The Best of British Music at the Proms

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0:00:27 > 0:00:31In this programme we're going to delve into it treasure trove

0:00:31 > 0:00:33filled with some of the best loved pieces of music

0:00:33 > 0:00:35by British composers.

0:00:35 > 0:00:39Works performed at London's Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms.

0:00:39 > 0:00:43To start, the most famous work by George Frideric Handel.

0:00:43 > 0:00:44Though German by birth,

0:00:44 > 0:00:48he took up permanent residence in London in 1712.

0:00:48 > 0:00:52His anthem Zadok The Priest was first heard in Westminster Abbey

0:00:52 > 0:00:55at the coronation of George II in 1727

0:00:55 > 0:00:58and has been performed at every coronation since

0:00:58 > 0:01:01at the moment of the sovereign's anointing.

0:02:40 > 0:02:48# Zadok the priest

0:02:48 > 0:02:56# And Nathan the Prophet

0:02:56 > 0:03:10# Anointed Solomon King

0:03:12 > 0:03:16# And all the people rejoiced

0:03:18 > 0:03:19# Rejoiced

0:03:21 > 0:03:22# Rejoiced

0:03:22 > 0:03:27# And all the people rejoiced

0:03:29 > 0:03:30# Rejoiced

0:03:31 > 0:03:33# Rejoiced

0:03:34 > 0:03:36# Rejoiced

0:03:37 > 0:03:38# Rejoiced

0:03:39 > 0:03:41# Rejoiced

0:03:41 > 0:03:46# And all the people rejoiced

0:03:47 > 0:03:49# Rejoiced

0:03:50 > 0:03:57# Rejoiced and said

0:03:58 > 0:04:01# God save the King!

0:04:01 > 0:04:04# Long Live the King!

0:04:04 > 0:04:06# God Save the King

0:04:06 > 0:04:10# May the King live for ever

0:04:10 > 0:04:13# Amen, Amen, Alleluia

0:04:13 > 0:04:15# Alleluia, Amen

0:04:15 > 0:04:22# Amen

0:04:23 > 0:04:27# Amen, Amen, Alleluia, Amen

0:04:37 > 0:04:39# God save the King

0:04:39 > 0:04:42# Long live the King

0:04:42 > 0:04:46# May the King live for ever

0:04:46 > 0:04:48# Amen, Amen, Alleluia

0:04:48 > 0:04:50# Alleluia, Amen

0:04:50 > 0:04:56# Amen

0:04:56 > 0:04:58# May the King live

0:04:58 > 0:05:00# May the King live

0:05:00 > 0:05:02# For ever, for ever

0:05:02 > 0:05:05# For ever, Amen, Amen

0:05:05 > 0:05:08# Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

0:05:08 > 0:05:12# Amen

0:05:14 > 0:05:19# Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

0:05:19 > 0:05:22# Amen, Amen

0:05:22 > 0:05:24# Amen, Amen

0:05:24 > 0:05:28# Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

0:05:33 > 0:05:35# Long live the King

0:05:35 > 0:05:38# God save the King

0:05:38 > 0:05:40# Long live the King

0:05:40 > 0:05:42# May the King live

0:05:42 > 0:05:44# May the King live

0:05:44 > 0:05:46# For ever

0:05:46 > 0:05:49# For ever, for ever

0:05:49 > 0:05:50# Amen, Amen

0:05:50 > 0:05:53# Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

0:05:53 > 0:05:57# Amen

0:05:57 > 0:06:05# Amen, Amen

0:06:05 > 0:06:07# Amen

0:06:07 > 0:06:09# Amen, Alleluia, Amen

0:06:09 > 0:06:13# Alleluia, Amen, Alleluia

0:06:13 > 0:06:24# Alleluia. #

0:06:24 > 0:06:26APPLAUSE

0:06:26 > 0:06:29Harry Christophers conducting The Sixteen

0:06:29 > 0:06:31and The Orchestra of The Sixteen

0:06:31 > 0:06:35and the Coronation anthem Zadok The Priest by Handel.

0:06:36 > 0:06:40The best-known aria from Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas

0:06:40 > 0:06:43is sung by Dido Queen of Carthage.

0:06:43 > 0:06:46When she's abandoned by her lover, the Trojan hero Aeneas,

0:06:46 > 0:06:51Dido prepares the death and sings When I Am Laid In Earth.

0:06:51 > 0:06:55Sarah Connolly, at the Last Night of The Proms in 2009,

0:06:55 > 0:06:57sings Dido's Lament.

0:07:02 > 0:07:09# Thy hand Belinda

0:07:09 > 0:07:20# Darkness shades me

0:07:20 > 0:07:32# On thy bosom let me rest

0:07:33 > 0:07:44# More I would but Death invades me

0:07:44 > 0:07:58# Death is now a welcome guest

0:08:12 > 0:08:18# When I am laid

0:08:18 > 0:08:25# Am laid in earth

0:08:25 > 0:08:33# May my wrongs create

0:08:33 > 0:08:37# No trouble

0:08:37 > 0:08:45# No trouble in thy breast

0:08:49 > 0:08:56# When I am laid

0:08:56 > 0:09:03# Am laid in earth

0:09:03 > 0:09:11# May my wrongs create

0:09:11 > 0:09:16# No trouble

0:09:16 > 0:09:24# No trouble in thy breast

0:09:28 > 0:09:34# Remember me

0:09:35 > 0:09:42# Remember me

0:09:43 > 0:09:54# But ah! Forget my fate

0:09:54 > 0:10:00# Remember me

0:10:00 > 0:10:12# But ah! Forget my fate

0:10:13 > 0:10:16# Remember me

0:10:21 > 0:10:25# Remember me

0:10:25 > 0:10:36# But ah! Forget my fate

0:10:37 > 0:10:42# Remember me

0:10:42 > 0:10:58# But ah! Forget my fate. #

0:11:39 > 0:11:41APPLAUSE

0:11:41 > 0:11:43Sarah Connolly and the BBC Symphony Orchestra

0:11:43 > 0:11:45conducted by David Robertson.

0:11:45 > 0:11:47Dido's Lament by Henry Purcell.

0:11:49 > 0:11:50Benjamin Britten,

0:11:50 > 0:11:53the greatest home-grown composer of the 20th century,

0:11:53 > 0:11:57used a theme by Purcell in his Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra,

0:11:57 > 0:12:00which he was commissioned to write for an education film.

0:12:00 > 0:12:02As the work progresses,

0:12:02 > 0:12:05the various sections of the orchestra demonstrate the sound they produce

0:12:05 > 0:12:09and then, at the end, they come together as one musical unit.

0:12:09 > 0:12:13Here's Purcell's opening theme and then the dramatic finale.

0:16:41 > 0:16:42CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:16:42 > 0:16:45The climax of Britten's Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra

0:16:45 > 0:16:47played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra,

0:16:47 > 0:16:50conducted by Edward Gardner.

0:16:50 > 0:16:54We look to the heavens next in Gustav Holst's Planets suite,

0:16:54 > 0:16:56by far his best known work.

0:16:56 > 0:16:59This is Jupiter the Bringer of Jollity,

0:16:59 > 0:17:02which, at its heart, has the melody Holst also used

0:17:02 > 0:17:06for the patriotic song I Vow To Thee My Country.

0:24:53 > 0:24:54APPLAUSE

0:24:54 > 0:24:57The BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin,

0:24:57 > 0:25:00playing Jupiter from The Planets, by Holst.

0:25:00 > 0:25:04In Victorian times, WS Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan

0:25:04 > 0:25:08were masters at uniting words and music

0:25:08 > 0:25:11in a comic and often highly entertaining way.

0:25:11 > 0:25:13Their skill brought them enormous success.

0:25:13 > 0:25:18This is a number from their Japanese inspired operetta Mikado

0:25:18 > 0:25:23with contemporary words for the Last Night of the Proms in 2004.

0:25:23 > 0:25:25Sir Thomas Allen has a "little list".

0:25:28 > 0:25:32# As someday it may happen That a victim must be found

0:25:32 > 0:25:35# I've got a little list I've got a little list

0:25:35 > 0:25:38# Of society offenders Who may well be underground

0:25:38 > 0:25:42# And who never would be missed They never would be missed

0:25:42 > 0:25:45# There's pestilential nuisances Who write for autographs

0:25:45 > 0:25:49# Or people who have flabby hands And irritating laughs

0:25:49 > 0:25:52# Or children who won't speak Without a Walkman on their head

0:25:52 > 0:25:56# But can e-mail, text and download Without getting out of bed

0:25:56 > 0:25:58LAUGHTER

0:25:58 > 0:26:02# And violinists who on wearing wet T-shirts insist

0:26:02 > 0:26:04LAUGHTER

0:26:04 > 0:26:07# They'd none of them be missed They'd none of them been missed

0:26:07 > 0:26:11# He's got them on a list He's got them on a list

0:26:11 > 0:26:15# And they'll none of them be missed They'll none of them be missed

0:26:16 > 0:26:19# For purists who insist that Piano music stops that Brahms

0:26:19 > 0:26:24# I've got a little list I'll make them sit through Liszt

0:26:24 > 0:26:25LAUGHTER

0:26:25 > 0:26:29# Butlers who up sticks For the American selling her charms

0:26:29 > 0:26:33# Who never will be missed He'll certainly be missed

0:26:33 > 0:26:34AUDIENCE: Ahh!

0:26:34 > 0:26:35Ah!

0:26:35 > 0:26:39# And pianists who retire from playing long before they're due

0:26:39 > 0:26:43# And merely for the reason that their bus pass has come through

0:26:43 > 0:26:45LAUGHTER

0:26:46 > 0:26:50# And the mad men whose subject us to the whole of Wagner's Ring

0:26:50 > 0:26:55# Scored for rattle, sackbut, viol, kazoo and all that kind of thing

0:26:55 > 0:26:56LAUGHTER

0:26:57 > 0:27:00# And the Prommers who can't stand up straight

0:27:00 > 0:27:02# Because there are always p...

0:27:02 > 0:27:06CHEERING, LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:27:10 > 0:27:12# ..partying!

0:27:12 > 0:27:13LAUGHTER

0:27:13 > 0:27:18# Who have a little list I've got you on the list

0:27:18 > 0:27:21# He's got them on the list He's got them on the list

0:27:21 > 0:27:25# And they'll none of them be missed They'll none of them be missed

0:27:25 > 0:27:30# And that nisi prius nuisance Who just now is rather rife

0:27:30 > 0:27:33# The judicial humorist Lord Hutton's on the list

0:27:33 > 0:27:35LAUGHTER

0:27:36 > 0:27:38CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:27:44 > 0:27:48# All funny fellows, comic men And clowns of private life

0:27:48 > 0:27:52# They'd none of them he missed They'd none of them been missed

0:27:52 > 0:27:55# And apologetic statesman Of a compromising kind

0:27:55 > 0:27:58# Such as what d'you call him, thing-a-me-bob

0:27:58 > 0:28:01# And likewise, never mind

0:28:01 > 0:28:07# And sl... What's-his-name And also you-know-who

0:28:07 > 0:28:11# The task of filling out the blanks I'd rather leave to you

0:28:12 > 0:28:14Where do you begin?

0:28:14 > 0:28:16LAUGHTER

0:28:16 > 0:28:21# But it really doesn't matter Whom you put upon the list

0:28:21 > 0:28:25# For they'd none of them be missed They'd NONE of them being missed!

0:28:25 > 0:28:28# You may put them on the list You may put them on the list

0:28:28 > 0:28:32# And they'll none of them be missed They'll none of them be missed. #

0:28:37 > 0:28:39APPLAUSE

0:28:39 > 0:28:41The BBC Symphony Orchestra and chorus and Sir Thomas Allen,

0:28:41 > 0:28:47conducted by Leonard Slatkin in the Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan.

0:28:48 > 0:28:49A complete change of mood now

0:28:49 > 0:28:53as we hear from Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations.

0:28:53 > 0:28:56Nimrod is often heard as a piece in its own right,

0:28:56 > 0:28:57especially on solemn occasions,

0:28:57 > 0:29:01perhaps most notably at the ceremony at the Cenotaph in London

0:29:01 > 0:29:02on Remembrance Sunday.

0:33:13 > 0:33:16Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma Variations,

0:33:16 > 0:33:18played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,

0:33:18 > 0:33:21conducted by Gennadi Rozhdestvensky.

0:33:21 > 0:33:23In the aftermath of the First World War,

0:33:23 > 0:33:27Elgar reflected musically on the changed world in his Cello Concerto,

0:33:27 > 0:33:29it was his last major work.

0:33:29 > 0:33:31In the 1960s the piece found new audiences

0:33:31 > 0:33:34with the a celebrated recording by Jacqueline du Pre.

0:33:34 > 0:33:38We hear the second movement scherzo, played by Paul Watkins.

0:36:55 > 0:36:58The scherzo from Elgar's cello Concerto.

0:36:58 > 0:37:00Paul Watkins and the BBC Symphony Orchestra,

0:37:00 > 0:37:03conducted by Jiri Belohlavek

0:37:03 > 0:37:07Along with the great hymn Jerusalem, Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory

0:37:07 > 0:37:10has become one of England's unofficial national anthems.

0:37:10 > 0:37:13The tune came first, The Pomp and Circumstance March Number One.

0:37:13 > 0:37:15The words were added later.

0:37:15 > 0:37:18Land of Hope and Glory is a regular part of the Last Night of the Proms,

0:37:18 > 0:37:22sung by great gusto by thousands of people in the Royal Albert Hall

0:37:22 > 0:37:24and across the road at Hyde Park.

0:40:12 > 0:40:23# Land of Hope and Glory Mother of the Free

0:40:23 > 0:40:33# How shall we extol thee Who are born of thee?

0:40:33 > 0:40:45# Wider still and wider Shall thy bounds be set

0:40:45 > 0:40:56# God who made thee mighty Make thee mightier yet

0:40:56 > 0:41:07# God who made thee mighty Make thee mightier yet. #

0:42:10 > 0:42:22# Land of Hope and Glory Mother of the Free

0:42:22 > 0:42:34# How shall we extol thee Who are born of thee?

0:42:34 > 0:42:45# Wider still and wider Shall thy bounds be set

0:42:45 > 0:42:58# God who made thee mighty Make thee mightier yet

0:42:58 > 0:43:15# God who made thee mighty Make thee mightier yet. #

0:43:22 > 0:43:25CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:43:53 > 0:43:56Now, I hope you're having a very nice time, eh?

0:43:56 > 0:43:57CHEERING

0:43:57 > 0:43:58But, to be honest,

0:43:58 > 0:44:01I can't really hear anything above the sound of the two piccolos!

0:44:01 > 0:44:03LAUGHTER

0:44:04 > 0:44:06You don't, you don't really want to go home

0:44:06 > 0:44:08and tell all your friends and family

0:44:08 > 0:44:10you mumbled through Land of Hope And Glory, do you?

0:44:10 > 0:44:11LAUGHTER

0:44:13 > 0:44:15BOOING

0:44:33 > 0:44:44# Land of Hope and Glory Mother of the Free

0:44:44 > 0:44:56# How shall we extol thee Who are born of thee?

0:44:56 > 0:45:07# Wider still and wider Shall thy bounds be set

0:45:07 > 0:45:19# God who made thee mighty Make thee mightier yet

0:45:19 > 0:45:37# God who made thee mighty Make thee mightier yet. #

0:45:39 > 0:45:43CHEERING

0:45:49 > 0:45:52CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:45:52 > 0:45:55Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March Number One,

0:45:55 > 0:46:00conducted by Edward Gardner at the Last Night of the Proms in 2011.

0:46:00 > 0:46:03Eric Coates was a great composer of Light Music.

0:46:03 > 0:46:07His score the 1955 film The Dam Busters

0:46:07 > 0:46:11conjures up the resolve, daring-do and patriotic pride

0:46:11 > 0:46:14of one of the greatest operations of the Second World War.

0:49:46 > 0:49:48APPLAUSE

0:49:48 > 0:49:51John Wilson conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra

0:49:51 > 0:49:55in that performance of The Dam Busters by Eric Coates.

0:49:55 > 0:49:59Traditional folk tunes have been hugely influential to English music.

0:49:59 > 0:50:01At the Last Night of the Proms in 2005

0:50:01 > 0:50:04two of the great artists came together

0:50:04 > 0:50:05to perform a famous folksong.

0:50:05 > 0:50:09Countertenor Andreas Scholl and guitarist John Williams

0:50:09 > 0:50:11had never performed together before.

0:50:25 > 0:50:33# Down by the salley gardens

0:50:33 > 0:50:40# My love and I did meet

0:50:40 > 0:50:47# She passed the salley gardens

0:50:47 > 0:50:54# With little snow-white feet

0:50:54 > 0:51:02# She bid me take love easy

0:51:02 > 0:51:09# As the leaves grow on the tree

0:51:09 > 0:51:17# But I being young and foolish

0:51:17 > 0:51:24# With her did not agree

0:51:38 > 0:51:45# In a field down by the river

0:51:45 > 0:51:52# My love and I did stand

0:51:53 > 0:52:00# And on my leaning shoulder

0:52:00 > 0:52:08# She placed her snow-white hand

0:52:08 > 0:52:16# She bid me take life easy

0:52:16 > 0:52:23# As the grass grows on the weirs

0:52:25 > 0:52:33# But I was young and foolish

0:52:34 > 0:52:42# And now I am full of tears

0:52:47 > 0:52:56# Down by the salley gardens

0:52:57 > 0:53:10# My love and I did meet. #

0:53:12 > 0:53:14APPLAUSE

0:53:14 > 0:53:16Down By The Sally Garden.

0:53:16 > 0:53:20Andreas Scholl and John Williams.

0:53:20 > 0:53:22We end this programme of Great British music

0:53:22 > 0:53:25with the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.

0:53:25 > 0:53:27Often performed on its own,

0:53:27 > 0:53:31it's the stirring close of the second part of Handel's oratorio

0:53:31 > 0:53:35depicting the coming, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

0:53:35 > 0:53:38The Hallelujah Chorus is probably the most widely performed

0:53:38 > 0:53:40and best-known piece of British baroque music.

0:53:40 > 0:53:43The English concert is conducted by Trevor Pinnock.

0:53:52 > 0:53:57# Hallelujah, hallelujah,

0:53:57 > 0:54:02# Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

0:54:02 > 0:54:05# Hallelujah, hallelujah,

0:54:05 > 0:54:10# Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

0:54:10 > 0:54:17# For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth

0:54:17 > 0:54:21# Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah

0:54:21 > 0:54:28# For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth

0:54:28 > 0:54:33# Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah

0:54:33 > 0:54:39# For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth

0:54:39 > 0:54:40# Hallelujah

0:54:40 > 0:54:46# For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth

0:54:46 > 0:54:48# Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

0:54:48 > 0:54:55# For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth

0:54:55 > 0:54:57# Hallelujah

0:55:00 > 0:55:05# The kingdom of this world

0:55:06 > 0:55:11# Is become

0:55:11 > 0:55:15# The kingdom of our Lord

0:55:15 > 0:55:20# And of His Christ And of His Christ

0:55:20 > 0:55:25# And He shall reign for ever and ever

0:55:25 > 0:55:31# And He shall reign for ever and ever

0:55:31 > 0:55:36# And He shall reign for ever and ever

0:55:36 > 0:55:43# And He shall reign for ever and ever

0:55:43 > 0:55:49# King of kings for ever and ever Hallelujah, hallelujah

0:55:49 > 0:55:56# And Lord of lords for ever and ever Hallelujah, hallelujah

0:55:57 > 0:55:59# King of kings

0:55:59 > 0:56:03# For ever and ever Hallelujah, hallelujah

0:56:03 > 0:56:06# And Lord of lords

0:56:06 > 0:56:11# For ever and ever Hallelujah, hallelujah

0:56:11 > 0:56:13# King of kings

0:56:13 > 0:56:17# For ever and ever Hallelujah, hallelujah

0:56:17 > 0:56:20# And Lord of lords

0:56:20 > 0:56:25# King of kings and Lord of lords

0:56:25 > 0:56:28# And he shall reign And he shall reign

0:56:28 > 0:56:31# And he shall reign He shall reign

0:56:31 > 0:56:34# And he shall reign And he shall reign

0:56:34 > 0:56:37# For ever and ever

0:56:37 > 0:56:39# King of kings

0:56:39 > 0:56:41# For ever and ever

0:56:41 > 0:56:44# And Lord of lords

0:56:44 > 0:56:46# Hallelujah, hallelujah

0:56:46 > 0:56:53# And he shall reign For ever and ever

0:56:53 > 0:56:57# King of kings and Lord of lords

0:56:58 > 0:57:02# King of kings and Lord of lords

0:57:02 > 0:57:06# And he shall reign For ever and ever

0:57:06 > 0:57:09# For ever and ever And ever and ever

0:57:09 > 0:57:14# King of kings and Lord of lords

0:57:14 > 0:57:18# Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah

0:57:19 > 0:57:31# Hallelujah. #

0:57:33 > 0:57:35APPLAUSE

0:57:38 > 0:57:41Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd