wood had given the first Last Night speech in 1941 at a time where the future of the festival was under question, but at that time it was not an annual tradition. Nowadays, the Last Night conductor is expected to give a speech on a subject of their choosing.
What music is played at the Last Night of the Proms?
The first element in the current Last Night sequence was Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs of 1905. Initially, this had been written as another piece in a series introducing the orchestra to new listeners: Wood often included an operatic fantasia at the beginning of concerts for this purpose. Each player who played a solo was named in the programme and newcomers to symphony concerts could learn how to appreciate the joys of concert-going.
By the 1930s the Fantasia had become entrenched as the first piece in the Last Night. Too entrenched for some, as there was a move in 1953 to remove the Fantasia from the Last Night, a move which was bitterly opposed by some Promenaders (prommers). Who won is history.
The second element to appear (of course apart from the British National Anthem ‘God Save The King’ that ended the concert and the series) was ‘Land of Hope and Glory’. This had been first performed in its instrumental form in 1901, when it was encored twice, and then conducted by Elgar in 1902 with the words as part of the Coronation Ode, for which they were written.
‘Half-crazed audiences filled with flag-waving euphoria‘
It appeared again in 1945 in the Last Night as part of the victory celebrations marking the end of World War II. But it still was not enshrined as a permanent fixture at the final concert.
The last piece to be part of the ‘traditional’ Last Night was Parry’s Jerusalem. A strange inclusion in some ways as it is not ‘patriotic’ in the way ‘Rule Britannia’ or ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ are, and there is an irony in the way half-crazed audiences filled with flag-waving euphoria shout the words ‘nor shall I cease from mental strife’. But, then, not knowing what Blake’s words mean when you sing them has become another British tradition not confined to the Proms.
When was the Last Night of the Proms first televised?
Sir Malcolm was invited to take over the chief conductorship of the Proms in 1947, the same year as the Last Night was televised for the first time. Ducks and water have never been so conjoined. His flamboyant platform manner, complete on the Last Night with white carnation just like Henry Wood, and his desire and ability as an ambassador for classical music made him the perfect choice.
Musically much more conservative than Wood, Sargent saw the Last Night as a vehicle for reaching the widest audience with him as the triumphant captain of the ship. One controller of the BBC’s Light Programme, on which the Last Night was broadcast, observed how close the admiration of Sargent’s audience was to that of Frank Sinatra’s.
The ‘Flash Harry’ era
Sir Malcolm insisted on the pattern of the Last Night. The concert must end with the sequence of Wood’s Fantasia with ‘Rule Britannia’, Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 with ‘Land of Hope and Glory’, Parry’s Jerusalem, all for the audience to sing along under the ‘control’ of ‘Flash Harry’ whose greatest conducting gift had been marshalling vast choral forces. And then the speech.
Henry Wood had given the first Last Night speech in 1941 at a time when the Proms’ future was in some jeopardy. He gave another in 1942, almost by chance. But from 1947 with Sargent, it became a fixture: one that survived for him until 1967 when, despite the terminal cancer that prevented his conducting, he appeared on the Last Night during Colin Davis’s speech. Cheered by the Prommers to the rafters, he held (if memory serves me well) a ‘ticket’ for the 1968 season, one that everyone knew he would not be able to attend. It was a moving and courageous act.
How do you programme the Last Night of the Proms?
Back in 2013, we spoke to Proms director Roger Wright about how this classical extravaganza is put together. Yes, there are fixtures – ‘Jerusalem’, for instance, and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ – but there is plenty more that’s up for grabs each year. Here are Roger’s insights on how to achieve the right mix of tradition and innovation on this landmark event in the musical year.
2013: A memorable Last Night
Often, they will discuss the state of music education and the importance of music and the arts in culture. In 2013, Marin Alsop became the first woman in Proms history to conduct the Last Night and mentioned her surprise at this fact in her speech, saying she was shocked that there could still be ‘firsts for women in 2013.’
Another historic Last Night, for different reasons, was the 1992 instalment, when the late lamented Sir Andrew Davis, a Last Night regular, did something different. Davis, always a much-loved performer, delivered his farewell address in the form of a Gilbert and Sullivan aria.
The first half of the Last Night of the Proms concert tends to feature a more eclectic range of music, often with a few contemporary pieces thrown in for good measure. There’s often a premiere of a newly commissioned Proms work. The second half of the Last Night is more celebratory and – some would say – frivolous. The soloist will often adorn themselves in a festive outfit to sing ‘Rule Britannia’. If, as an audience member, you’re worried about what to wear to the BBC Proms, we have a tailor-made introduction to the Proms dress code just for you.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering Why are the Proms called the Proms? We explain the history behind the term and how the BBC Proms came to be.
How can I watch the 2024 Last Night of the Proms?
The Last Night of the Proms will be broadcast live to watch on BBC One and Two and to listen to on BBC iPlayer.
If you want to attend the Last Night of the Proms in person, we explain how to buy tickets for the BBC Proms here.
Who is presenting the 2024 Last Night of the Proms?
As last year, the TV coverage of the 2024 Last Night of the Proms will be presented by Katie Derham.
Will it also be available on BBC iPlayer?
Yes, the Last Night of the Proms will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer until autumn 2024.
Photo (top): soprano Angel Blue, by Dario Acosta