Wednesday, September 04, 2002

Monday night I went to the Royal Albert Hall for this season's 57th Prom concert. Ingo Metzmacher ("the young German conductor" according to the programme notes; chunky chappie if you ask me) conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Mahler's First Symphony ("Titan") and Holidays Symphony by American composer Charles Ives.

I was puzzling whilst watching the orchestra as to what sort of free time they get. Do they work and/or rehearse every day? What sort of holidays do they get? How many moonlight? And, what about the guy who plays a few bars on the Jew's Harp (and nothing else for the entire concert) during the Ives? Does he get full pay?

It was a grand old concert even though I couldn't solve those puzzles. The Ives is a bit of an acquired taste with loads of passages of conflicting marches. It would be as it commemorates four distinctly American holidays - Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, 4th of July and Thanksgiving. I never realised that Memorial Day, was originally called Decoration Day. It celebrates not, as you might imagine, the beginning of the summer or, indeed, the Indianapolis 500 motor race, but the US Civil War dead. The final movement is also named after Forefathers' Day, which commemorates the landing of the Pilgrim "fathers" in what is now Massachussetts.

Mahler, on the other hand, was a more traditional symphony. However, there was some non traditional instrumentation with off-stage trumpets and what I think was a bass clarinet. Good rousing stuff and a change from my normal fare of guitar bands.

Review of concert in The Times.
Review of concert in The Guardian.

:: Posted by pete @ 13:07