Britten, Bantock and more British music

Benjamin Britten’s enormous contribution to the British musical landscape over the last century is put into focus, 100 years after his birth, across 12 Proms concerts.

Saturday Matinees at the 2013 Proms place Britten in the context of his peers by featuring his work alongside that of contemporaries including Lennox Berkeley, Gustav Holst, Imogen Holst, Michael Tippett and William Walton. Ensembles and artists closely associated with Britten’s music, such as the English Chamber Orchestra and tenor Ian Bostridge, will perform during the series.

Four Sea Interludes from ‘Peter Grimes’
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo
12 July 2013, First Night of the Proms

Sinfonia da Requiem
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Adès
17 July

Various chamber works
Imogen Cooper (piano), Christoph Denoth (guitar), Christianne Stotijn (mezzo-soprano), James Gilchrist (tenor)
PCM 29 July

Prelude and Fugue/Phaedra
Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Britten Sinfonia/Sian Edwards
PSM 3 August

Young Apollo/Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
Alison Balsom (trumpet), Camerata Ireland/Barry Douglas
PSM 10 August

Les illuminations
Ian Bostridge (tenor), London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Colin Davis
20 August

Purcell arr. Britten Chacony/Variations on an Elizabethan Theme (Sellinger’s Round)/Serenade for tenor, horn and strings
Ben Johnson (tenor) Richard Watkins (horn), English Chamber Orchestra/Paul Watkins PSM 24 August

Billy Budd
Cast includes: Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), Mark Padmore (Captain Vere), Brindley Sherratt (Claggart), Glyndebourne Festival Opera, London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis
27 August

Simple Symphony/Elegy for strings (world premiere)/Lachrymae
Catherine Bullock (viola) Camerata Nordica/Terje Tønnesen
PSM 31 August

Violin Concerto
Janine Jansen (violin), Orchestre de Paris/Paavo Järvi
1 September

A Boy was Born
Choristers of the Temple Church, BBC Singers/David Hill
3 September

The Building of the House/National Anthem, arr. Britten
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop
7 September, Last Night of the Proms

Bantock at the Proms

A reflection of the Proms’ firm commitment to British music, this year’s festival gives audiences the rare opportunity to hear five of Granville Bantock’s orchestral works.

Sapphic Poem
Raphael Wallfi sch (cello), BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Jac van Steen
24 July

Pierrot of the Minute
BBC Concert Orchestra/Barry Wordsworth
31 July

Celtic Symphony
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo
21 August

The Witch of Atlas
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir Jurowski
30 August

Sea Reivers
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop
7 September, Last Night of the Proms

Tippett at the Proms

Arguably overshadowed by his contemporary Britten, Michael Tippett will be featured this season with seven works performed at the Proms, including the first complete performance at the Proms of his opera The Midsummer Marriage (16 August) since its Proms premiere more than 35 years ago.

Symphony No. 2
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Oliver Knussen
1 August

Fantasia concertante on a Theme of Corelli
Britten Sinfonia/Sian Edwards
PSM 3 August

The Midsummer Marriage
Paul Groves (Mark), Erin Wall ( Jenifer), Ailish Tynan (Bella), Allan Clayton ( Jack), BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Sir Andrew Davis
16 August

Fanfare No. 5 from ‘The Mask of Time’/Concerto for Double String Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Colin Davis
20 August

Variations on an Elizabethan Theme (Sellinger’s Round)
English Chamber Orchestra/Paul Watkins
PSM 24 August

Little Music for strings
Camerata Nordica/Terje Tønnesen
PSM 31 August

More British music

The work of Imogen Holst will be heard for the fi rst time at the Proms this year, in two Proms Chamber Music concerts at Cadogan Hall (12 and 19 August).

The centenary of George Lloyd’s birth is celebrated in the London premiere of his Requiem (3 September) and the UK premiere of his HMS Trinidad March at the Last Night of the Proms (7 September).

Other major British composers reflected in the 2013 festival include Arnold, Lennox Berkeley, Coates, Dowland, Elgar, Gustav Holst, Purcell, Vaughan Williams, Walton and Warlock.