Earth and the environment

Three major new works reflect the changing world around us and highlight the topical debate around the future of our planet. In the hope of inspiring young minds, the following pieces will feature in concerts for families and young children.

Published: 17 April 2019
Set against the backdrop of our magnificent, precious planet, I hope it will be the perfect springboard to inspire creativity in classrooms across the UK.
— Hans Zimmer

Devised for the Proms and based on Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris’s popular book about the disappearing language of nature from the Oxford English Dictionary, the Lost Words Prom will be a unique event for all the family (25 August).

John Luther Adams’s In the Name of the Earth is the flagship learning project of the season; this huge landscape-inspired choral work will feature four community choirs with over 600 singers together in a swansong for our planet (8 September).

A brand new work by Hans Zimmer, Earth, will receive its world premiere this year. Commissioned specially for the latest iteration of BBC’s Ten Pieces, the piece will feature as part of the CBeebies Prom (21-22 July). Hans Zimmer said: “Set against the backdrop of our magnificent, precious planet, I hope it will be the perfect springboard to inspire creativity in classrooms across the UK.”

Throughout history, composers have always been inspired by the natural world. This year at the Proms, through a range of works, we explore the influence nature has had on composers past and present:

  • Ma Vlast - Smetana (20 July)
  • The Rite Of Spring - Stravinsky (22 July)
  • Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune - Debussy (24 July)
  • Des canyons aux étoiles - Messiaen (28 July)
  • The Creation - Haydn (29 July)
  • Das Lied von der Erde - Mahler (1 August)
  • Midnight Sun Variations - Outi Tarkiainen (4 August)
  • An Alpine Symphony - R. Strauss (11 August - matinee)
  • Weites Land (Open Land) - Detlev Glanert (11 August)
  • ‘Pastoral’ Symphony - Beethoven (26 August)
  • Scenes From Comus - Hugh Wood (29 August)
  • Forest - Judith Weir (8 September)