Bridge, Britten and other Brits
The Aronowitz Ensemble perform Bridge and Britten
Continuing recent Proms focuses on rarely heard British composers, the spotlight falls on Frank Bridge this year. Best known as Britten's teacher, Bridge was a prolific composer and also a conductor who often performed at the Proms.
From the pastoral exuberance of Enter Spring () to the melancholy There Is A Willow Grows Aslant A Brook () the Proms presents a panorama of his diverse output. Other orchestral works are the early Isabella which was given its world premiere at the Proms by Henry Wood (); Bridge's last completed work, the overture Rebus (); and Blow Out, You Bugles for tenor and orchestra, based on Rupert Brook's war poem, performed by ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 3 New Generation Artist Ben Johnson and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ National Orchestra of Wales ().
Britten always championed the work of his teacher and a Proms Chamber Music concert by the Aronowitz Ensemble positions Bridge's music alongside that of his famous pupil. The concert features Bridge's Piano Quintet and the second of the Idylls for string quartet alongside Britten's Phantasy for oboe and string trio and the London premiere of Piano Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge (). The well-known work for string orchestra based on the same theme is performed a week later ().
Other Britten highlights include a Choral Sunday featuring the Spring Symphony, Cantata misericordium and Sinfonia da Requiem, which recreates a concert the composer himself conducted at the Proms in 1963 (), and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Singers performing Britten's late a cappella choral work, Sacred And Profane (). Vladimir Jurowski conducts the National Youth Orchestra and Benjamin Grosvenor in Britten's Piano Concerto (), and Last Night audiences can enjoy Britten's famous The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra ().
The focus on Bridge and Britten is part of a wider strand of performances of music by other 20th-century British composers which includes the first Proms performances of Havergal Brian's monumental The Gothic Symphony () and Arnold Bax's Second Symphony, dedicated to conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who gave the world premiere in 1929, here performed by Andrew Litton and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ().
