Proms 36 and 37, Royal Albert Hall, London, review: 'These responses to war are fighting fit'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.“Is there a sound addressed not wholly to the ear?” William Carlos Williams’ question echoes through the sonic patterning of Steve Reich’s 1983 The Desert Music, centrepiece of Prom 37, but it’s one that could have served as a subtitle to the whole evening.
Musical responses to conflict recurred throughout the evening, moving from Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending (composed in 1914) in Prom 36 to Reich’s It’s Gonna Rain, written shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis, and The Desert Music with its textual response to the bombing of Nagasaki.
The BBC SO and Sakari Oramo were joined by soloist Janine Jansen for the Vaughan Williams, a performance that downplayed loveliness in favour of a thoughtful meditation that banished any easy-listening associations – despite Oramo’s indulgent speeds.
Late Night Reich saw conflict take aural form. Meaning was wrestled from words in the Babel of distorting sound that is Reich’s early tape piece It’s Gonna Rain, before Endymion and the BBC Singers took up the narrative with a virtuosic performance of The Desert Music. This might have been the chamber arrangement of the work, but pulsing through the Royal Albert Hall, the performance had symphonic scope.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments