Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has read a new work commissioned for the BBC’s The Last Night Of The Proms.
The poem, titled The Proms, was read on Saturday at the evening of classical music at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
It touches on the experience of coming to the venue, which Armitage describes as the “hushed dome, the upholstered dark”, which sees “the fluted burble of small talk and chat”.
“The air in the hall seems tuned to the wavelength of songs, every box, alcove and arch is an ear cupped for what happens next,” he said.
He then talked through the various instruments, including the violin, oboe, trombone and bass, and said the conductor moves the musicians by touching the “tip of a wand”.
Follow along with the Last Night of the Proms 2024 with your digital programme: https://t.co/WjyeqCIV6j
— BBC Proms (@bbcproms) September 14, 2024
The Armitage poem also said: “Music as all time and no time at all: in the split-second gap between sound being made and sound being heard eternity hangs.
“Audience, you are the instrument, you are the tune: a moment’s pause after the final note then all your hands are suddenly playing the music we call applause.”
The Last Night Of The Proms also saw the first performance from American opera singer Angel Blue, who performed the Carceleras from Las Hijas Del Zebedeo (The Daughters Of The Zebedeo).
The festival finale was led by chief conductor Sakari Oramo, whose contract with the BBC Symphony Orchestra was earlier this week extended for another five years, until 2030.
Oramo conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, and soloist, the British pianist Sir Stephen Hough.
Earlier in the programme on the BBC, Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker appeared as his show celebrated its 60th anniversary.
Lineker welcomed the audience back for the second half of the concert, and Joe Hart and Danny Murphy briefly commentated on the musical action.
BBC Radio 3 presenter Katie Derham then resumed hosting duties, saying it had been “an incredible summer of live music and sport”, and the Proms marked “a fond musical tribute to all the sporting theme tunes we know and love”.
