Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Proms

Sir Roger Norrington (British conductor) gives a speech about what music means to him, and then conducts BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus for Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches.

Excellent! Well, the Proms wouldn't be the Proms without the Prommers, would it? All you lovely people down there and you wonderful people up at the top. . Your... I'm talking about the musical ones! Your interest in music, your passion for music, the way you stand for hours and listen to it, your concentration is absolutely an example to us all. We love that. Not only do the Prommers have this wonderful endurance, but they even collect money for muical charities during the summer. Stage to Prommers, how much have you raised this year? Over 69,000! Sensational. Well done, everybody. Fantastic. Our thanks to you.

There's one last thank you I would like to propose. Maybe a slightly more personal one. It's for that magical thing which brings us altogether this evening - all of us in the halls, and homes, and hospitals, in the parks, in pubs, in prisons, I mean, of course, that fantastic thing - classical music. It's such extraordinary stuff. It never lets you own. And it's there for everyone. I think that is incredibly important to me. When I was filming Maestro last week, one of the cameramen got very excited about this classical music and he said, "I think it is fantastic, but what does it mean to you? " I was slightly taken aback by this. Afterwards I thought about it and this is what I thought: "Music brings us joy and love. Music deepens feeling. Music feeds our hearts and minds. Music brings us healing. Music can be so profound but music can be fun. Music quickens all our lives. Music makes us one.


So in this great family of music, let's continue singing and dancing and listening the whole year through until the first night of The Proms 2009. I will see you there. Can't wait! Good night.

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