Wallace and Gromit at the Proms BBC Proms

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: "Wallace And Gromit Theme Tune" by Julian Nott

APPLAUSE

Hello everyone,

and welcome to the Royal Albert Hall for a very special Prom.

We'll be going on a journey this afternoon through some

wonderful orchestral music with the Aurora Orchestra behind me,

including the premiere of a new piece for piano and orchestra

called My Concerto In Ee, lad.

It's by a composer I admit I had never heard of before.

He goes by the name of Wallace.

Now, Wallace, it turns out,

is famous for being an ingenious inventor,

and his friend Gromit, it appears, is a dog,

but did you know they're both great music lovers?

PHONE RINGS

Sorry, I'm not quite sure what that is. It's probably a phone.

Hello?

'Well, this is a fine how do you do, isn't it?

'Not much of a conductor is he, lad!

'Haven't seen him punch a single ticket.

Hello, it's Nick here.

'Oh, hello! Can you put me on speaker?'

You really are already on speaker.

'Ah, good!

'Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, Wallace here.

'I'm sorry I can't be with you, but I'm backstage,

'personally overseeing the final preparations

'for my special performance.

'I've also been making some improvements

'to ensure the show runs a little smoother.

'So, without further ado I'll hand you back to the conductor,

'so have your tickets ready.

'Bye for now!'

Well, thanks for that, Wallace.

As I was saying, it's time for our next piece.

Csardas by Vittorio Monti.

I don't have my music. Excuse me, everyone.

PHONE RINGS

Erm, the phone's ringing, lad!

Don't worry, I'll get it!

Wallace and Gromit, musical marvels, making music marvellous.

'Wallace, it's Nick again.'

I thought this Maestro-Matic was all set to go,

'but I can't find my next piece of music anywhere.'

Oh, really? Are you quite sure?

I'm absolutely sure. I've looked all over my stand.

Not to worry, my trusty assistant and I

will have another copy with you in a jiffy, won't we, Gromit?

Well, he'd better do or this could get very embarrassing!

Hmph, doesn't he know who I am?

I was commissioned by Sir Albert Hall himself!

It's nice to see my true genius being recognised at last.

Thanks, lad.

That conductor'll soon be whistling a different tune,

I can tell you.

BELL RINGS

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

Here it is, finally!

Let's please welcome special guest, Tasmin Little.

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: "Csardas" by Vittorio Monti

APPLAUSE

Hmm, not bad, I suppose.

But wait till they hear my piece, Gromit.

# Pom, pom-pom, pom, pom

Wallace's Piano Concerto In Ee, lad.

Oh, speaking of which, how's that piano coming along?

Come on, lad, put some welly into it.

CLANG

Oh, heck!

Oh, that's just grand!

Here, maybe we can jemmy it out with this.

Mmm, this'll do the trick.

It's only an old one, lad.

Oh.

Don't worry! I'll soon remedy this.

Aaah! Oooh!

Oh, I'll never get this show on the road!

But maybe...

I imagine, believe it or not,

that Wallace and Gromit probably need even more time

to get everything ready for their piano concerto,

so I thought we'd take a little look down memory lane.

Both Wallace and Gromit have had their fair share of nasty exploits,

meeting some pretty horrible creatures,

and some fairly nasty characters crop up in orchestral music, too.

The Firebird by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky

tells the story of evil King Katschei

who wants to turn Prince Ivan into stone.

Perhaps Wallace could have used that trick in some of his adventures.

MUSIC: "The Infernal Dance Of King Katschei" by Stravinsky

APPLAUSE

Now, over the years we've also seen Wallace's softer side

and I know he's proved to be a bit of a catch with the ladies.

To celebrate that, we're going to play one of the most romantic pieces of classical music ever written.

Claude Debussy's "Clair De Lune", or Moonlight.

It was originally written for piano,

but here, we'll play it in a version for orchestra.

Speaking of piano, I wonder how they're getting on back there.

ENGINE STARTS

Ho hoo!

CLANG

Stand back, lad!

ENGINE REVS

Wahey!

It's perfectly tuned!

Say hello to my Petrol-Powered Piano! It's a classic!

It's got a remote control, too.

Woo-hoo!

Ha!

MUSIC: "Clair De Lune" by Debussy

LAUGHTER

LAUGHTER

LAUGHTER

LAUGHTER

LAUGHTER

APPLAUSE

Oh dear, the ones that got away.

Ah, well, no use crying over spilt milk.

Oooh!

Hey! Gromit!

You'd better get this patched up, pronto.

They need the lights!

'Oh, I knew I should've put new batteries on the shopping list!'

MUSIC: "Overture to The Magic Flute" by Mozart

'Uh, oh, no! They've started already!'

'Here, pass me a spare fuse, lad.'

'Oh, crumbs! They're in my tool box!

'Hold the fort, lad, I'll be back in a mo!'

'Oh look, a shortcut.

'It's a good job I know this place like the back of my hand.'

-THUD

-'Ow!

'I must have been looking at the wrong hand.'

-TWANG

-'Oooh!

'I've twanged me G-string!'

'The toolbox is around here somewhere.

'Don't worry, Gromit, I've got it.'

APPLAUSE

Thank goodness the lights are all back on now.

We'll definitely need them on full power for our next piece.

This is an excerpt from the fourth symphony by Russian composer

Dmitri Shostakovich.

Now, this bit of music is called a fugue.

A fugue is a little bit like a musical version of a chase,

Now, I know Wallace and Gromit have both had

their fair share of chases in their time.

MUSIC: "Fugue From 1st Movement Of Symphony No. 4" By Shostakovich

APPLAUSE

Come on, Gromit! It's nearly time for me Concerto.

And, er, I've programmed the piano to play itself. Here, listen.

-DISSONANT CLANG

-Eh?

RANDOM NOTES

Oh, crotchets!

Oh, fire!

It's castrato-ed!

Oh!

Oh, it's opus, lad!

Me masterpiece is in pieces.

What are we to do?

GROMIT CLICKS FINGERS

Hmmm?

LAUGHTER

So it's nearing the moment we've all been waiting for.

The piano should be ready any time soon

and I for one can't wait to...

BELL RINGS

What on earth is that again?

A telegram from Wallace.

"Maestro, stop. The concerto, no can do, stop.

"Sorry, technical hitch.

"You'll have to fill, stop.

"Do you know any good tunes?"

LAUGHTER

"Over."

Well.

Does anyone know any good tunes?

BRASS PLAYS WALLACE AND GROMIT THEME

Thanks, Simon, but I think we've had that one already

and we're going to have it again in the concert.

It could get a little tedious.

But I tell you what, the last bar in that tuba sounded pretty good.

Can you just give us that again, Richard?

TUBA PLAYS

I think we might have the makings of a piece.

Shall we try that, but not in the tuba, in the double bass?

That's more like it.

Let's have a little bit of rhythm on the kit.

Now, this could go on all day, so we probably need a tune.

How about something from the flute?

You all recognise that, I hope.

Nice bit of Mozart, but not quite right.

We need something with a bit more swing.

I know, the clarinet. Always go to the clarinet if you want some swing.

That's it.

Why have one clarinet when you can have two? Shall we have two?

Now while we're in the wind section, shall we try out the bassoons?

I love the bassoons. Here they are.

How about some oboes? Let's hear the oboes take flight.

And finally in the woodwind section, we've got four fluttering flutes.

Now we've got all the woodwind instruments, let's hear them

playing together as a section, shall we?

Great stuff. Let's go over to those shiny-looking gold instruments

over there, the brass, but before we do, a brief burst on the saxophone.

Now the friendly trombones.

The French horns.

Let's see what those trumpets can play.

I'm hoping they can come up with something better

than the one at the beginning.

Something suave, cool, sophisticated. Let's see.

TRUMPETS PLAY WALLACE AND GROMIT THEME

We know that one, let's hear what happens

when we put all the brass family together.

Trumpets, trombones, horns, saxophone and the tuba.

After all that big brash brass,

let's see what the civilised strings can give us.

But having heard that Shostakovich, I'm not sure how civilised they are.

Let's see how fast they can go. One, two, three!

Let's add all the woodwind...

and some brass...

some percussion and drums...

Let's all have a big workout!

APPLAUSE

Ooh!

Oh, well done lad! You limber up, I'll get this up top.

BELL RINGS

I'm hoping this will be the Piano Concerto from Wallace

and they've got things fixed... No.

It's not at all.

Double Concerto For Violin And Dog.

LAUGHTER

Not at all what I was expecting.

But on closer examination it looks like a fine work.

Gromit will be the dog so we need another violin.

I know, I've got just the thing.

Tasmin, hi. Are you still in the building?

LAUGHTER

Fantastic. Listen, how do you fancy saving our skins?

You'd be playing a brand new piece, hot off the press.

Gromit.

That's right, Gromit, yeah.

In the big hall. No one's watching.

OK, as soon as you can. Bye!

Do you fancy some crackers?

The plate's stuck to the thing so you'll have to just...

Some cheese there, as well.

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE DROWNS SPEECH

MUSIC: "Gromit's Double Concerto For Violin And Dog" by Iain Farrington

APPLAUSE

-CRASHING CYMBALS

-Well done, lad! We did it!

A regular little "Poochini", aren't you, Gromit?

THUD

You should take more care of this, you know, lad. It's priceless!

Go on, lad, open it! It won't bite.

Well done, pooch.

Oh, oh, yes. Ahem.

We'd just like to say a big thanks to all of you,

for making this such a cracking concert!

Hmm, yep, really was cracking!

TWANG

Oh, fiddle!

Er... Ever thought of trying the bassoon, lad?

MUSIC: "Wallace And Gromit Theme Tune" by Julian Nott

-AUDIENCE:

-Hey!

AUDIENCE CLAPS ALONG

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd