Peter Burke graces the Proms

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HallamPhil
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2007 8:57 pm
Parish / Diocese: St Lawrence Diocese of St Petersburg
Location: Tampa, Florida

Peter Burke graces the Proms

Post by HallamPhil »

It was good to see our member Peter Burke in his best bib and tucker placing a garland around the bust of Sir Henry Wood at tonight's Last Night of the Proms! Well done, Peter.
High Peak
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Parish / Diocese: Diocese of Nottingham
Location: Derbyshire

Re: Peter Burke graces the Proms

Post by High Peak »

I knew I recognised him from somewhere but couldn't remember from where!
Southern Comfort
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Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:31 pm

Re: Peter Burke graces the Proms

Post by Southern Comfort »

A pleasure to see him in dinner jacket and bow tie instead of his customary Last Night red T-shirt!
Peter
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Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:05 pm

Re: Peter Burke graces the Proms

Post by Peter »

Thanks, Phil. It's the only aspect of the Last Night that remotely resembles liturgy! :)

On the other hand, there was a late-night Prom on 4th August after which the house lights faded, leaving the prommers holding little battery-operated candles, which we then extinguished in token of the "lights going out" speech a century before. Quasi-liturgical and moving.

To find anything liturgical at the Proms before that I think we have to go way back to 1973, when on 15th August they had a late-night Prom in Brompton Oratory ncluding Palestrina's Missa Assumpta Est Maria interspersed with Gregorian chant and organ works by Bull, Fresobaldi and Titelouze. It was billed as a "Liturgical Mass for the Feast of the Assumption" but whether it was actually a Mass or a concert recreating music for one I don't know as I didn't get to it.

Whether the staged St Matthew Passion the weekend before last counts as liturgy or theatre I'll leave others to debate. I couldn't go myself and have heard mixed reactions from those who did: some found it extremely powerful and moving, others found it OTT.
Southern Comfort
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Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:31 pm

Re: Peter Burke graces the Proms

Post by Southern Comfort »

Peter wrote:To find anything liturgical at the Proms before that I think we have to go way back to 1973, when on 15th August they had a late-night Prom in Brompton Oratory ncluding Palestrina's Missa Assumpta Est Maria interspersed with Gregorian chant and organ works by Bull, Fresobaldi and Titelouze. It was billed as a "Liturgical Mass for the Feast of the Assumption" but whether it was actually a Mass or a concert recreating music for one I don't know as I didn't get to it.


I sang in this Prom, and I can tell you that it was definitely a concert and not a liturgy although everything was done in liturgical sequence. The one thing the singers all commented on was how tiring it was to sing all that music consecutively without the spacing-out gaps that the liturgy provides.
JW
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Location: Kent

Re: Peter Burke graces the Proms

Post by JW »

Wasn't at the St Matthew Passion but was at the Roger Norrington / Zurich Chamber Orchestra St John Passion. It wasn't semi-staged, but it was a very reflective and lovely performance, the intimacy of the performance enhanced by the fact that the conductor was seated. Would have translated well to a (very long!) Holy Week liturgy.
JW
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