:00:35. > :00:38.Over the past seven weeks here on BBC Four we've travelled the world
:00:39. > :00:40.in the company of some far-flung international visitors from China,
:00:41. > :00:43.in the company of some far-flung Switzerland, Turkey and Australia.
:00:44. > :00:52.Over the next couple of hours we will be bringing you the best of the
:00:53. > :00:55.West. Hello. Tonight we're live at the
:00:56. > :00:58.Royal Albert Hall to welcome some of the greatest musicians from across
:00:59. > :01:02.the pond - The Cleveland Orchestra. Tonight we're live at the Royal
:01:03. > :01:04.Albert Hall to welcome some of the greatest musicians from across the
:01:05. > :01:08.pond - The Cleveland Orchestra. They'll finish with the mighty First
:01:09. > :01:11.Symphony by Johannes Brahms - a work which occupied and obsessed him for
:01:12. > :01:13.over 20 years. Also tonight, a brand new and brilliantly elegant Flute
:01:14. > :01:16.Concerto by Jorg Widmann. But first, they open with Brahms's
:01:17. > :01:19.Academic Festival Overture. Not the best title for a piece of music -
:01:20. > :01:23.even Brahms didn't like it - but it served a purpose. He wrote it for
:01:24. > :01:24.the University of Breslau as a thank you for awarding him an honorary
:01:25. > :01:35.doctorate. Brahms himself described it as an
:01:36. > :01:38.overture "full of laughter" and whilst it might not have us rolling
:01:39. > :01:41.in the aisles today, it is great fun. Based on a medley of German
:01:42. > :01:44.student songs, for The Cleveland Orchestra it's more frat party than
:01:45. > :01:47.final exams. And here comes tonight's conductor,
:01:48. > :01:50.the Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Most, to put
:01:51. > :11:43.the Fest in Brahms's Academic Festival Overture.
:11:44. > :12:15.Franz Wesler-Most there, conducting the Cleveland Orchestra.
:12:16. > :12:25.The Orchestra has announced the goal of having the audience of the
:12:26. > :12:31.youngest ever. They have set up an institution to teach people about
:12:32. > :12:32.classical music. For my money, they are going about it the right way.
:12:33. > :12:49.Force Well, next the Cleveland Orchestra
:12:50. > :12:51.are bringing us a new work, a concerto for their principal
:12:52. > :12:52.flautist Joshua Smith, written by their former composer-in-residence,
:12:53. > :12:54.Jorg Widmann. Tonight, some friendly faces from
:12:55. > :12:57.across the Proms season will be joining me, starting with none other
:12:58. > :12:58.than the writer and broadcaster, Tom Service.
:12:59. > :13:02.Tell us a bit about Jorg Widmann? He is one of the most interesting
:13:03. > :13:06.composures around of any generation. What he does is so interesting and
:13:07. > :13:10.appealing for audiences. He takes things you think you know, fragments
:13:11. > :13:14.of the classical, romantic and in this case in the Concerto we are
:13:15. > :13:19.going to hear, Fluet en Suite, things to do with the Baroque
:13:20. > :13:23.tradition and especially a piece of Bach that people may know for a
:13:24. > :13:28.flute solo and Orchestra, I won't say too much, it should be fairly
:13:29. > :13:33.obvious towards the end of the Concerto. He takes those ideas and
:13:34. > :13:37.refashions them. He is playing a game, between things you think of
:13:38. > :13:42.heard before but are sounding new as well. Which is why his music is so
:13:43. > :13:48.appealing. When this particular piece of work was premier, I gather
:13:49. > :13:52.it got a standing ovation He says this doesn't belong to his epic
:13:53. > :14:01.Concertos. He has written so much already. He is one of the world's
:14:02. > :14:06.sought-after clarinettists: He is he has written opera, and la large
:14:07. > :14:11.catalogue of orchestral pieces and chamber works. This piece ends with
:14:12. > :14:15.a flourish, and this very special Baroque reference at the end. The
:14:16. > :14:20.way the Concerto works is a suite of dances. A lot of music at the begin
:14:21. > :14:24.something quite slow but it never loses a sense of pulse and above
:14:25. > :14:29.all, colour. It puts the Orchestra into groups, we start with the flute
:14:30. > :14:33.flying with a family of flutes, the bass flute, piccolo and everything
:14:34. > :14:36.in between and all the orchestral groups you hear in the seven
:14:37. > :14:40.movements before the final one, the eighth movement only comes together
:14:41. > :14:45.in that finale. It has a trajectory all the way through T it is
:14:46. > :14:51.beguiling. The you mentioned him as a collar inetist, is he particularly
:14:52. > :14:59.close to the wood wind sound, do you think -- clan ettist.
:15:00. > :15:03.He -- clarinetist. He says writing for instruments he
:15:04. > :15:07.doesn't know so well pushes any more another direction. He understands
:15:08. > :15:10.all of these instruments, frankly, brill brilliantly. One important
:15:11. > :15:17.thing is that he is using a sound world which comes from - it's got
:15:18. > :15:21.everything in it, in a way. It has German composures, and others who
:15:22. > :15:25.are influences on him. Yet there is this relationship with classical
:15:26. > :15:32.traditions. He is drawing on a huge palate. What is brilliant about him,
:15:33. > :15:35.is he is able to put it together to create a coherent suite in this
:15:36. > :15:39.piece, and approximate in pretty well everything I have heard n
:15:40. > :15:49.different ways. Tell us about what we are going to hear, the flutist,
:15:50. > :15:53.jos. -- Josh? It was written with Joshua Smith in mind. Hearing him
:15:54. > :15:58.play the piece in rehearsal and a recording t sounds like the whole
:15:59. > :16:04.Orchestra, which is a combination between real precision and a great
:16:05. > :16:07.deal of warmth as well. There is a piece for Joshua, written for him,
:16:08. > :16:11.he has to sing and play at the same time. So you get this really
:16:12. > :16:15.strange, sort of double voice. You almost think there is two - you
:16:16. > :16:19.think it is a sound that can only be introduced by two instruments, two
:16:20. > :16:21.players, and it is him. The beatboxing of the
:16:22. > :16:23.players, and it is him. The here in the Royal Albert Hall. Who
:16:24. > :16:51.That is kind of an upbeat for a thought we would ever hear that.
:16:52. > :17:02.That is kind of an upbeat for a genuinely funny piece. You don't
:17:03. > :17:06.That is kind of an upbeat for a Wide margin -- Josh is their
:17:07. > :17:07.principal flautist. Do you feel there is a
:17:08. > :17:15.principal flautist. Do you feel writing for a? Yes.
:17:16. > :17:19.principal flautist. Do you feel has in their
:17:20. > :17:20.principal flautist. Do you feel partnership is with George Snell.
:17:21. > :17:27.principal flautist. Do you feel was about bringing a European warmth
:17:28. > :17:31.precision and glamour of the American sense. That is what these
:17:32. > :17:39.guys have got, I think. We are going to hear it in spades. There is
:17:40. > :17:41.Joshua Smith coming to take his place as the soloist in tonight's
:17:42. > :42:02.flute suite. Well, we said there might be some
:42:03. > :42:11.laughter towards the end. There was. Lots of cheers. But Joshua Smith,
:42:12. > :42:19.the soloist in that Jorg Widmann Concerto, Fluet en Suite, formed
:42:20. > :42:20.here on the BBC Proms, with the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by
:42:21. > :42:41.Franz Wesler-Most. And, as Joshua Smith comes back on
:42:42. > :42:45.to the stage, to take another bow, I'm sure I don't have to tell you
:42:46. > :42:59.what that rather famous work in the last movement was, but in case you
:43:00. > :43:07.have forgotten, it was from Bach. You may have spotted that rare
:43:08. > :43:11.thing, an orchestral harps chord. They are bringing back Baroque and
:43:12. > :43:27.the 18th century vibe to that very new work. The famous work was Bach's
:43:28. > :43:32.Badinerie. They are waiting to welcome the composure, Jorg Widmann,
:43:33. > :43:37.on to the stage. He is on his way, we are pretty sure. Who knows. He
:43:38. > :43:40.must have been right up at the back. Meanwhile, the Orchestra on their
:43:41. > :43:50.feet. There he is, there is Jorg Widmann. Not just a composure as we
:43:51. > :43:56.were hearing earlier. He is a conductor a clarinettist. Obviously
:43:57. > :43:59.very popular with the musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra, too.
:44:00. > :44:05.APPLAUSE A really warm response for that work
:44:06. > :44:23.here in the Royal Albert Hall. A really musical family he comes
:44:24. > :44:27.from. His sister is the violinist, Carolin Widmann, she foamed a
:44:28. > :44:31.Stravinsky Concerto for the violin here at the Proms a few years ago,
:44:32. > :44:33.some of you may remember. -- she performed. It is time for the
:44:34. > :44:40.interval. Well, time for the interval and in
:44:41. > :44:43.20 minutes' time, the Cleveland Orchestra will be tackling one of
:44:44. > :44:45.the greats - Brahms's First Symphony.
:44:46. > :44:47.But in the meantime, I'm glad to say that I'm still joined by Tom
:44:48. > :44:50.Service. What did you make of that? Was it
:44:51. > :44:55.everything you hoped for and more -- I'm glad to say Tom is still with
:44:56. > :45:01.me. Well, it did but in the end. Bach's Badinerie and William Tell. ?
:45:02. > :45:05.Yes. I thought I spotted it. All that going on. In the middle of that
:45:06. > :45:14.playfulness, a moment of great Loire civil and beauty. But again, cunning
:45:15. > :45:18.which the, the Venitian gondola song, that's what the music was
:45:19. > :45:24.called when the tap, tap enters the buk et. Gags around Loire civil. It
:45:25. > :45:28.is a dream of Baroque suite seen through a modernistic prism. Just as
:45:29. > :45:32.you thought you knew what was going to happen next it
:45:33. > :45:33.you thought you knew what was going off silter. A quote I have here
:45:34. > :45:48.says. "Sunken worlds suddenly emerge, only
:45:49. > :45:49.to reach the surface, hover in dangerously distorted fashion and
:45:50. > :45:57.then sink back to the bottom." I thought it was more fun than that?
:45:58. > :46:01.Yes, that is with his work, they end up going caricatures, monsters,
:46:02. > :46:06.rather than a thing of beauty. But he went through the mire on that and
:46:07. > :46:11.came up with something in its own terms that was ro dollently sensual.
:46:12. > :46:15.The great thing about it, is, if you don't know the pieces or tradition
:46:16. > :46:20.it comes from, none matters. That reception from the Prommers, proves,
:46:21. > :46:23.this is music that works as that performance, above all, for that
:46:24. > :46:26.performance for the people who was written for, Cleveland Orchestra and
:46:27. > :46:31.Joshua Smith. It was a tour de force. So many different styles of
:46:32. > :46:35.playing ie. ' In flautist, but you could see he was running the gap it
:46:36. > :46:40.there. Technically speaking, it was really stuff what he has done.
:46:41. > :46:43.Looking at the score, there is a lot for him to get his chops around,
:46:44. > :46:47.even from the iPad. But he seemed completely in the music. That's one
:46:48. > :46:51.of the thing about new pieces, when they are written for Orchestras and
:46:52. > :46:54.performers and when people do them, over and over again, they get a
:46:55. > :47:00.chance to become classics, as familiar to that Orchestra and
:47:01. > :47:01.Joshua, as Brahms, if you like. I think think then the performance
:47:02. > :47:05.only gets better. More new think think then the performance
:47:06. > :47:08.needs that chance to become part of the blood of that Orchestra. It gets
:47:09. > :47:17.under And another member of the Proms
:47:18. > :47:20.family is back stage. Razia Iqbal will be meeting some of the
:47:21. > :47:23.musicians in tonight's concert, starting
:47:24. > :47:25.musicians in tonight's concert, and Jorg Widmann.
:47:26. > :47:33.What a performance. Thank you very much for joining me hot off the
:47:34. > :47:36.stage. Jorg Widmann, this was the UK premier, although your work has been
:47:37. > :47:43.played for. Was that an exciting moment? It was exciting. I wrote the
:47:44. > :47:46.played for. Was that an exciting piece for Josh and for Franz
:47:47. > :47:50.Welser-Most, and the Cleveland Orchestra but hearing it here in
:47:51. > :47:54.this wonderful atmosphere in such circumstances was very touching.
:47:55. > :47:58.Joshua, this was written for. How does that work, when you know this
:47:59. > :48:02.piece has been writ enfor you specifically? It is such an amazing
:48:03. > :48:05.experience, really. Jorg and I didn't really know each other well
:48:06. > :48:07.when he was writing the piece. I was very hands off
:48:08. > :48:13.when he was writing the piece. I was him to be able to do whatever he
:48:14. > :48:16.getting is something that really getting is something that really
:48:17. > :48:20.does feel that it reflects, somehow, everything that is inside of my
:48:21. > :48:23.head, which is amazing. He is great for that. You say you kept your
:48:24. > :48:28.distance, but did you want input from Joshua? Well, actually then,
:48:29. > :48:32.afterwards, we had very, very close - we worked very closely together,
:48:33. > :48:37.going back and forth. I wrote some pages and he wrote comments. I
:48:38. > :48:42.remember, the wrong proportions I had because a miscalculation, just a
:48:43. > :48:46.number, remembering the numbers. So, I think that is really how I
:48:47. > :48:51.consider a collaboration like that should be, really, because from all
:48:52. > :48:56.sides, everybody wants to be experimental and we try and it is a
:48:57. > :49:00.premier. Nobody ever has heard the piece. Nobody ever played it and I
:49:01. > :49:05.think that's how it was done in former times as well. I'm sure the
:49:06. > :49:15.former composures they all - and even from my instrument, one cannot
:49:16. > :49:18.compare it, but when they wrote for the clarinettists, they are all
:49:19. > :49:23.written for certain players and I would not have been able to write
:49:24. > :49:27.this piece without Joshua's help. The UK premier, Joshua, how does it
:49:28. > :49:31.feel to step out in front of the Orchestra? It is amazing. It feels
:49:32. > :49:36.surreal but it is such a fantastic experience, really, yes. And you are
:49:37. > :49:40.basically playing in the Brahms, in the second half. Are you crazy?
:49:41. > :49:47.Crazy. Crazy. Gentlemen, thank you both very much. Good luck in the
:49:48. > :49:56.Brahms. That's it from us for now. We will be seeing you again shortly.
:49:57. > :50:02.I'm delighted to say I'm joined by tonight's conductor. That was
:50:03. > :50:05.wondserful. You have been with the Cleveland Orchestra for what, 12
:50:06. > :50:10.years, you are the best-placed person to ask - tell us a little bit
:50:11. > :50:15.about the Orchestra, and the sound you are creating? The sound is
:50:16. > :50:22.created very much in our hall at home, in Cleveland which has a lot
:50:23. > :50:27.of intimacy. It is a gorgeous optical hall from 1930. It is really
:50:28. > :50:33.one of the best concert halls in the world. You can make refinement,
:50:34. > :50:40.which, in a lot of halls, are not possible. It is so - so it creates a
:50:41. > :50:46.sort of chamber music feel in the Orchestra, which is sort we are very
:50:47. > :50:51.different to other American Orchestras because of that hall. A
:50:52. > :50:57.lot of big concert halls in America, lead to American Orchestras playing
:50:58. > :51:00.sort of muscular, let's say and that's very different with this
:51:01. > :51:06.Orchestra. So you are going for a precision, is that right? It's, on
:51:07. > :51:14.one side it is precision, and the other thing is, as I sort of - I
:51:15. > :51:21.would call myself a big opera freak. I love singing sound. And that's
:51:22. > :51:27.something I demand always from them, that they shape long lines, that
:51:28. > :51:31.sing through the instrument. Nine years since you were last here in
:51:32. > :51:38.the Royal Albert Hall at the Proms, my goodness, how time flies, how is
:51:39. > :51:50.it to be back? Wonderful. It's definitely a unique setting and it's
:51:51. > :51:55.really such a special audience. In most conduct halls, in yoorp and in
:51:56. > :52:00.America, in the first few rows, you see people, very often well-dressed.
:52:01. > :52:04.-- in Europe. But you can tell they go, maybe not because of the music.
:52:05. > :52:07.Here you come in and you have the feeling everyone in the room is a
:52:08. > :52:11.true music-lover and that makes it very special. No danger of them all
:52:12. > :52:16.being well-dressed. That's for sure. No problem there. Listen, we are
:52:17. > :52:22.going to hear a different side of Brahms in the second half. We had
:52:23. > :52:26.the jolly Brahms in the Academic Festival Overture now the first
:52:27. > :52:31.symphony coming up. How will we enjoy your interpretation? The first
:52:32. > :52:36.symphony, everyone knows it took him a long time to write that because
:52:37. > :52:46.the big shadow of Beethoven was still in the room. And he - you can
:52:47. > :52:51.tell that he's inspired by Beethoven. I love to look at these
:52:52. > :52:56.photographs of Brahms and at that age, when he wrote that symphony,
:52:57. > :53:02.you can fell in his eyes, there is an enormous fire. So, I'm sort of
:53:03. > :53:09.not going for the more solemn and, you know with a long beard Brahms, I
:53:10. > :53:13.love the inner fire of that music. And, well, as you say, we do have
:53:14. > :53:18.this image of Brahms with the big beard, the #08d man, but we heard
:53:19. > :53:24.very youthful music at the beginning of tonight's pro.s -- old man?
:53:25. > :53:29.Absolutely. -- tonight's Proms Absolutely. You hear the influence
:53:30. > :53:37.of Beethoven but, like, in the opening of the last movement, it is
:53:38. > :53:43.a requiem to Schumann. You can hear he knew the music of Schumann
:53:44. > :53:50.extremely well. I just like, in principle, I like it when it is not
:53:51. > :53:55.too heavy. Food or music. Well, go and have something to eat now in the
:53:56. > :54:01.interval. Nothing too heavy and we look forward to hearing Brahms First
:54:02. > :54:06.symphony in the second half. Well, over now to Razia again,
:54:07. > :54:11.because she is at the helm with a group, and as you have heard we have
:54:12. > :54:18.stellar musicians and we have two standing by with Razia. I'm in the
:54:19. > :54:23.green room joined by Tanya Ell, playing the cello and Jessie
:54:24. > :54:26.McCormick who plays the horn, both proudly holding their instruments,
:54:27. > :54:29.as though they are extensions of their bodies. Welcome to the Proms
:54:30. > :54:33.all the way from owe high yoe. Tell me, what has your experience been
:54:34. > :54:40.like here? Phenomenal. We are so honoured to be here. There is such a
:54:41. > :54:45.unique festival atmosphere. We were totally unprepared for the poem they
:54:46. > :54:49.read at the beginning before we played which loosens everyone up. It
:54:50. > :54:54.was great. What about you? Exciting so far. We had our first rehearsal
:54:55. > :54:58.this morning in the Royal Albert Hall which is quite a busy place as
:54:59. > :55:02.we found out when we arrived. But it has been really fun to play in such
:55:03. > :55:08.a unique atmosphere here. Yours is an Orchestra with a long history,
:55:09. > :55:13.going back to 1918. Does that make a difference to the sound, how you
:55:14. > :55:16.play, that history that tradition? Well, we would really like tow think
:55:17. > :55:21.that Well, we would really like tow think
:55:22. > :55:27.down. -- to think. When we joined the Orchestra there were a few
:55:28. > :55:30.members left from a long time ago. You learn by sitting in the
:55:31. > :55:34.Orchestra and picking it up. We hope to do the same thing for the members
:55:35. > :55:39.coming in. You were here nine years ago. Give me an example of a typical
:55:40. > :55:42.day in the life of someone who is in the Cleveland Orchestra? It depends
:55:43. > :55:50.on where we are. If we are on tour or in Cleveland or, you knows where,
:55:51. > :55:55.where our travels take us. I joined right after the Orchestra last
:55:56. > :55:58.returned to Royal Albert Hall. So you have been hearing for years
:55:59. > :56:03.about what it was like it experience this. So, it is pretty exciting to
:56:04. > :56:06.actually be here finally. And every day is different for you?
:56:07. > :56:12.Definitely. I mean sometimes you will find us at our music, our
:56:13. > :56:20.summer home which is Blossom Music Festival. An outdoor amphitheatre.
:56:21. > :56:26.We also have a home in Miami. And we also travel to Europe. And the
:56:27. > :56:30.Brahms First symphony coming up. Challenging playing that? -- and the
:56:31. > :56:34.Brahms As a horn player all four symphonies have their own unique
:56:35. > :56:38.challenges. It is the first symphony of his I got to know. It is probably
:56:39. > :56:41.the symphony I have played the least so far with the Orchestra. So I'm
:56:42. > :56:43.looking forward to all the performance opportunities we have on
:56:44. > :56:47.this tour, starting with tonight. Thank you both so much for speaking
:56:48. > :56:54.to us. Enjoy the second half of the concert. Katie, back to you. Thank
:56:55. > :56:59.you. Tom is here, still with me. As we look forward to that Brahms and
:57:00. > :57:04.enjoy the sound of the Cleveland Orchestra, fascinating hearing from
:57:05. > :57:07.from Franz Wesler-Most, about the sound he tries to create, the
:57:08. > :57:11.precision, is that something you have picked up over the years or
:57:12. > :57:15.that he has created? To me, it is more about the singing qualities he
:57:16. > :57:21.was talking about. I mean his experience of as an opera conductor,
:57:22. > :57:25.until very recently in Vienna, is something I think he has brought in
:57:26. > :57:30.a way to the Orchestra. One of the - if there was a criticism of the
:57:31. > :57:34.previous conductor's time, there is a hard-driven quality to some of
:57:35. > :57:39.those performances but that was already back in 1970s, the Orchestra
:57:40. > :57:44.has changed since that. That singing quality is S I remember a
:57:45. > :57:54.performance he gave with this Orchestra of a new world #1i78
:57:55. > :57:57.phoney. New world symphony, it was operaticically dramatic, like I have
:57:58. > :58:00.never heard before. We spend time talking about the central European
:58:01. > :58:04.sound or German sound and we generalise about the American sound
:58:05. > :58:08.but it becomes very clear how many fine Orchestras there are in America
:58:09. > :58:12.and how they all have their own character, of course They are all
:58:13. > :58:15.different. The big five, Los Angeles, New York, Boston,
:58:16. > :58:18.Cleveland. They have their particular sound and particular
:58:19. > :58:23.traditions. A whole sweep of music-making in America. It is
:58:24. > :58:26.absolutely impossible to generalise. I think Franz Wesler-Most is right
:58:27. > :58:30.in a sense to talk about - there has to be, in a wakes what he called a
:58:31. > :58:36.muscular quality of playing - because of the sizes of the houses
:58:37. > :58:42.they are often playing to. The New York fill mobbic, folk -- New York,
:58:43. > :58:46.Philharmonic, folk. The other thing about this season, has been hearing
:58:47. > :58:51.Orchestras from all over the world. Do you think the centre of gravity
:58:52. > :58:56.is moving, as we start hearing orchestras from China, South Korea
:58:57. > :59:02.and Qatar? I think what it proves is rather the sense, that the idea of
:59:03. > :59:07.the Orchestra, the idea of orchestral music - first of all the
:59:08. > :59:15.repertoirical take all different interpretations, which is why we
:59:16. > :59:19.still listen to, for example, Brahms Fist Symphony. Each conductor will
:59:20. > :59:23.create their own meanings in their cultures, whether it is Qatar,
:59:24. > :59:28.Singapore, Iceland or Cleveland. They might like the same, a load of
:59:29. > :59:33.people on stage playing music in the Royal Albert Hall but they are all
:59:34. > :59:38.doing sitely different things. It makes it so exciting, doesn't it. --
:59:39. > :59:40.slightly different things. Stay right there, we'll hear them tackle
:59:41. > :59:56.Brahms First Symphony. Now, everyone's favourite musical
:59:57. > :59:59.guide, pianistic genius David Owen Norris, famous for his Chord of the
:00:00. > :00:03.Week on Proms Extra, gets a chance to look at more than just one chord,
:00:04. > :00:05.as he shows Razia Iqbal some things to listen out for in this epic
:00:06. > :00:08.work. It wasn't easy for Brahms to write a
:00:09. > :00:11.symphony? No, it wasn't. Everyone was expecting it but he had the
:00:12. > :00:15.shadow of Beethoven, so he took 20 years to think about it. A symphony
:00:16. > :00:18.full of thought and ideas. And over a long period of time, so track some
:00:19. > :00:22.of the ideas and themes in the symphony for us? The first bit he
:00:23. > :00:26.wrote down was the beginning of the fast section of the first movement
:00:27. > :00:33.which he wrote down in 1862. The premier wasn't until 1876. Some of
:00:34. > :00:38.the ideas there come back all the time. There is contrary motion where
:00:39. > :00:44.I hands go into different directions, I'm using black notes as
:00:45. > :00:49.well as white notes. Then he has, four notes following in a very
:00:50. > :00:53.famous rhythm. He has Beethoven in his mind, right from the beginning.
:00:54. > :00:58.And a moment later he has another idea. I think of it as notes next to
:00:59. > :01:02.each other. He draws our attention to them with funny discordant
:01:03. > :01:14.harmonies. So, we are going to hear those a
:01:15. > :01:19.lot. Then after that, he takes his Beethoven five rhythm apart. And
:01:20. > :01:22.then eventually they get to a big note. And then it goes all through
:01:23. > :01:32.the orchestra, like this. What does he do? How does he bring
:01:33. > :01:36.together all of these ideas that he has been percolating for more than
:01:37. > :01:41.20 years? How do they come together? In the development section, the bit
:01:42. > :01:46.we go through in order triumphantly return to the first ideas, he puts
:01:47. > :01:51.together, for example, two versions of the Beethoven, five and the one
:01:52. > :01:57.we heard, the quick one, and statement he is simply going --
:01:58. > :02:00.Beethoven five, in the bass. And a few pages later, he does the same
:02:01. > :02:15.rhythm but with a contrary motion. And there he is, back at the
:02:16. > :02:18.beginning. Let's talk about the slow movement. Which is really
:02:19. > :02:25.remarkable. What is it, about it, that makes it special? It is in a
:02:26. > :02:30.very unexpected kee. We have been in C minor. At the end he changes it
:02:31. > :02:34.into an E natural. And he says - that's the note I'm going to pick
:02:35. > :02:45.and my slow movement is going to be in E major. And in the second bar,
:02:46. > :02:52.the horns play "Beethoven five" and a moment later we have kromatic
:02:53. > :02:58.contrary motion. And then Brahms thinks of other
:02:59. > :03:12.things to do, gentle things to do with the Beethoven five rhythm. And
:03:13. > :03:16.then the owe bee makes a tune of it. Really lovely. And the third
:03:17. > :03:24.movement, also in an unusual key, how does he turn the corner? It goes
:03:25. > :03:27.up, from C to E and now we go from A flat. And the clarinet has a nice
:03:28. > :03:38.little tune. All that is, really, is the four
:03:39. > :03:41.notes falling but decorated with notes next to each other, so that
:03:42. > :03:51.last note doesn't arrive for ages. And Brahms put that procedure into
:03:52. > :03:59.our mind for later. It comes back, that idea. How does he move towards
:04:00. > :04:04.the finale. Lots of loose ends to tie up He needs to show us these
:04:05. > :04:10.different ideas in one grand Meldy. He decides to Mick a reference to
:04:11. > :04:14.Beethoven's Ninth symphony. The notes are falling but decorated with
:04:15. > :04:27.notes next to each other once again. -- to make a reference.
:04:28. > :04:31.It is the same shape as Beethoven 9. Now in Beethoven 9, we now go... And
:04:32. > :04:45.Brahms does this... With a sneaky little bassoon, just
:04:46. > :04:47.like in the Beethoven. It wouldn't be a surprise if he finished off by
:04:48. > :04:56.going: Because, by design, they are
:04:57. > :05:00.parallel. It is interesting, isn't it? So notes next to each other, a
:05:01. > :05:06.shadow of Beethoven over him the whole time but it is an homage, too.
:05:07. > :05:10.It is a homage and an escape. He is trying to escape from Beethoven. It
:05:11. > :05:14.is homeopathic medicine. A little bit of Beethoven and you will get
:05:15. > :05:18.better. But where does he go with the big tunes? The ending is really
:05:19. > :05:25.exciting? At the end, Brahms takes a big tune and takes it apart. The
:05:26. > :05:33.first two notes, two different notes, he turns it into...
:05:34. > :05:43.A very exciting chord and then he takes the next couple of notes and
:05:44. > :05:47.he turns that into a cry of triumph. Because he has laid the ghost of
:05:48. > :05:50.Beethoven. David Owen Norris, thank you very much.
:05:51. > :05:55.David Owen Norris - who else - with his inimitable guide to
:05:56. > :05:57.Brahms's First Symphony. And if you missed yesterday's edition of Proms
:05:58. > :05:59.Extra, with David's Chord of the Week, you can see it on iPlayer. it
:06:00. > :06:06.was the last in the series. Well Tom Service is still here. We
:06:07. > :06:10.just heard the prommers talking about how much money they have
:06:11. > :06:16.raised for musical charities. Always lovely to hear about that. Of what
:06:17. > :06:22.did you reckon to David's assessment, musical homeopathy? An
:06:23. > :06:26.escape from Beethoven. Loif that, the escape happens in another way,
:06:27. > :06:35.with going further back to the past. The opening is a veiled reference to
:06:36. > :06:36.Bach, the math sue passion. It is in six eighths, and poundingly slow,
:06:37. > :06:44.and you have the pounding notes in the symphony but you hear right at
:06:45. > :06:48.the start, that David was talking about, the way Brahms is working
:06:49. > :06:52.inside the music, one line going up, one going down at the same time. If
:06:53. > :06:57.you listen to the opening of Brahms' first sieve phoney, it is not about
:06:58. > :07:04.a single theme, but a complex interweaving. That's how he escapes
:07:05. > :07:07.Beethoven. Beethoven is about cells or fragments. Brahmses a all these
:07:08. > :07:13.things going on at the same time. It is something he learnt from Schumann
:07:14. > :07:17.but above all from Bach. That's what is radical from the symphony, it is
:07:18. > :07:22.an attempt to refashion the symphony, not just for the whole
:07:23. > :07:28.1870s but to say - look at the the whole of the Brahms us a troe German
:07:29. > :07:32.culture. You have Brahms, Schumann, of course, but Brahms is
:07:33. > :07:35.culture. You have Brahms, Schumann, a vision not for just the symphony
:07:36. > :07:38.as the grandest possible form of instrumental music but also saying -
:07:39. > :07:42.this is what German culture might amount to and how we might take it
:07:43. > :07:44.forward. He was saying that but at the same time, Wagner, his huge
:07:45. > :07:48.rival was saying something completely different Absolutely.
:07:49. > :07:52.Wagner's idea is to reject almost completely the past and come up with
:07:53. > :07:58.the music of the future. He nicked a lot of it from List. But anyway, you
:07:59. > :08:01.have two competing ideas of German music, really. Brahms is about a
:08:02. > :08:05.summation, but saying - we can find the seeds of our future in this
:08:06. > :08:09.incredibly rich tradition, if we can only have the brilliance to fuse it
:08:10. > :08:10.altogether. Wagner is about saying - chuck it out, we need to start
:08:11. > :08:16.again, go further back chuck it out, we need to start
:08:17. > :08:22.Brahms took 20 years to work on it, but this is the summation of a
:08:23. > :08:28.fantastic work and I do believe, I can see our maestro tonight to
:08:29. > :08:29.conduct Brahms' first symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, refreshed,
:08:30. > :48:35.after the interval, standing by. Fl
:48:36. > :48:44.CHEERING AND APPLAUSE #
:48:45. > :49:04.What a wonderful return to the Proms for the Cleveland Orchestra. A
:49:05. > :49:10.performness of Brahms First Symphony. 20 years in the writing.
:49:11. > :49:14.Wonderful flying there by the Cleveland, conducted by the music
:49:15. > :49:34.director for the last 12 years, Franz Wesler-Most.
:49:35. > :49:42.Well, we heard a lot about before that performance about the shadow of
:49:43. > :49:47.Beethoven that held over Brahms, one of the reasons why it took him so
:49:48. > :49:52.long to write the symphony. He needn't have worried. When it
:49:53. > :49:56.appeared it was hailed as Beethoven's Tenth symphony, whether
:49:57. > :50:04.he thought that was a double-edged compliment, who knows. You may have
:50:05. > :50:09.just recognised our flutist, Joshua Smith, principal flautist for the
:50:10. > :50:17.Cleveland who played the Concerto earlier, being singled out by Franz
:50:18. > :50:22.Welser-Most, being singled out. The Orchestra led by William Preucil,
:50:23. > :55:03.who you will also have heard, foamed a solo during the Brahms.
:55:04. > :55:19.A great party piece there. An encore from the Cleveland Orchestra,
:55:20. > :55:39.thoroughly enjoyed by the musical director, Franz Wesler-Most.
:55:40. > :56:08.Cuyahoga a traditional
:56:09. > :56:12.featuring in Strauss's opera set in the time of knights and chivalry.
:56:13. > :56:14.featuring in Strauss's opera set in Well, that's it for now from this
:56:15. > :56:16.live concert at the BBC Proms. This time next week
:56:17. > :56:18.it'll all be over. But before then,
:56:19. > :56:21.tune into BBC Four on Thursday for contemporary masterworks with
:56:22. > :56:25.Tom Service, and then Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto on Friday.
:56:26. > :56:30.Saturday brings all the fun to an end in grand style, with the
:56:31. > :56:38.Last Night of the BBC Proms 2014. Do join me then.
:56:39. > :56:43.But now, from all of us here at the Royal Albert Hall, good night.