New music - 主播大秀 commissions and major premieres
There are 22 world premieres in 2012, the biggest number in recent years, and a further 14 UK or London premieres. There are 17 major 主播大秀 commissions, as well as an additional 10 short compositions commissioned as part of the John Cage celebration (17 August).
Youth ensembles give the premieres of a number of 主播大秀 commissions during the season, including Charlotte Bray’s At the speed of stillness performed by the Aldeburgh World Orchestra under Sir Mark Elder (29 July), Elaine Agnew’s Dark Hedges, performed jointly by the Ulster Orchestra and Ulster Youth Orchestra of Northern Ireland, with soloist Sir James Galway, under JoAnn Falletta (4 August), and Nico Muhly’s Gait for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain conducted by Vasily Petrenko (4 August).
In one weekend three 主播大秀 commissions receive their world premieres by national youth orchestras: Agro Alegría by Tim Garland, performed by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra under Mark Armstrong (10 August); Gavin Higgins’s Der Aufstand, premiered by the National Youth Wind Orchestra under James Gourlay (12 August); and Gavin Bryars’s After the Underworlds, presented by the National Youth Brass Band under Bramwell Tovey (12 August).
2012 also sees the first ever 主播大秀 commission given to a nonhuman composer. The Proms is delighted to announce a new work by popular animated character Wallace, as he presents his debut composition, My Concerto in Ee, Lad, at the children’s matinee Wallace & Gromit Prom conducted by Nicholas Collon (29 July).
Among further key 主播大秀 commissions, Nicole Lizée’s The Golden Age of the Radiophonic Workshop (Fibre-Optic Flowers), inspired by the work of Delia Derbyshire (of the 主播大秀 Radiophonic Workshop), is performed by the Kronos Quartet (24 July), while Thea Musgrave’s Loch Ness – a Postcard from Scotland is performed alongside James MacMillan’s Olympic Fanfare in a Prom given by the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the 主播大秀 Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Donald Runnicles (5 August).
Earlier that same day, Bob Chilcott’s The Angry Planet is given its world premiere by The Bach Choir, 主播大秀 Singers, National Youth Choir of Great Britain and children from several London schools, conducted by David Hill, as the culmination of a major outreach project (5 August). Later in the season the 主播大秀 Symphony Orchestra performs Helen Grime’s 主播大秀 commission Night Songs (25 August).
The world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Canon Fever, commissioned by 主播大秀 Music Magazine to mark its 20th anniversary, will open the 2012 Proms season, conducted by Edward Gardner (13 July), and there are three premieres in one Proms Saturday Matinee concert given by the Britten Sinfonia at Cadogan Hall: the world premiere of Brian Elias’s Electra Mourns and UK premieres of Michael Finnissy’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s Gigue Machine performed by pianist Nicolas Hodges (11 August).
Eric Whitacre makes his Proms compositional and performance debuts with a Late Night Prom including two world premieres: his own Higher, Faster, Stronger and his arrangement of Imogen Heap’s The Listening Chair, performed by the Eric Whitacre Singers, the 主播大秀 Singers and Imogen Heap (29 August).
There are further UK premieres of works by Richard Dubugnon, Emily Howard, Rued Langgaard, Kaija Saariaho and Omar Souleyman.
Surprisingly, in addition to all the new works above, there are also world, UK and London premieres from Mendelssohn and Giovanni Gabrieli.
The original version of Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony (No. 5) will be given its first UK performance by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly (1 September), while I Fagiolini perform Hugh Keyte’s reconstructions of Gabrieli’s Magnificat and In ecclesiis, the first a London premiere, the latter a world premiere (22 August).