Prom 65: Pierre Boulez, Bela Bartok and Elliott Carter

The BBC Singers, Ensemble Intercontemporain and Baldur Brönnimann at the BBC Proms in repertoire by the ensemble's founder Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter and Bartok.

Presented by Sara Mohr-Pietsch from the Royal Albert Hall on 2nd September

Bela Bartok: Three Village Scenes
Pierre Boulez: Anthèmes 2
Elliott Carter: Penthode
Pierre Boulez: cummings ist der Dichter

BBC Singers
Ensemble intercontemporain
Baldur Brönnimann, conductor

The Ensemble Intercontemporain commemorates the late Pierre Boulez - composer, conductor, polemicist and founder of the ensemble - with a programme of pieces he conducted during more than 40 years of appearances at the Proms. His Anthèmes 2, for violin and electronics, contrasts with the exuberant vocal setting of avian poetry by EE Cummings, performed by the BBC Singers.
Around these come Bartók's earthy Village Scenes and Elliott Carter's Penthode - written for tonight's ensemble - a slow movement of geological power that has been compared to the steady glide of tectonic plates.