Celebrating 130 years of the Proms

The BBC Proms is perhaps the most famous classical music festival in the world. Over eight weeks, celebrated orchestras, musicians and conductors gather to perform in London. And, since the Second World War, their concerts have taken place at the Royal Albert Hall.

The word Proms comes from the term 'promenade concert'. This was used to describe the outdoor musical recitals that took place in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Promenade concerts were once a common feature of the London season, with audiences free to wander round (or promenade) as they listened. Those who attend the concerts today – especially with standing-only tickets – are still known as 'prommers'.

The modern Proms began in 1895, when the musical impresario Robert Newman organised a series of summer concerts. He wanted to attract new listeners to classical music by offering low ticket prices and an informal setting. Audiences could eat, drink and smoke throughout the recitals, in the hope this would encourage “a public for classical and modern music.”

Newman’s first conductor was a brilliant 26-year-old called Henry Wood. It was Wood who did the most to shape these early concerts, insisting on a mix of historical and contemporary composers. In 1911 he was knighted for his contribution to classical music, and to this day a bronze bust of the conductor is placed by the organ during the Proms season.

In 1927 the BBC took over. Except for a brief interval during the war, they have continued to broadcast the Proms on radio and later television. Originally the concerts were held at the Queen’s Hall in Langham Place, which was home to London’s Philharmonic Orchestra. However, on 10th May 1941, this beautiful building was completely gutted by a German incendiary bomb.

The Proms had been suspended at the start of the war, but as the conflict continued, the public’s desire for distraction grew stronger. So, from 1941, the BBC began hosting concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, which has been home to the Proms ever since.

South Kensington was the perfect setting. The neighbourhood was designed in the late Victorian era as a cultural capital for the city. It was not only home to the Royal Albert Hall, but also the Royal College of Music, as well as numerous cultural institutions such as universities, museums and learned societies.

In the decades since, the Proms have become a centrepiece of the classical music calendar. International conductors and orchestras have been invited, and performances of non-classical and non-Western repertoires have taken place – from traditional Indian music to modern Gospel. More recently, the Proms have begun to host lectures, children’s shows and open-air concerts in city parks around the country.

That said, the concerts are not always popular. In 1912, a difficult Modernist piece by the composer Arnold Schoenberg was met with hissing, while in 2011 an Israeli orchestra was forced off air by pro-Palestinian protestors. But over time the concerts have grown bigger and more ambitious, and they are now broadcast all round the world.

One highlight is always the Last Night of the Proms: a boisterous celebration of British identity. Its second half features patriotic orchestral music, with a rousing repertoire that includes Elgar’s ‘Pomp and Circumstance,’ Wood’s ‘Fantasia on British Sea Songs,’ ‘Rule Britannia,’ and ‘Jerusalem.’ Meanwhile, the audience cheers, bobs up and down, blows vintage horns and waves thousands of flags, before rising to their feet for ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and the National Anthem.

There’s nothing better on a warm summer’s day than walking towards the Royal Albert Hall after work. Approaching the great rotunda, surrounded by mansion blocks of red brick and the open spaces of Hyde Park, you are joined by crowds of eager 'Prommers'. Lit in the golden evening light, South Kensington becomes the magical centre of the musical world.