BBC Proms 2012
20th April 2012
Running from July 13 to September 8, the Proms features new commissions and composer portraits from several composers in the catalogue. On July 17, Kaija Saariaho discusses her 2008 work Laterna Magica at the Royal College of Music in a Proms Plus Portrait prior to the work’s UK premiere in the Royal Albert Hall later that evening. The Portrait also includes performances of her chamber works Serenatas and Tocar given by musicians from the London Sinfonietta Academy Ensemble.
To celebrate significant birthdays, Simon Bainbridge and Hugh Wood both have works performed during the season. The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bainbridge will be given its World Premiere by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group at a Proms Saturday Matinee in Cadogan Hall on August 18. On July 26, Joanna MacGregor and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform Hugh Wood’s Piano Concerto and the Escher Quartet perform his String Quartet No 4 as part of a Proms Chamber Music concert on August 20.
The London Premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies’ ninth symphony will take place during Prom 54 on August 23. The work by the Master of the Queen’s Music honours the jubilee. On August 9, the UK premiere of Per Nørgård’s Symphony No 7 will take place, preceded by a Proms Plus Portrait at the Royal College of Music featuring performances of several of his chamber works performed by students from the Royal Northern College of Music.
Helen Grime also has a Proms Plus Portrait dedicated to her work and she discusses her BBC commission Night Songs which will be given its World Premiere on the same evening, August 25, as part of a concert to mark the 60th birthday of Oliver Knussen.
Further new commissions come from Nico Muhly, Gait for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Thea Musgrave, with Loch Ness – a Postcard from Scotland which features the tuba as the legendary monster. Electra Mourns by Brian Elias will be given its World Premiere on August 11 at Cadogan Hall as part of a Proms Saturday Matinee.
On August 29 Eric Whitacre makes his Proms debut in a late-night showcase in which the BBC Singers join forces with the Eric Whitacre Singers and Imogen Heap. This concert also includes the World Premiere of his Olympic inspired Faster, Higher, Stronger.
For more information on the BBC Proms, please see the Proms website
A full list of Music Sales works in performance is below…
Prom 45 August 15, 7:30pm Royal Albert Hall
Joan Tower, Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop, conductor
www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2012/august-15
Proms Saturday Matinee 4 August 18, 3pm Cadogan Hall
Simon Bainbridge, The Garden of Earthly Delights World Premiere
Anne-Marie Owens, mezzo-soprano; Birmingham Contemporary Music Group; Nicholas Collon, conductor
www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2012/august-18
Proms Chamber Music 6 August 20, 1pm Cadogan Hall
Hugh Wood, String Quartet No 4 Escher Quartet
www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2012/august-20
Prom 54 August 23, 7:30pm Royal Albert Hall
Peter Maxwell Davies, Symphony No 9 London Premiere
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; Vasily Petrenko, conductor
www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2012/august-23
Proms Plus Portrait August 25. 5:45pm Royal College of Music
Helen Grime 10 Miniatures for solo piano
To see the summer sky
Shadowplay
Students from the Royal College of Music
www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2012/august-25
Prom 56 August 25, 7:30pm Royal Albert Hall
Helen Grime, Night Songs BBC Symphony Orchestra; Oliver Knussen, conductor www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2012/august-25
Prom 61 August 29, 7pm Royal Albert Hall
Herbert Howells, Hymnus Paradisi Miah Persson, soprano; Andrew Kennedy, tenor; BBC Symphony Chorus; London Philharmonic Choir; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Martyn Brabbins, conductor www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2012/august-29
Prom 62 August 29, 10:15pm Royal Albert Hall
Eric Whitacre, Alleluia; Higher, Faster, Stronger World Premiere Eric Whitacre Singers; BBC Singers; Imogen Heap; Ensemble Bash; Eric Whitacre, conductor
www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2012/august-29
