BBC Proms round up: Week 4

Monday 11 August 2014

In 2014, the Royal College of Music is delighted once again to be enjoying a close association with the BBC Proms, the world’s biggest classical music festival.

This fourth week of the Proms includes several works written by composers who studied at the RCM. Three of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ works, including his ever-popular The Lark Ascending, are performed in Prom 36 on Wednesday, while his Pastoral Symphony appears in Prom 42 on Sunday. This Prom - entitled ‘Lest We Forget’ - also includes music by George Butterworth and other composers who lost their lives in the Great War. And Frank Bridge’s Oration – an elegy for the fallen of World War One – is performed by Leonard Elschenbroich and the BBC Philharmonic in Prom 38.

Also this week, we are delighted to see two recent RCM graduates appear as soloists. Mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately (Prom 35) and violinist Alexandra Wood (Prom 41) are both making their Proms debuts.

Prom 40 offers the chance to enjoy the London Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler’s Fourth Symphony under the baton of Bernard Haitink, who recently visited the RCM for two outstanding performances of Mahler 7 with the RCM Symphony Orchestra. And the Late Night Prom 37 celebrates the music of Steve Reich, who will be awarded an honorary doctorate from the RCM as part of a special concert here on Wednesday 8 October.

As usual, a wealth of insightful Proms Plus pre-concert events take place at the RCM throughout the week. We also host the weekly Proms Extra programme, with guests this week including RCM vocal professor Patricia Rozario, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Roderick Williams.

All BBC Proms concerts are broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, and available for seven days to listen again on BBC iPlayer.