LAST NIGHT AT THE PROMS

Saturday 20 April 2024 - Stephen Hill Methodist Church Sheffield

Welcome to our spring concert featuring an upbeat selection of popular British classics guaranteed to get you in a celebratory mood. The programme includes works showcasing British folk songs and sea songs, and popular favourites like Pomp and Circumstance and Jerusalem as heard at The Last Night of the Proms in London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall. Get in the party mood, wave a flag of your nation of choice, and join in the fun!

 

Programme
 

1. March
2. Song Without Words: “I’ll Love My Love”
3. Song of the Blacksmith
4. Fantasia on the “Dargason”

Country Gardens: Traditional, arr. Grainger


Guy Woolfenden: Gallimaufry

1. Church and State
2. Inn and Out
3. Starts and Fits
4. Father and Son
5. Advance and Retreat
6. Church and Status Quo

Sea Songs: Vaughan Williams


INTERVAL


Suite of English Folk-Dances: Ernest Tomlinson

1. Jenny Pluck Pears
2. Ten Pound Lass
3. Dick's Maggot
4. Nonesuch
5. Hunt the Squirrel
6. Woodicock

Pomp and Circumstance March No.1: Elgar

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Fantasia on British Sea Songs: Henry Wood, arr. W J Duthoit

Jerusalem: Parry, arr. Philip Sparke

Holst: Second Suite for Military Band in F Major

1. March
2. Song Without Words: “I’ll Love My Love”
3. Song of the Blacksmith
4. Fantasia on the “Dargason”

Our opening piece, written in 1911 and published in 1922, is the second of two suites for military band by Holst, which along with the first suite has become a staple of the wind orchestra repertoire. Like many composers at that time including Grainger and Vaughan Williams, Holst had a keen interest in folk music and incorporated folk tunes into many works. This four movement work features seven folk songs; three in the first movement, two in the last, and one each in the middle two movements.

A brisk march based on a morris dance tune called Glorishears gets the work off to a lively start before a solo euphonium introduces the second theme Swansea Town, followed by the third, Claudy Banks, in the low woodwind before returning to the first two tunes. The upbeat tempo of the first movement is contrasted by a beautiful love song in the second movement and a staccato tune with many time changes in the third. As well as the Dargason tune the fourth movement also includes the very familiar tune Greensleeves, so listen out for how the composer cleverly weaves the two tunes together. Fun fact: The third movement includes an anvil in the score!

The composer Guy Woolfenden is perhaps less well known than some of the other composers featured in tonight’s programme. Both a composer and a conductor, he was head of music at the Royal Shakespeare Company for 37 years, during which time he established music as an integral part of the company’s productions and composed music for the entire catalogue of Shakespeare plays. He also composed music for several European theatre companies as well as writing many works for wind orchestra and chamber ensembles.

Like other composers before him Woolfenden was not averse to recycling material where appropriate, and this work is based on music originally written for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s productions of Henry IV plays. The title Gallimaufry is taken from Shakespeare and means a medley, referring to the fact that, while the piece has six movements, the music is continuous with no gap in between and much of the material is thematically linked. Fun fact: Woolfenden was also a radio presenter and the chairman of BBC Radio 3’s music quiz Full Score from 1994 to 1996.


Vaughan Williams: Sea Songs

Sea Songs is an arrangement by Vaughan Williams of three British sea songs: Princess Royal, Admiral Benbow and Portsmouth. It takes the form of a short march in which the first two sprightly tunes feature both at the beginning and end of the piece, bookending the contrasting broader and more lyrical Portsmouth theme. The march was arranged for military band as the second movement of the English Folk Song Suite in 1923, becoming a stand-alone piece the following year, when it also appeared in a new arrangement for full orchestra. Fun fact: The piece became well known as the theme tune to the BBC television adaptation of Billy Bunter in the 1950s, which used the central, "Portsmouth", section as its title music.


Interval


Ernest Tomlinson: Suite of English Folk-Dances

Our second half opener is perhaps the least well known in tonight’s programme. This charming and quirky suite of traditional folk music was based on tunes from John Playford’s The English Dancing Master of 1650, an important collection of the country’s traditional music. The work was originally written for orchestra and subsequently arranged by the composer for wind orchestra. The amusingly titled movements refer to folk dances of the day and conjour up life in the English countryside in the seventeenth century. Fun fact: Dick’s Maggot was used as the signature tune to the BBC Radio 4 programme Invitation to Music.


Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance

This stirring military march sits perfectly in any Last Night of the Proms programme, having featured in the Proms since the year of its composition, 1901. The work is the first of a set of six orchestral marches written during the composer’s lifetime, including one published posthumously, which feature some of Elgar’s most popular music. The title is taken from Shakespeare’s Othello: “Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!”, highlighting the opposing aspects of Pomp, the military pageantry, and Circumstance, the harsh reality of warfare. The trio section features the tuneful patriotic song Land of Hope and Glory, guaranteed to create a feelgood factor and sense of hope for the future.

Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet,
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet!

Henry Wood, arr. W J Duthoit: Fantasia on British Sea Songs

The Fantasia on British Sea Songs is a medley of British sea songs arranged by Henry Wood, founder of The Proms, to mark the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The featured songs chart the experience of the Battle of Trafalgar as seen through the eyes of a British Sailor. The original complete version has nine movements starting with a call to arms before progressing through the death of a fellow soldier and thoughts of home to a victorious return.

A shorter six movement version features in The Proms nowadays, but an eight movement version omitting the bugle calls at the start is the one you will hear tonight. This work never fails to attract audience participation, so feel free to pull out a hanky and shed a crocodile tear at the poignant Tom Bowling tune in true Proms tradition, then bob up and down to the hornpipe before humming along to Home, Sweet Home, whistling See The Conquering Hero Comes and finally singing Rule Britannia.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!
Britons never, never, never will be slaves.

Parry, arr. Philip Sparke: Jerusalem

Parry’s famous epic tune Jerusalem was composed in 1916 and is set to And Did Those Feet In Ancient Time, a poem by Blake written over a century earlier in 1808. Jerusalem had for a long time been used by churches as a metaphor for heaven, and the most common interpretation of the poem is that Blake poses the question of whether a visit by Jesus created a temporary heaven in England in direct contrast to the ‘dark satanic mills’ of the industrial revolution and its destruction of nature and human relationships.

Originally written reluctantly for a Fight for Right campaign, the composer withdrew the piece two years later, feeling uncomfortable with the organisation’s ultra patriotism, and it was then taken up as a Suffragist anthem, a cause that the composer was happy to support. Jerusalem has become the country's most popular patriotic song, earning its place at the annual Last Night of the Proms and Proms in the Park events, sung by millions. The music has featured in many films and provided the title for the hugely successful 1981 film Chariots of Fire, which won no fewer than four Academy Awards.

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant Land.

MUSICAL DIRECTOR: KEIRON ANDERSON

Keiron was born in Aberdeen and studied trumpet and keyboard at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where he started both a light orchestra and big band. His career has multiple strands: musical director, composer, performer, teacher.

Keiron currently directs Yorkshire Wind Orchestra (1994 – ) which he has brought to its present level of excellence, Nottingham Symphonic Winds (2006 – ) with whom he has produced many excellent concerts and recordings, and Phoenix Concert Band (2003 – ) which he has developed into a high-quality community wind band. He has worked with many other groups including Harlequin Brass, Leeds Conservatoire Wind Orchestra, Nottingham Symphony Orchestra, the National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain and numerous chamber ensembles throughout the UK and Europe as part of a diverse and rich schedule of conducting. Keiron approaches each group differently according to its particular character, capabilities, ambition and rehearsal schedule!

Keiron is a prolific composer producing unique and exciting new music across an eclectic mix of styles. Some of these works are written specifically for the groups he directs or as commissions for other ensembles. Others are intended to be enjoyed on Soundcloud.

Keiron has worked extensively as a freelance performer from performing in a chamber orchestra in Bridlington sightreading 12 concerts a week, to work with the Scottish Ballet Orchestra, London Festival Ballet, Welsh Opera, Scottish National Orchestra and the BBC Northern Radio Orchestra. Keiron also established the Keiron Anderson Orchestra and completed several years working on cruise ships followed by a period in Spain before returning to the UK and performing all over the country with artists such as Cannon and Ball, Ronnie Corbett, Bob Monkhouse, Little and Large, Frankie Vaughan and many more.

Keiron’s teaching experience includes 10 years as a peripatetic teacher of brass and composition, three years as Head of the Ilkley Music Centre and 18 years as Head of Music, then Head of Creative Arts at Ilkley Grammar School.

 

YORKSHIRE WIND ORCHESTRA

The Yorkshire Wind Orchestra is an amateur group of around 40 musicians from across Yorkshire who enjoy playing a wide range of music written or arranged for woodwind, brass and percussion (and double bass!). Members of the orchestra take pride in performing to a high standard and in coming together to communicate our music to an audience. The orchestra was formed in 1996 and has gone from strength to strength, giving regular performances across the Yorkshire region from Sheffield to Hull.

Our repertoire includes works written specifically for wind orchestra by composers such as Malcolm Arnold, Martin Ellerby, Adam Gorb, Percy Grainger, Nigel Hess, Gustav Holst, Joseph Horovitz, Frank Ticheli, Eric Whitacre and Guy Woolfenden as well as by our Musical Director, Keiron Anderson. We also play music arranged for wind orchestra. Recent concerts have included programmes of film music, well-known light classical music and staples of the Last Night of the Proms. The orchestra also undertook a groundbreaking collaboration with a Sheffield based folk group to present a programme of original folk music and arrangements of folk tunes for wind orchestra by composers such as Grainger and Vaughan Williams.

Yorkshire Wind Orchestra is a registered charity and, as well as promoting the work of contemporary composers with a particular focus on those from the UK, is committed to developing young wind and percussion players in the Yorkshire region. The orchestra runs playdays for local music services to give their young students the opportunity to experience playing in a wind orchestra and share the stage with the ensemble in a final joint concert. Its popular flute days provide a stimulating day of ensemble playing for people of all ages.

Please see our website at https://www.yorkshirewinds.co.uk/ for details of upcoming concerts and playdays. 



TONIGHT'S PLAYERS

Clarinets
Phil Broadbent
Emma Fox
Elizabeth Kelly 
Louise Nash
Becci Richardson
Sarah Spurr
Lindsay Blank (E-flat)
Kathryn Booth (bass)
Paul Hannon (bass)

Flutes
Emma Cordell
Jen Fraser
Helen Gibson
Nicola McDonnell
Elizabeth Palmer (piccolo)

Oboes
Freya Bailes
Sally Johnson

Bassoons
Alison Elcock
Nicky Rowbottom

Saxophones
Andy Ainge
Jane Clayton
Hannah Garnett
Alison Owen-Morley

Horns
Frank Edenborough
Mick Nagle
Ruth Rayner
Mike Williamson

Trumpets
Rory Evans
Andrew Forster-Fake
Ruth Hays
Brian Winter

Trombones
Ruth Hays
Dave Joyce
Emma Mitchell
Paul Davies (bass trombone)

Euphonium
Ian Winter-Jones

Tuba
Camilla Priede

Percussion
Russell McArthur
Matthew McKirgan
Alex Mitchell