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141-654: The BBC Symphony Chorus is a British amateur chorus based in London . It is the dedicated chorus for the BBC Symphony Orchestra , though it performs with other national and international orchestras . In its early years, the BBC worked on developing its choral output, founding the BBC Wireless Chorus, a professional chamber choir of 16, to supply the smaller scale needs. For bigger choral works,
282-707: A Blue Peter presenter in 1983. She was asked to audition with Chorus master Gareth Morrell and sing with the Chorus at the Last Night of the Proms on 14 September 1985. Zöe Salmon was unwrapped from a giant present under the tree as a new presenter in the Christmas 2004 edition of Blue Peter . Shortly after her debut, she famously said "I’ll try anything once", which started a trend in her being asked to do dangerous or embarrassing things. Among consequent challenges,
423-541: A British Day to celebrate. One of the central issues identified at the Fabian Society conference was how the English identity fits within the framework of a devolved United Kingdom. An expression of Her Majesty's Government 's initiative to promote Britishness was the inaugural Veterans' Day which was first held on 27 June 2006. As well as celebrating the achievements of armed forces veterans, Brown's speech at
564-467: A Treaty of Union was agreed in 1706 and was then ratified by the parliaments of both countries with the passing of the Acts of Union 1707 . With effect from 1 May 1707, this created a new sovereign state called the " Kingdom of Great Britain ". This kingdom "began as a hostile merger", but led to a "full partnership in the most powerful going concern in the world"; historian Simon Schama stated that "it
705-608: A Welsh nationalist politician active in the late 20th century, rebuffed Britishness as "a political synonym for Englishness which extends English culture over the Scots, Welsh and the Irish". In 2004, Sir Bernard Crick , political theorist and democratic socialist tasked with developing the life in the United Kingdom test said: Britishness, to me, is an overarching political and legal concept: it signifies allegiance to
846-563: A "marked change in attitudes" in Great Britain towards Catholics and Catholicism. A "significant" example of this was the collaboration between Augustus Welby Pugin , an "ardent Roman Catholic" and son of a Frenchman, and Sir Charles Barry , "a confirmed Protestant", in redesigning the Palace of Westminster —"the building that most enshrines ... Britain's national and imperial pre-tensions". Protestantism gave way to imperialism as
987-525: A "particular sense of nationhood and belonging" in Great Britain; Britishness became "superimposed on much older identities", of English , Scots and Welsh cultures, whose distinctiveness still resists notions of a homogenised British identity. Because of longstanding ethno-sectarian divisions, British identity in Northern Ireland is controversial, but it is held with strong conviction by Unionists . Modern Britons are descended mainly from
1128-655: A change to the Christmas show format to host a party recognising the hard work and effort of young carers, relating to a recent Appeal. This event replaced the carol, and the Chorus was not required. In 2010 the closing carol was reinstated, featuring for one final time the Chalk Farm Salvation Army Band and members of the BBC Symphony Chorus, the last Christmas show before the programme moved to MediaCityUK . The Chorus featured occasionally in other editions of Blue Peter , notably in
1269-660: A combination of disease, Spanish hostility, Scottish mismanagement and opposition to the scheme by the East India Company and the English government (who did not want to provoke the Spanish into war) this imperial venture ended in "catastrophic failure", with an estimated "25% of Scotland's total liquid capital" lost. The events of the Darien Scheme, and the passing by the English Parliament of
1410-912: A commercial recording for CBS Records . Stravinsky , Ravel , Debussy and Mahler were prominently featured, while of the romantics Berlioz , Schumann (the Scenes from Goethe's Faust ) and Brahms (the Requiem ) all appeared more than once. During this period the Society sang under many guest conductors: the young Andrew Davis made his unexpected London debut with them in Janáček 's Glagolitic Mass ; Lorin Maazel returned to conduct some highly successful concerts; John Pritchard conducted several events including Rachmaninov 's The Bells ; and an increasingly large number of important occasions were undertaken by
1551-685: A generation on from Janet Ellis she was asked to learn how to sing, to audition with Chorus director Stephen Jackson, to attend piano and orchestral rehearsals in Maida Vale Studios and to sing with the Chorus in the Last Night of the Proms on 10 September 2005. In 2002 the Chorus performed at Buckingham Palace , as part of the Prom at the Palace which marked the Queen 's Golden Jubilee celebrations. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, under
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#17327868751951692-743: A great deal of Stravinsky , some Britten , and much Beethoven . When Colin Davis took over in 1967, a new group of composers came to the fore: Berlioz , Liszt (the Dante Symphony as well as the Faust Symphony ), and Michael Tippett . This last connection brought the BBC Choral Society its opportunity to make its first recording for a commercial company in recent years (though Mendelssohn 's Elijah had been recorded as long ago as 1930): Tippett's oratorio A Child of Our Time
1833-624: A memorial concert for King George VI ( Messiah with the Royal Choral Society ). While Leslie Woodgate continued to be Chorus Master of the BBC Choral Society, Sargent was succeeded as Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra by Rudolf Schwarz . This took place in 1957; Sargent continued to conduct the Society on many occasions (particularly at the Proms), but a change in direction was immediately apparent with
1974-526: A memorial concert was held, directed by Keith Falkner (who had been a soloist in the first concert in 1928) and by George Thalben-Ball . Peter Gellhorn took over the post of Chorus Master, which he held for some eleven years until 1972. Under the Glock regime new works began to re-assume a vital part in the Society's repertoire. On 1 August 1963 the London premiere of Britten 's War Requiem (first performed
2115-530: A national 'tradition'". The First World War "reinforced the sense of Britishness" and patriotism in the early 20th century. Through war service (including conscription in Great Britain), "the English, Welsh, Scots and Irish fought as British". The aftermath of the war institutionalised British national commemoration through Remembrance Sunday and the Poppy Appeal . The Second World War had
2256-612: A number of concerts in London, and a week of special broadcasts of its most memorable performances of recent years as part of BBC Radio 3's Afternoon Performance (17-21 November 2003) presented by Tommy Pearson. The following works were included: Stephen Jackson's last concert with the BBC Symphony Chorus was part of the Barbican's Sound Unbound event on Saturday 31 October 2015, and included Judith Bingham 's The Spirit of Truth and "the Mount Everest of classical choral music:
2397-823: A numerical minority, these Britons "exercised a dominant influence" upon the culture and politics of those lands. In Australia, Canada and New Zealand , "people of British origin came to constitute the majority of the population", contributing to these states becoming integral to the Anglosphere . The United Kingdom Census 1861 estimated the size of the overseas British to be around 2.5 million, but concluded that most of these were "not conventional settlers" but rather "travellers, merchants, professionals, and military personnel". By 1890, there were over 1.5 million further UK-born people living in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa . A 2006 publication from
2538-484: A portion of the British Empire , provided they be made so in reality and not in name alone; they are ready to become a kind of West Briton if made so in benefits and justice; but if not, we are Irishmen again. Ireland, from 1801 to 1923 , was marked by a succession of economic and political mismanagement and neglect, which marginalised the Irish, and advanced Irish nationalism . In the forty years that followed
2679-687: A remount of Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 October 2009. It was produced by Geoff Foulkes and directed by Aubrey Powell . It was recorded for release for one night only on 25 March 2010 at digital cinemas across the UK and Ireland and distribution on DVD, and BBC Radio 3 also broadcast a recording of this performance on New Year's Day 2010. The Chorus has performed Elgar ’s oratorio, The Dream of Gerontius , Op. 38, many times since it first performed it at
2820-530: A similar unifying effect upon the British people, however, its outcome was to recondition Britishness on a basis of democratic values and its marked contrast to Europeanism . Notions that the British "constituted an Island race, and that it stood for democracy were reinforced during the war and they were circulated in the country through Winston Churchill 's speeches, history books and newspapers". At its international zenith, "Britishness joined peoples around
2961-465: A vital part in the life of the Chorus. They try to balance well-known scores with the challenges of newer or more difficult works. Premieres and commissions in recent years have included works by Peter Maxwell Davies, Dame Judith Weir, John Tavener, Hugh Wood and Anthony Payne. The level of the Chorus is widely acknowledged to be exceptional, with works in its repertoire so difficult as sometimes to be inaccessible to professionals. Rehearsals take place twice
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#17327868751953102-648: A voyage of exploration around the British Isles . Although none of his own writings remain, writers during the time of the Roman Empire made much reference to them. Pytheas called the islands collectively αἱ Βρεττανίαι ( hai Brettaniai ), which has been translated as the Brittanic Isles , and the peoples of what are today England , Wales , Scotland and the Isle of Man of Prettanike were called
3243-750: A week, and the Chorus has very high requirements, with selection being tough. Neil Ferris was appointed as Chorus Director of the BBC Symphony Chorus from May 2017. Grace Rossiter was appointed as Deputy Chorus Director. The appointment of Helen MacLeod in the new position of Choruses Manager of the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Proms Youth Choir was announced at the same time. The BBC Symphony Chorus's 90th birthday season included concerts featuring Ethel Smyth's Mass in D , Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ and Bach's B Minor Mass . Neil Ferris made his BBC Proms conducting debut in August 2019, celebrating
3384-521: Is known as the Matter of Britain . The Matter of Britain, a national myth , was retold or reinterpreted in works by Gerald of Wales , a Cambro-Norman chronicler who, in the 12th and 13th centuries, used the term "British" to refer to the people later known as the Welsh. The indigenous people of the British Isles have a combination of Celtic , Anglo-Saxon , Norse and Norman ancestry. Between
3525-717: The Etymologicum Genuinum , a 9th-century lexical encyclopaedia, mention a mythical character Bretannus (the Latinised form of the Ancient Greek : Βρεττανός , Brettanós ) as the father of Celtine , mother of Celtus, the eponymous ancestor of the Celts . By 50 BC, Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a collective name for the British Isles . However, with the Roman conquest of Britain ,
3666-566: The Act of Settlement 1701 asserting the right to choose the order of succession for English, Scottish and Irish thrones, escalated political hostilities between England and Scotland and neutralised calls for a united British people. The Parliament of Scotland responded by passing the Act of Security 1704 , allowing it to appoint a different monarch to succeed to the Scottish crown from that of England if it so wished. The English political perspective
3807-537: The Age of Discovery gave new-found imperial power and wealth to the English and Welsh at the end of the 17th century, Scotland suffered from a long-standing weak economy. In response, the Scottish kingdom, in opposition to William II of Scotland (III of England) , commenced the Darien Scheme , an attempt to establish a Scottish imperial outlet—the colony of New Caledonia—on the isthmus of Panama . However, through
3948-549: The Age of Discovery , the British were one of the earliest and largest communities to emigrate out of Europe , and the British Empire's expansion during the first half of the 19th century triggered an "extraordinary dispersion of the British people", resulting in particular concentrations "in Australasia and North America ". The British Empire was "built on waves of migration overseas by British people", who left
4089-729: The Albert Memorial took place between the Chorus Master Leslie Woodgate and Honorary Secretary, and the restarting of the Society was discussed. Dr R. S. Thatcher, the Assistant Director of Music at the BBC, became interested, and a meeting was called in December 1942, at which it was agreed that the chorus should not remain inactive, but that it should resume rehearsals. On the first Friday of January 1943, about one hundred members assembled for
4230-534: The BBC Singers , increased and John Poole gave up his work with the BBC Choral Society in order to concentrate on the BBC Singers' activities. Brian Wright, then took over as Chorus Master, and in the following year himself conducted the chorus in public in such works as Duruflé 's Requiem , Kodály 's Missa Brevis , and Gustav Holst 's Choral Symphony . In 1977, the Chorus adopted its current name of
4371-603: The BBC Symphony Chorus , in recognition of its status as a choir appearing in professional concerts under leading conductors, "with a repertory second to none". It made its first appearance under that name in the Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams on 12 October 1977. In September and October 1978 the Chorus travelled to the Festival of Flanders , appearing under the baton of the new Chief Conductor of
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4512-554: The BBC Symphony Orchestra . Recent commercial recordings include Brett Dean ’s Vexations and Devotions under David Robertson ; Szymanowski ’s Stabat mater , Harnasie and Symphony No. 3 under Edward Gardner ; and Holst 's First Choral Symphony , Elgar 's The Dream of Gerontius , Op. 38, and Berlioz 's Romeo and Juliet ( Roméo et Juliette ), all under the baton of its President, Sir Andrew Davis . British people Modern ethnicities British people or Britons , also known colloquially as Brits , are
4653-578: The Chartered Institute of Housing , Amnesty International , University of Oxford 's social geographer Danny Dorling , and other public figures. The earliest migrations of Britons date from the 5th and 6th centuries AD, when Brittonic Celts fleeing the Anglo-Saxon invasions migrated what is today northern France and north western Spain and forged the colonies of Brittany and Britonia . Brittany remained independent of France until
4794-665: The Commonwealth of Nations during the mid-20th century. Since the British Nationality Act 1948 and the subsequent mass immigration to the United Kingdom from the Commonwealth and elsewhere in the world, "the expression and experience of cultural life in Britain has become fragmented and reshaped by the influences of gender, ethnicity, class and region". Furthermore, the United Kingdom's membership of
4935-495: The European Economic Community in 1973 eroded the concept of Britishness as distinct from continental Europe . As such, since the 1970s "there has been a sense of crisis about what it has meant to be British", exacerbated by growing demands for greater political autonomy for Northern Ireland , Scotland , and Wales . The late 20th century saw major changes to the politics of the United Kingdom with
5076-652: The Immigration Act 1971 . Having faced removal, or been deported, many British people of African Caribbean heritage suffered with loss of home, livelihood, and health. As a result of the political scandal, many institutions and elected politicians publicly affirmed that these individuals, while not legally holding British citizenship or nationality, were, in fact, British people. These included British Prime Minister Theresa May , London Mayor Sadiq Khan , Her Majesty's CPS Inspectorate Wendy Williams and her House of Commons -ordered Windrush Lessons Learned Review ,
5217-488: The Institute for Public Policy Research estimated 5.6 million Britons lived outside of the United Kingdom. Outside of the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories , up to 76% of Australians , 70% of New Zealanders , 48% of Canadians , 33% of Americans , 4% of Chileans and 3% of South Africans have ancestry from the British Isles . Hong Kong has the highest proportion of British nationals outside of
5358-580: The Iron Age , whose descendants formed the major part of the modern Welsh people , Cornish people , Bretons and considerable proportions of English people . It also refers to citizens of the former British Empire , who settled in the country prior to 1973, and hold neither UK citizenship nor nationality. Though early assertions of being British date from the Late Middle Ages , the Union of
5499-640: The Napoleonic Wars with the First French Empire advanced, "the English and Scottish learned to define themselves as similar primarily by virtue of not being French or Catholic". In combination with sea power and empire, the notion of Britishness became more "closely bound up with Protestantism", a cultural commonality through which the English, Scots and Welsh became "fused together, and remain[ed] so, despite their many cultural divergences". The neo-classical monuments that proliferated at
5640-460: The Windrush scandal illustrated complex developments in British peoplehood, when it was revealed hundreds of Britons had been wrongfully deported. With roots in the break-up of the empire, and post-war rebuilding; the Windrush generation had arrived as CUKC citizens in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in former British colonies , they settled in the UK before 1973, and were granted "right of abode" by
5781-551: The federation of Australia was achieved on 1 January 1901. Its history of British dominance meant that Australia was "grounded in British culture and political traditions that had been transported to the Australian colonies in the nineteenth century and become part of colonial culture and politics". Australia maintains the Westminster system of parliamentary government and Charles III as King of Australia . Until 1987,
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5922-532: The import of Scottish products into England and its colonies (about half of Scotland's trade). However, the Act contained a provision that it would be suspended if the Parliament of Scotland entered into negotiations regarding the creation of a unified Parliament of Great Britain , which in turn would refund Scottish financial losses on the Darien Scheme. Despite opposition from within both Scotland and England,
6063-646: The style "King of Great Britain", though this title was rejected by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland and thus had no basis in either English law or Scots law . Despite centuries of military and religious conflict, the Kingdoms of England and Scotland had been "drawing increasingly together" since the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century and the Union of
6204-423: The Πρεττανοί ( Prettanoi ), Priteni , Pritani or Pretani . The group included Ireland , which was referred to as Ierne ( Insula sacra "sacred island" as the Greeks interpreted it) "inhabited by the different race of Hiberni " ( gens hibernorum ), and Britain as insula Albionum , "island of the Albions". The term Pritani may have reached Pytheas from the Gauls , who possibly used it as their term for
6345-419: The 50th Anniversary of the Chorus and Elgar 's The Music Makers on 8 April 1979 to mark the 90th birthday of Sir Adrian Boult . Specialities such as Britten 's Spring Symphony and Berlioz 's The Trojans were added by Gennady Rozhdestvensky , and repertoire from Mozart 's Requiem to Alexander Goehr ’s Babylon the great is fallen (in 1983) under Sir John Pritchard , who was principal conductor
6486-441: The 8th and 11th centuries, "three major cultural divisions" emerged in Great Britain: the English , the Scots and the Welsh . The earlier Brittonic Celtic polities in what are today England and Scotland were absorbed into Anglo-Saxon England and Gaelic Scotland by the early 11th century. The English had been unified under a single nation state in 937 by King Athelstan of Wessex after the Battle of Brunanburh . Before then,
6627-400: The 90th anniversary season of the BBC Symphony Chorus with the premiere of Jonathan Dove ’s specially commissioned piece We Are One Fire . The final concert before the halting of the season owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in London was Beethoven's Missa Solemnis (4 March 2020), marking 250 years since the year of Beethoven's birth. In the last review of a BBC Symphony Chorus concert before
6768-408: The Anglo-Saxon invasions. However, the term "Britannia" persisted as the Latin name for the island. The Historia Brittonum claimed legendary origins as a prestigious genealogy for Brittonic kings , followed by the Historia Regum Britanniae , which popularised this pseudo-history to support the claims of the Kings of England . During the Middle Ages , and particularly in the Tudor period ,
6909-491: The BBC Symphony Chorus, marching "up the hill" and into the studio from the cold outside (lanterns in hand!) singing a Christmas carol around the Blue Peter Christmas tree. Two carols, " Hark! the Herald Angels Sing " and " O Come, All Ye Faithful ", were sung in alternate years, except in 1998 when there was a one-off experiment with " O Little Town of Bethlehem ". However, for the 2007 Christmas programme, leaving budgetary and studio constraints unspoken, Blue Peter decided on
7050-519: The BBC Symphony Chorus. Sir Andrew Davis , conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 2000, was President of the Chorus until his death in 2024. Appropriately enough, this appointment was announced through the medium of song by Davis himself at the Last Night of the Proms , 2000. Under Davis , the Chorus performed the major choral works of Elgar ; the symphonies of Mahler ; Berlioz 's The Damnation of Faust and Romeo and Juliet ; Walton 's Belshazzar's Feast ; Delius 's A Song of
7191-450: The BBC Symphony Orchestra and five massed choirs, including the BBC Symphony Chorus. Sofi Jeannin , future Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers, happened to be a member of the BBC Symphony Chorus at that time. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original Monty Python television programme, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by John du Prez appeared alongside Eric Idle , Michael Palin , Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam in
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#17327868751957332-405: The BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1989. Other important premieres in this period included the European premiere of Tippett 's The Mask of Time at the 1984 Proms, the first European performance of Roger Sessions 's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd at the 1985 Proms, and the British premiere of Penderecki 's Polish Requiem (conducted by the composer) in 1986. From 1984 to 1988
7473-432: The BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky , as well as that of their Chorus Master Brian Wright. They sang the Mass in F minor and motets by Bruckner . Works performed later that same season in 1979 included Thea Musgrave 's Five Ages of Man , Michael Tippett 's Vision of St Augustine , as well as performances in the Royal Albert Hall of the B Minor Mass on 10 January 1979, conducted by Brian Wright, to mark
7614-403: The BBC turned to outside organisations, which performed either under their own name, or under the title of "The National Chorus". Participating choruses included the Civil Service Choir, the Lloyds Choir, and the Railway Clearing House Male Voice Choir, which would perform en masse together with the Wireless Chorus. Holst 's choral ballet The Morning of the Year has the distinction of having been
7755-481: The Barbican on 13 December 2024 as a tribute to Sir Andrew Davis, who died in April 2024. Although normally associated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra , the Chorus does perform independently. Venues regularly visited include the Barbican Centre and the Royal Albert Hall . As the resident chorus at the BBC Proms , the Symphony Chorus usually performs both on the first and last night. It makes regular recordings for classical music station BBC Radio 3 . New works play
7896-524: The British premiere of Stravinsky 's Perséphone . In January 1935 Albert Coates conducted one of the Thirties’ curiosities: the Symphony in C minor by Yuri Shaporin . The BBC Choral Society took part in Bartók 's Cantata Profana on 25 March 1936 under Boult; the London premiere of Vaughan Williams 's Five Tudor Portraits on 27 January 1937; and, perhaps most remarkable of all, the British premiere of Busoni 's Doktor Faust , which took place on 17 March 1937. In 1939, Leslie Woodgate described
8037-458: The Chorus Master, John Poole. John Poole was entrusted with the world premiere of David Bedford 's Twelve Hours of Sunset in 1975, and at the Alexandra Palace conducted two symphonies by Havergal Brian with the BBC Choral Society (who had already taken part in the giant Gothic Symphony by the same composer in a concert at the Albert Hall). Another first performance, that of Iain Hamilton 's Epitaph for this world and time , performed before
8178-426: The Crowns in 1603 and the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 triggered a sense of British national identity. The notion of Britishness and a shared British identity was forged during the 18th century and early 19th century when Britain engaged in several global conflicts with France, and developed further during the Victorian era . The complex history of the formation of the United Kingdom created
8319-415: The Crowns in 1603. A broadly shared language, island, monarch, religion and Bible (the Authorized King James Version ) further contributed to a growing cultural alliance between the two sovereign realms and their peoples. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 resulted in a pair of Acts of the English and Scottish legislatures—the Bill of Rights 1689 and Claim of Right Act 1689 respectively—that ensured that
8460-403: The English (known then in Old English as the Anglecynn ) were under the governance of independent Anglo-Saxon petty kingdoms , which gradually coalesced into a Heptarchy of seven powerful states, the most powerful of which were Mercia and Wessex . Scottish historian and archaeologist Neil Oliver said that the Battle of Brunanburh would "define the shape of Britain into the modern era"; it
8601-508: The Great 's victory against the Vikings performed to Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1740 to commemorate the accession of George I and the birthday of Princess Augusta . " Rule, Britannia! " was the climactic piece of the opera and quickly became a " jingoistic " British patriotic song celebrating "Britain's supremacy offshore". An island country with a series of victories for the Royal Navy associated empire and naval warfare "inextricably with ideals of Britishness and Britain's place in
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#17327868751958742-415: The Herkulesaal in Munich, where Handel's Messiah was performed. The arrival of William Glock at the BBC as Controller, Music, in 1959, had the same revolutionary effect on the BBC Choral Society as on every other department concerned with music. In addition, the Society suffered a sudden loss in 1961 with the death of Leslie Woodgate , who had guided it through 27 years of its existence. On 15 June 1961,
8883-421: The High Hills ; and Tippett 's The Mask of Time as well as The Vision of Saint Augustine , A Child of Our Time and The Midsummer Marriage . The Chorus took part in numerous Blue Peter Christmas shows and between 1983 and 2010. The grand finale of the traditional Blue Peter Christmas programme comprised the Chalk Farm Salvation Army Band and children from various schools, assisted by members of
9024-413: The Latin term Britannia was used for the island of Great Britain, and later Roman-occupied Britain south of Caledonia (modern day Scotland north of the rivers Forth and Clyde), although the people of Caledonia and the north were also the selfsame Britons during the Roman period, the Gaels not arriving until four centuries later. Following the end of Roman rule in Britain , the island of Great Britain
9165-414: The Penderecki, Mahler 's Second Symphony , Walton 's Belshazzar's Feast , Liszt 's Faust Symphony , Berlioz 's Grande Messe des Morts , Delius 's Appalachia , Vaughan Williams 's Serenade to Music , Schubert 's E flat Mass and Beethoven 's Ninth were all sung. Under Antal Dorati , Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1963 to 1967, the BBC Choral Society sang Mahler ,
9306-404: The Proms on 27 August. Distinguished visitors in this period included Leopold Stokowski (in Mahler 's Second Symphony ). A return visit by Ernest Ansermet to conduct Honegger 's King David had been planned to mark the 10th anniversary of Honegger's death, but Ansermet was ill and Sir Adrian Boult took over at short notice. In what he described as 'an act of faith', Glock promoted in 1967
9447-401: The Queen's Hall, London, on 18 May 1931, conducted by Stanford Robinson . A performance of the oratorio was given in the sixth-century St Irene's Church as part of the 1997 Istanbul International Music Festival . Leonard Slatkin conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with mezzo-soprano Jean Rigby , tenor John Aler and baritone Alan Opie . A special performance of the oratorio
9588-438: The Scots and the English respectively, with the former gaining some preference in Scotland, particularly by the economists and philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment . Indeed, it was the "Scots [who] played key roles in shaping the contours of British identity"; "their scepticism about the Union allowed the Scots the space and time in which to dominate the construction of Britishness in its early crucial years", drawing upon
9729-471: The Second World War, people from the United Kingdom made up a large majority of people coming to Australia, meaning that many people born in Australia can trace their origins to Britain. The colony of New South Wales , founded on 26 January 1788, was part of the eastern half of Australia claimed by the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1770, and initially settled by Britons through penal transportation . Together with another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies,
9870-421: The UK, the British diaspora totals around 200 million with higher concentrations in the United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, with smaller concentrations in the Republic of Ireland, Chile, South Africa, and parts of the Caribbean. The earliest known reference to the inhabitants of Great Britain may have come from 4th century BC records of the voyage of Pytheas , a Greek geographer who made
10011-410: The Union, successive British governments grappled with the problems of governing a country which had as Benjamin Disraeli , a staunch anti-Irish and anti-Catholic member of the Conservative party with a virulent racial and religious prejudice towards Ireland put it in 1844, "a starving population, an absentee aristocracy, and an alien Church, and in addition the weakest executive in the world". Although
10152-603: The United Kingdom by people from what is now the Republic of Ireland , the Commonwealth , mainland Europe and elsewhere; they and their descendants are mostly British citizens, with some assuming a British, dual or hyphenated identity. This includes the groups Black British and Asian British people , which together constitute around 10% of the British population. The British are a diverse, multinational , multicultural and multilingual people, with "strong regional accents, expressions and identities". The social structure of
10293-440: The United Kingdom has changed radically since the 19th century, with a decline in religious observance, enlargement of the middle class , and increased ethnic diversity , particularly since the 1950s, when citizens of the British Empire were encouraged to immigrate to Britain to work as part of the recovery from World War II. The population of the UK stands at around 67 million, with 50 million being ethnic British. Outside of
10434-827: The United Kingdom and "reached across the globe and permanently affected population structures in three continents". As a result of the British colonisation of the Americas , what became the United States was "easily the greatest single destination of emigrant British", but in Australia the British experienced a birth rate higher than "anything seen before", resulting in the displacement of indigenous Australians . In colonies such as Southern Rhodesia , British East Africa and Cape Colony , permanently resident British communities were established and, whilst never more than
10575-540: The United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories, with 47% of Hong Kong residents holding a British National (Overseas) status or a British citizenship. The next highest concentrations of British citizens outside of the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories are located in Barbados (10%), the Republic of Ireland (7%), Australia (6%) and New Zealand (5%). From the beginning of Australia's colonial period until after
10716-558: The baton of Sir Andrew Davis , formed the backbone of the concert, on 1 June 2002. The concert was broadcast live on BBC One television and BBC Radio 3 , and released a month later on audio CD (EMI/Virgin Records) and DVD (BBC/Opus Arte). The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh returned the favour by attending a special BBC Proms concert celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Her Majesty's Coronation on 30 July 2003. Sir Andrew Davis conducted
10857-492: The baton of Herman Scherchen on 17 December 1930 was the first performance of the Chorus with the new BBC Symphony Orchestra. Outstanding events in the following years included the premiere of Morning Heroes by Bliss , on 25 March 1931; and the British premiere of Hindemith ’s oratorio Das Unaufhörliche , which Wood conducted on 22 March 1933. Also noted are performances under such conductors as Adrian Boult , Arturo Toscanini and Bruno Walter . In 1932, Stanford Robinson
10998-454: The capital's musical life in the pre-war years. The Second World War interrupted the activities of the BBC Choral Society as it did many other artistic ventures. The outbreak of war saw the evacuation of the BBC Symphony Orchestra to Bristol, and then (when that became intolerable because of air-raids) to Bedford. This led to the abandonment of the activities of the Society. In August 1942, in war-time London, an entirely fortuitous meeting near
11139-472: The census Bureau has stated that most of these are of Anglo-Celtic colonial stock. All six states of Australia retain the Union Jack in the canton of their respective flags. Pers%C3%A9phone (Stravinsky) Perséphone ( Persephone ) is a musical work ( mélodrame ) for speaker, solo singers, chorus, dancers and orchestra with music by Igor Stravinsky and a libretto by André Gide . It
11280-470: The challenge of a performance of Beethoven 's Ninth Symphony , Op. 125 (the "Choral") on 3 November 1937 with the BBC Choral Society. The Verdi Requiem on 27 May 1938 and Beethoven 's Mass in D , Op. 123 (the Missa Solemnis ) on 26 May 1939 were both performed under his direction in the following two years, in a series of concerts in the BBC's London Music Festival, which were the highlights of
11421-722: The citizens of the United Kingdom , the British Overseas Territories , and the Crown dependencies . British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, "British" or "Britons" can refer to the Ancient Britons , the Celtic -speaking inhabitants of Great Britain during
11562-505: The classics of the choral repertory such as Haydn 's Creation , Beethoven 's Ninth and the Missa Solemnis , Handel 's Messiah . Premieres were fewer than before: significant works included Golgotha by Frank Martin and Hodie by Vaughan Williams . Important events included the ceremonial opening of the new Royal Festival Hall in 1951 (with a concert of English music by Thomas Arne , Handel and Hubert Parry ) and
11703-503: The concert hall, on tour and in the recording studio. He particularly extended the range of the ensemble's large-scale a cappella choral repertoire, including Rachmaninov 's Vespers ( All-Night Vigil ), Schoenberg 's Friede auf Erden and Poulenc 's Figure humaine ; recorded works by Carl Rütti and Judith Bingham ; and commissioned works by Richard Rodney Bennett , Mark-Anthony Turnage and Stephen Montague . The BBC Symphony Chorus celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2003 with
11844-456: The counsel of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset , advocated a union with the Kingdom of Scotland , joining England, Wales and Scotland in a united Protestant Great Britain. The Duke of Somerset supported the unification of the English, Welsh and Scots under the "indifferent old name of Britons" on the basis that their monarchies "both derived from a Pre-Roman British monarchy". Following
11985-486: The death of Elizabeth I of England in 1603, the throne of England was inherited by James VI, King of Scots, so that the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were united in a personal union under James VI of Scotland and I of England , an event referred to as the Union of the Crowns . King James advocated full political union between England and Scotland, and on 20 October 1604 proclaimed his assumption of
12126-447: The director of the BBC Symphony Chorus was Gareth Morrell, who served in that capacity for a wide range of concert and recording projects with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel and Christoph von Dohnányi. With Seiji Ozawa he collaborated in performances of Olivier Messiaen 's opera St Francis of Assisi in London and Berlin, and with Andrew Davis in performances of Sir Michael Tippett 's Mask of Time ,
12267-464: The dominant component of the British Isles in terms of size, population and power"; Magna Carta , common law and hostility to continental Europe were English factors that influenced British sensibilities. The political union in 1800 of the predominantly Catholic Kingdom of Ireland with Great Britain, coupled with the outbreak of peace with France in the early 19th century, challenged
12408-422: The early 16th century and still retains a distinct Brittonic culture and language, whilst Britonia in modern Galicia was absorbed into Spanish states by the end of the 9th century AD. Britons – people with British citizenship or of British descent – have a significant presence in a number of countries other than the United Kingdom, and in particular in those with historic connections to the British Empire . After
12549-532: The end of the 18th century and the start of the 19th century, such as The Kymin at Monmouth , were attempts to meld the concepts of Britishness with the Greco-Roman empires of classical antiquity . The new and expanding British Empire provided "unprecedented opportunities for upward mobility and the accumulations of wealth", and so the "Scottish, Welsh and Irish populations were prepared to suppress nationalist issues on pragmatic grounds". The British Empire
12690-521: The establishment of devolved national administrations for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales following pre-legislative referendums . Calls for greater autonomy for the four countries of the United Kingdom had existed since their original union with each other, but gathered pace in the 1960s and 1970s. Devolution has led to "increasingly assertive Scottish, Welsh and Irish national identities", resulting in more diverse cultural expressions of Britishness, or else its outright rejection: Gwynfor Evans ,
12831-526: The eyes of a choral society screwing into him like hundreds of gimlets, to understand what he means to them. He is hypnotic with the choir – he plays upon the imagination and minds of the singers like a mesmerist.' Under Sargent the emphasis in the Society's repertoire shifted from adventurous new continental works to the 20th-century compositions of British composers: Herbert Howells 's Hymnus Paradisi , Vaughan Williams 's Sea Symphony , Delius 's Sea Drift , Ireland 's These things shall be , along with
12972-416: The first event for the celebration said: Scots and people from the rest of the UK share the purpose that Britain has something to say to the rest of the world about the values of freedom, democracy and the dignity of the people that you stand up for. So at a time when people can talk about football and devolution and money, it is important that we also remember the values that we share in common. In 2018,
13113-460: The first of the war-time rehearsals. These Friday rehearsals were an ideal tonic for the members, and undoubtedly helped them very much in carrying on their arduous war-time labours. To Leslie Woodgate , already overburdened with work, they must have seemed almost the last straw, as he frequently had to travel long distances in order to conduct them. The members, indeed, owe him a debt of gratitude for his efforts during those trying times. Then came
13254-637: The first performance in England of the St Luke Passion by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki – a modern re-working of the traditional large-scale Passion setting which made exceptional demands on the choir. The occasion was a great success, and was repeated in the Proms on 2 August 1967. A typical example of the extraordinary demands made on the chorus during the Proms each year was the succession of works performed during that season: in addition to
13395-448: The first performance in London of a work by Leslie Woodgate , his oratorio Simon Peter . The following year, Adrian Boult , who had conducted many of the performances in the 1930s and 1940s as the BBC's Director of Music and Chief Conductor, reached retiring age and was not asked to remain with the corporation. In 1950 the post of Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra was given to Malcolm Sargent , and there began an era in which
13536-543: The first piece of music to be commissioned by the music department of the newly formed British Broadcasting Corporation. Its first performance was as part of a concert given at the Royal Albert Hall by the National Chorus and Orchestra, which was broadcast live, on the evening of 17 March 1927. By 1928, the BBC had decided there was a need to develop a large amateur chorus of its own. Notices advertising
13677-579: The flying bombs. Rehearsals stopped, but after about six weeks it was decided to resume. During that period four of the members lost their lives. After the war, activities began again in earnest. Yuri Shaporin 's On the Field of Kulikovo was another of the Russian works undertaken by the chorus in this period, on 7 November 1945, conducted by Albert Coates. To mark the 21st birthday of the BBC Choral Society in 1949, several special events took place, among them
13818-474: The formation of The National Chorus were placed, auditions were held, a broadcast was delivered in August 1928 discussing the new choir and its upcoming programme, and the choir gave its first performance later that year in Granville Bantock 's oratorio The Pilgrim's Progress . Stanford Robinson , already on the BBC's staff, was appointed Conductor. A condition of singing in the new choir was that
13959-517: The glorious 40-part motet", Thomas Tallis 's Spem in alium . This is the only time the BBC Symphony Chorus has performed Spem in alium in public. By the end of his period of tenure, the BBC Symphony Chorus had come to be widely regarded as one of the best amateur choruses in the world, singing some of the hardest pieces in the repertoire, with Stephen Jackson considered one of the world's most talented choir trainers, demonstrating "skill, musicianship, encyclopaedic knowledge and fervent passion" for
14100-512: The inclusion in programmes of such new works as The Bermudas by lain Hamilton (on 30 October 1957) and such (then) rare works as Monteverdi 's Vespers of 1610 (on 20 October 1958). Schwarz also conducted Ulysses by Matyas Seiber for two concerts in December 1957. In 1958 the BBC Choral Society under Leslie Woodgate travelled to Aachen , where they gave an a cappella concert including Britten 's Hymn to St Cecilia , and then went on to
14241-599: The inhabitants of the islands. Greek and Roman writers, in the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, name the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland as the Priteni , the origin of the Latin word Britanni . It has been suggested that this name derives from a Gaulish description translated as "people of the forms", referring to the custom of tattooing or painting their bodies with blue woad made from Isatis tinctoria . Parthenius , an Ancient Greek grammarian, and
14382-626: The job, and within two years he left the BBC, a victim (as he put it) of 'the BBC’s absorbed and all-pervading interest in man’s relations with woman' which was ‘at that time proverbial’. The choir's name was changed in 1932 to The BBC Chorus , and again in 1935 to become the BBC Choral Society when a professional choir named the BBC Chorus was established. Leslie Woodgate held the post of chorus master from 1934 until he died in 1961. He
14523-498: The laws, government and broad moral and political concepts—like tolerance and freedom of expression—that hold the United Kingdom together. Gordon Brown initiated a debate on British identity in 2006. Brown's speech to the Fabian Society 's Britishness Conference proposed that British values demand a new constitutional settlement and symbols to represent a modern patriotism, including a new youth community service scheme and
14664-494: The leading element of British national identity during the Victorian and Edwardian eras , and as such, a series of royal, imperial and national celebrations were introduced to the British people to assert imperial British culture and give themselves a sense of uniqueness, superiority and national consciousness. Empire Day and jubilees of Queen Victoria were introduced to the British middle class , but quickly "merged into
14805-488: The lineal descendants of the ancient Britons – a word that was still used to refer exclusively to the Welsh". For the English, however, by the Victorian era their enthusiastic adoption of Britishness had meant that, for them, Britishness "meant the same as 'Englishness'", so much so that "Englishness and Britishness" and "'England' and 'Britain' were used interchangeably in a variety of contexts". England has "always been
14946-567: The lives of legendary kings of the Britons in a narrative spanning 2000 years, beginning with the Trojans founding the ancient British nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 7th century forced the Britons to the west, i.e. Wales and Cornwall , and north, i.e. Cumbria , Strathclyde and northern Scotland. This legendary Celtic history of Great Britain
15087-559: The lockdown, Paul Driver said in the Sunday Times , "One was lost in admiration for the BBC Symphony Chorus, trained by Neil Ferris, in the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s account of the magnum opus at the Barbican, conducted by Donald Runnicles." As well as featuring in dedicated studio recordings for BBC Radio 3 , the BBC Symphony Chorus's discography consists of over 120 commercial recordings, many featuring collaborations with
15228-570: The national status of Australian citizens was formally described as "British Subject: Citizen of Australia". Britons continue to make up a substantial proportion of immigrants. By 1947, Australia was fundamentally British in origin with 7,524,129 or 99.3% of the population declaring themselves as European. In the 2016 census , a large proportion of Australians self-identified with British ancestral origins, including 36.1% or 7,852,224 as English and 9.3% (2,023,474) as Scottish alone. A substantial proportion —33.5%— chose to identify as 'Australian',
15369-556: The new member must already be a member of an existing choir. Chorus Masters of the BBC Symphony Chorus Its earliest concerts included the UK premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony (15 April 1930, under Sir Henry Wood ), Beethoven's Missa Solemnis (17 December 1930), the London premiere of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast (25 November 1931, under Adrian Boult ) and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms (27 January 1932, under Ernest Ansermet ). The Missa Solemnis under
15510-484: The north, the demonym "Briton" became restricted to the Brittonic-speaking inhabitants of what would later be called Wales , Cornwall , North West England ( Cumbria ), and a southern part of Scotland ( Strathclyde ). In addition, the term was also applied to Brittany in what is today France and Britonia in north west Spain , both regions having been colonised in the 5th century by Britons fleeing
15651-539: The notion of a shared "spirit of liberty common to both Saxon and Celt ... against the usurpation of the Church of Rome". James Thomson was a poet and playwright born to a Church of Scotland minister in the Scottish Lowlands in 1700 who was interested in forging a common British culture and national identity in this way. In collaboration with Thomas Arne , they wrote Alfred , an opera about Alfred
15792-562: The operation and function of the various BBC choirs, including the Choral Society, in an interview with The Musical Times . Under Leslie Woodgate, the Choral Society achieved maturity; and all accounts of the period agree that the occasions which marked that maturity were the concerts given at the end of the 1930s under the direction of Arturo Toscanini . When Toscanini was first persuaded to come to England, he would not consider working with an amateur chorus, but eventually he accepted
15933-480: The performance of the great choral works became a particular feature of BBC concerts. Sargent was especially devoted to choral music. His special skills with singers were well described by Bernard Shore (the former principal viola of the BBC Symphony Orchestra) in his book The Orchestra Speaks : 'He is able to instil into the singers a life and efficiency they never dreamed of. You have only to see
16074-419: The preceding year at Coventry Cathedral) was given, with Britten and Meredith Davies conducting. Later that year Alan Rawsthorne 's Carmen Vitale was a choral commission; and at the beginning of 1963 the Society faced one of its greatest challenges, a new work by Hans Werner Henze called Novae de Infinito Laudes . This was given two performances under the composer's direction: on 17 March 1965, and again at
16215-702: The previous century's concept of militant Protestant Britishness. The new, expanded United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland meant that the state had to re-evaluate its position on the civil rights of Catholics, and extend its definition of Britishness to the Irish people . Like the terms that had been invented at the time of the Acts of Union 1707, " West Briton " was introduced for the Irish after 1800. In 1832 Daniel O'Connell , an Irish politician who campaigned for Catholic Emancipation , stated in Britain's House of Commons : The people of Ireland are ready to become
16356-493: The programme on Monday 12 March 1984 (edition 1888). To publicise a concert at St Luke's Church, Chelsea, for The Knightsbridge Fund in aid of the victims of the Harrods bombing , Blue Peter invited the Chorus to the studio to sing the hymn "All people that on earth do dwell" ( Old Hundredth ) conducted by Brian Wright, accompanied by the Chalk Farm Salvation Army Band , who had been playing outside Harrods. Janet Ellis became
16497-404: The recording of which has been critically acclaimed. The Chorus was directed from 1989 to 2015 by Stephen Jackson. In his time, he prepared a huge repertoire for more than fifty maestri, including Bernard Haitink , Pierre Boulez , Simon Rattle and Roger Norrington , and composer-conductors such as Luciano Berio and John Adams . Jackson regularly conducted the BBC Symphony Chorus himself, in
16638-422: The rise of the British Empire led to a very specific drive in artistic technique, taste and sensibility for Britishness. In 1887, Frederic Harrison wrote: Morally, we Britons plant the British flag on every peak and pass; and wherever the Union Jack floats there we place the cardinal British institutions—tea, tubs, sanitary appliances, lawn tennis, and churches. The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 reflected
16779-443: The shared constitutional monarchy of England and Scotland was held only by Protestants. Despite this, although popular with the monarchy and much of the aristocracy, attempts to unite the two states by Acts of Parliament were unsuccessful in 1606, 1667 and 1689; increased political management of Scottish affairs from England had led to "criticism" and had strained Anglo-Scottish relations. While English maritime explorations during
16920-594: The term "British" was used to refer to the Welsh people and Cornish people . At that time, it was "the long held belief that these were the remaining descendants of the Britons and that they spoke ' the British tongue ' ". This notion was supported by texts such as the Historia Regum Britanniae , a pseudohistorical account of ancient British history, written in the mid-12th century by Geoffrey of Monmouth . The Historia Regum Britanniae chronicled
17061-472: The traditional Beethoven 's Ninth on the penultimate night of the Proms in 1975, proved one of the most complex undertakings of the BBC Choral Society, for the choir was split into three groups, and positioned around the arena in the Albert Hall. Both this, and another 1975 contemporary work, Mortales by Wilfred Josephs , were conducted by John Poole. In 1976 the work of the BBC's professional choir,
17202-530: The varied ethnic groups that settled in Great Britain in and before the 11th century: Prehistoric , Brittonic, Roman , Anglo-Saxon , Norse , and Normans . The progressive political unification of the British Isles facilitated migration, cultural and linguistic exchange, and intermarriage between the peoples of England, Scotland and Wales during the late Middle Ages, early modern period and beyond. Since 1922 and earlier, there has been immigration to
17343-576: The vast majority of Unionists in Ireland proclaimed themselves "simultaneously Irish and British", even for them there was a strain upon the adoption of Britishness after the Great Famine . War continued to be a unifying factor for the people of Great Britain: British jingoism re-emerged during the Boer Wars in southern Africa . The experience of military, political and economic power from
17484-581: The war against the French, and of several spectacular victories, the spear was replaced by a trident... The navy had come to be seen...as the very bulwark of British liberty and the essence of what it was to be British. From the Union of 1707 through to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Great Britain was "involved in successive, very dangerous wars with Catholic France", but which "all brought enough military and naval victories ... to flatter British pride". As
17625-475: The world in shared traditions and common loyalties that were strenuously maintained". But following the two world wars, the British Empire experienced rapid decolonisation . The secession of the Irish Free State from the United Kingdom meant that Britishness had lost "its Irish dimension" in 1922, and the shrinking empire supplanted by independence movements dwindled the appeal of British identity in
17766-465: The world". Britannia , the new national personification of Great Britain, was established in the 1750s as a representation of "nation and empire rather than any single national hero". On Britannia and British identity, historian Peter Borsay wrote: Up until 1797 Britannia was conventionally depicted holding a spear, but as a consequence of the increasingly prominent role of the Royal Navy in
17907-429: Was "crucial to the idea of a British identity and to the self-image of Britishness". Indeed, the Scottish welcomed Britishness during the 19th century "for it offered a context within which they could hold on to their own identity whilst participating in, and benefiting from, the expansion of the [British] Empire". Similarly, the "new emphasis of Britishness was broadly welcomed by the Welsh who considered themselves to be
18048-474: Was "responsible for provoking the peoples of Britain into an awareness of their nationhood" in the 13th century. Schama hypothesised that Scottish national identity , "a complex amalgam" of Gaelic , Brittonic , Pictish , Norsemen and Anglo-Norman origins, was not finally forged until the Wars of Scottish Independence against the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Though Wales
18189-404: Was a "showdown for two very different ethnic identities – a Norse Celtic alliance versus Anglo Saxon. It aimed to settle once and for all whether Britain would be controlled by a single imperial power or remain several separate independent kingdoms, a split in perceptions which is still very much with us today". However, historian Simon Schama suggested that it was Edward I of England who solely
18330-612: Was conquered by England, and its legal system replaced by that of the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 , the Welsh endured as a nation distinct from the English ; and to some degree the Cornish people , although conquered into England by the 11th century, also retained a distinct Brittonic identity and language. Later, with both an English Reformation and a Scottish Reformation , Edward VI of England , under
18471-831: Was first performed under the direction of the composer at the Opéra in Paris, on 30 April 1934 in a double bill with the ballet Diane de Poitiers by Jacques Ibert . The premiere was staged by the ballet company of Ida Rubinstein , with Rubinstein herself dancing and speaking the part of Persephone and the tenor René Maison singing Eumolphe . It was also performed at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires under Stravinsky himself in 1936 with Victoria Ocampo , an Argentinean preeminent writer and intellectual, and then in Rio de Janeiro . It
18612-592: Was given at the Barbican by Sir Andrew Davis conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly , tenor Stuart Skelton and bass David Soar, following a recording of the work for Chandos Records . The recording was the winner, choral category, in both the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2015, and the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2015. The Dream of Gerontius will be performed at
18753-823: Was given from St Paul's Cathedral on 26 November 1997 to mark the 75th anniversary of the BBC . Andrew Davis conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Philip Langridge and bass Alastair Miles . The concert was broadcast live on BBC Two television and BBC Radio 3, and later released on VHS video (NVC Arts), whereupon it was heralded as "the most convincing modern interpretation of Gerontius ", and DVD (Warner Music Vision). The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music , 2008, gave its maximum four star rating to this DVD recording of The Dream of Gerontius , rating it as "the finest recorded Gerontius ever". On 6 April 2014, another performance
18894-570: Was left open to invasion by pagan , seafaring warriors such as Germanic -speaking Anglo-Saxons and Jutes from Continental Europe , who gained control in areas around the south east, and to Middle Irish -speaking people migrating from the north of Ireland to the north of Great Britain, founding Gaelic kingdoms such as Dál Riata and Alba , which would eventually subsume the native Brittonic and Pictish kingdoms and become Scotland. In this sub-Roman Britain , as Anglo-Saxon culture spread across southern and eastern Britain and Gaelic through much of
19035-483: Was one of the most astonishing transformations in European history". After 1707, a British national identity began to develop, though it was initially resisted, particularly by the English. The peoples of Great Britain had by the 1750s begun to assume a "layered identity": to think of themselves as simultaneously British and also Scottish, English, or Welsh. The terms North Briton and South Briton were devised for
19176-474: Was recorded under Davis's direction for Philips Classics Records . There followed a succession of major contemporary works: Voices of Night by Franz Reizenstein in 1969; La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ by Messiaen at the first night of the Proms in 1970; and the Requiem by Gyorgy Ligeti in 1971. In 1971, Colin Davis departed to take up the post of Music Director at Covent Garden, and
19317-714: Was reprised at the Colón in 1995 with China Zorrilla under Pedro Ignacio Calderón. Other choreographed versions have included those of George Balanchine , Kurt Jooss (1955), Frederick Ashton (1961), and Pina Bausch (1965). ( Martha Graham 's Persephone is accompanied by Stravinsky's Symphony in C .) It was recorded by Stravinsky himself with Vera Zorina and also under André Cluytens (with Nicolai Gedda , 1955, Paris), Sir Andrew Davis (with Paul Groves , London), Michael Tilson Thomas (with Stuart Neill , 1999, San Francisco), and Esa-Pekka Salonen (with Andrew Staples , 2018, Finnish National Opera). A 2012 production at
19458-433: Was succeeded by the composer and conductor Pierre Boulez . There was also a change of chorus master: in 1972 Peter Gellhorn was succeeded by John Poole, who directed several of the concerts in this period, including Dvořák 's Te Deum and Bruckner 's F minor Mass . The Boulez repertoire, as with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, was immediately distinctive: Schoenberg 's Gurrelieder was given several performances, and became
19599-689: Was that the appointment of a Jacobite monarchy in Scotland opened up the possibility of a Franco-Scottish military conquest of England during the Second Hundred Years' War and War of the Spanish Succession . The Parliament of England passed the Alien Act 1705 , which provided that Scottish nationals in England were to be treated as aliens and estates held by Scots would be treated as alien property, whilst also restricting
19740-537: Was transferred to the BBC Theatre Orchestra, which he conducted for many years. He was succeeded briefly by Cyril Dalmaine , who took over in July 1932. In his autobiography, written under the pseudonym Jonah Barrington, Dalmaine said his appointment 'typifies one of the early weaknesses in BBC administration – the allocating of jobs to the lowest bidder'. It was plain that Dalmaine was not ideally suited to
19881-579: Was wholly dedicated to the work of preparing the Society for the many arduous engagements it undertook, and raised the choir from the position of being, as Sir Henry Coward told Woodgate in 1936, 'nearly as good as my Yorkshire choir' to being at least as good as the great, long-established choral societies of the north. Important performances of new works continued: on 11 April 1934 there was Holst 's First Choral Symphony (which had been premiered in Leeds Town Hall in 1925), and on 28 November 1934
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