BBC Proms: new music highlights from B&H composers
(July 2009)
The 2009 BBC Proms (17 July - 12 September) explores in over 100 concerts the full range of classical music, from perennial favourites to the latest contemporary music, including new works by Boosey & Hawkes composers from Europe, America and Asia.To accompany your Proms listening - live at the Royal Albert Hall, on radio, TV or webcast - our Online Shop offers a wide variety of scores on sale, including special offers on Hawkes Pocket Scores and Eulenburg Audio+Score. You can also order Music by Mail through our UK Freephone number 0800 731 4778, or our reduced rate number for international customers +44 870 421 5453.
For the full season programme visit the BBC Proms website.
New Music Highlights
20 July, 9.30 pm RAH
James MacMillan
Seven Last Words from the Cross
BBC Singers/Manchester Camerata/Douglas Boyd
In honour of MacMillan's 50th birthday, a late-night performance of his powerful and moving cantata.
> Read more about MacMillan's choral music
4 August, 10.00 pm RAH
Harrison Birtwistle
Carmen arcadiae mechanicae perpetuum [Universal Edition]
Silbury Air [UE]
Verses for Ensemble [UE]
London Sinfonietta/David Atherton
In celebration of Birtwistle's 75th birthday, a late-night Prom with three classic scores written for the London Sinfonietta.
6 August, 7.30 pm RAH
Peter Maxwell Davies
Roma amor [Chester Music]
BBC Philharmonic/Gianandrea Noseda
Maxwell Davies's serenade to the city of Rome, inspired by his student days there.
9 August, 7.30pm RAH
John Adams
Grand Pianola Music [AMP]
London Sinfonietta/Edward Gardner
Rachmaninoff meets Liberace in Adams's swaggering work, a highlight in the final concert of the Proms's multiple piano day.
13 August, 8.00 pm RAH
Unsuk Chin
Cello Concerto (world premiere)
Alban Gerhardt/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Ilan Volkov
The world premiere of Unsuk Chin's new concerto for cellist Alban Gerhardt, commissioned by the BBC Proms.
> Read an interview with the composer about the new concerto
14 August, 7.30 pm RAH
Harrison Birtwistle
The Mask of Orpheus Act II [UE]
Alan Oke/Christine Rice/Anna Stephany/Claron McFadden/
BBC Singers/BBC Symphony Orchestra/Ryan Wigglesworth/Martyn Brabbins
The central act of Birtwistle's monumental 'lyric tragedy', describing Orpheus's journey to the Underworld to rescue Euridice.
17 August, 7.30 pm RAH
Louis Andriessen
The Hague Hacking (UK premiere)
Katia & Marielle Labèque/Philharmonia Orchestra/Esa-Pekka Salonen
In honour of Andriessen's 70th birthday, the first UK performance of his new double concerto for the Labèque sisters.
> Read more about The Hague Hacking
19 August, 7.30 pm RAH
Detlev Glanert
Shoreless River (UK premiere)
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Semyon Bychkov
First UK performance of Glanert's new orchestral piece, co-commissioned by the BBC Proms and premiered in Cologne in June.
> Read more about Shoreless River
24 August, 7.30 pm RAH
Alfred Schnittke
Nagasaki (UK premiere)
Elena Zhidkova/London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Valery Gergiev
Belated UK premiere of Schnittke's early oratorio written in solidarity with the victims of the bomb dropped on the Japanese city.
26 August, 7.30 pm RAH
John Adams
Slonimsky's Earbox
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Donald Runnicles
Adams wrote this orchestral work as a tribute to the Russian musical polymath and lexicographer Nicolas Slonimsky.
28 August, 10.15 pm RAH
Louis Andriessen
De Staat
Netherlands Wind Ensemble/Lukas Vis
The classic Andriessen work, combining Stravinsky, minimalism, political polemics and medieval hocket.
30 August, 7.30 pm RAH
Claude Vivier
Orion (UK premiere)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Dutoit
Canadian composer Claude Vivier's cosmic exploration of the echoing vastness of outer space receives its first UK performance.
8 September, 7.00 pm RAH
Peter Maxwell Davies
Violin Concerto No.2 (world premiere) [Chester]
Daniel Hope/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Peter Maxwell Davies
Maxwell Davies's 75th birthday - the day itself - brings the world premiere of his new violin concerto.
8 September, 10.00 pm RAH
Peter Maxwell Davies
Westerlings
Solstice of Light
BBC Singers/David Hill
The Maxwell Davies birthday celebrations conclude with a late-night performance of two choral works setting texts by Orkney poet George Mackay Brown.
Boosey & Hawkes classics
In addition to the above Boosey & Hawkes new music highlights, the 2009 BBC Proms season includes a complete cycle of Stravinsky's ballets, plus works by Rachmaninoff, Prokofieff, Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Bartók, Strauss, Britten, Finzi and Elgar.
> News Search
Mailing List
Sign up for news updates and offers via email
SIGN UP
Featured Publication
Rachmaninoff: Paganini Rhapsody
The sparkling Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra is included in the Masterworks Library of full scores, ideal for conductors, students and music lovers.
READ MORE