The BBC Proms presents two of its most anticipated events of the 2019 programme this week, with nights celebrating sci-fi and Warner Brothers.
The legendary classical music festival, which is in the midst of an eight-week run at the Royal Albert Hall, concludes on September 14.
The Sound Of Space: Sci-Fi Film Music takes place tonight (August 8) from 10.15pm and will feature excerpts from cult soundtracks together with more recent work by Hans Zimmer and Mica Levi. The London Contemporary Orchestra will perform music from titles including Alien Covenant, whose soundtrack it recorded, as well as Under The Skin, Interstellar and the Netflix series The Innocents.
Then at 3pm on Friday (August 9), John Wilson and the John Wilson Orchestra will present scores the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema, with music from films including The Sea Hawk, The Constant Nymph, Calamity Jane, A Streetcar Named Desire and Harry Potter.
The Proms bring classical music to the forefront in London
Lucy Noble
Royal Albert Hall
“The Proms are key because they bring classical music to the forefront in London, if not the world, and are very good at bringing in new audiences,” Lucy Noble, the Royal Albert Hall's artistic and commercial director told Music Week. “They're doing various shows that invite people who might not have integrated with classical music before.”
Extensive coverage of the festival is available across BBC TV and Proms concerts will be screened on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and CBeebies, alongside the full coverage on BBC Radio 3.
"The Proms is an amazing thing that we've had [at the Royal Albert Hall] for over 80 years," added Noble. "It's the world's longest music festival."
Noble warned, however, that the decline of music in secondary schools could have long-term negative ramifications on classical music.
“There is a danger that, because music isn’t being taught in schools as much now, people aren’t learning instruments, therefore they aren’t getting into classical music at the grassroots,” she said, speaking as part of Music Week's recent feature on the genre. “My biggest concern is that, later on in the day, that will affect our orchestras and affect the more serious side of classical music.”
The BBC Proms debuted a new theme tune earlier this summer. The broadcaster commissioned the new theme from British film and TV composer Ian Arber, who started his career as a runner for the 2010 Proms.
