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Britannia, rule the staves!
Well, the first two live concerts from this year's Proms have certainly been worth watching. Friday's concert had an unfamiliar acoustic, due to the emptiness of the Hall, but the distanced BBC Symphony Orchestra found their way admirably through a premiere - Hannah Kendall's Tuxedo: Vasco 'de' Gama, Copland's Quiet City and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica); dispersead across the stalls, the BBC Singers ventured a performance of Eric Whittaker's Sleep. On Saturday, Jonathan Scott gave an organ recital of symphonic transcriptions, a perfect opportunity for a solo performer. I particularly enjoyed The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Meanwhile, the silly season is upon us. The Today programme managed to scrape a nadir with its piece about the Last Night of the Proms with Wasfi Kani sucking lemons (no, "I vow to thee my country" would not really be a good substitute) and Norman Lebrecht mansplaining ("you see, it has to rhyme with waves." Oh, the humanity!). Well, maybe some find the words offensive - though at no point do the words (as recorded in my previous Last Night programme guides) advocate slavery, so to my mind such offence is derived from words unwritten, at most an implication long lost - but if you're going to suggest an alternative, you need also to look at the occasion. By all means change the words if that will resolve the issue - but not to something heavy and serious. It's an end of term party and there's quite a lot of irony and silliness. You'd need something more Gilbert and Sullivan than Holst. You'll find a range of political views - as well as nationalities and ethnicities - across the Arena, but on balance I think more readers of the Guardian than the Daily Mail. Evidently, every subject has to be polarised, and on both sides the professional outragee has become really rather boring. The BBC is either a reactionary and proto-fascist institution, or the fifth column about to unleash the Wokepocalypse. Let's be charitable and call it all an unconscious distraction away from the exam fiasco and ongoing general covidiocy.
Meanwhile, the silly season is upon us. The Today programme managed to scrape a nadir with its piece about the Last Night of the Proms with Wasfi Kani sucking lemons (no, "I vow to thee my country" would not really be a good substitute) and Norman Lebrecht mansplaining ("you see, it has to rhyme with waves." Oh, the humanity!). Well, maybe some find the words offensive - though at no point do the words (as recorded in my previous Last Night programme guides) advocate slavery, so to my mind such offence is derived from words unwritten, at most an implication long lost - but if you're going to suggest an alternative, you need also to look at the occasion. By all means change the words if that will resolve the issue - but not to something heavy and serious. It's an end of term party and there's quite a lot of irony and silliness. You'd need something more Gilbert and Sullivan than Holst. You'll find a range of political views - as well as nationalities and ethnicities - across the Arena, but on balance I think more readers of the Guardian than the Daily Mail. Evidently, every subject has to be polarised, and on both sides the professional outragee has become really rather boring. The BBC is either a reactionary and proto-fascist institution, or the fifth column about to unleash the Wokepocalypse. Let's be charitable and call it all an unconscious distraction away from the exam fiasco and ongoing general covidiocy.