Last Night of the Proms

I watched the Last Night of the Proms on the TV tonight as, indeed, I have done since Sir  Malcolm Sargent was the conductor. I actually went to the Last Night in 1977.The hospital I was in charge of then, which was part of the St Mary's, Paddington Group, had been left a box at the Royal Albert Hall in a legacy. The Chief Nurse used to oversee the tickets for the box and she saved a couple for my wife and I, as I had suffered a close family bereavement earlier that year and she wanted to do something special for me, which was very kind of her. Anyway, here is a photo of the flautist in the BBC Symphony Orchestra rendering the hornpipe tune of the Fantasia  on British Sea Songs through both his bushy moustache and several party streamers. Quite a feat. I thought Lise Davidsen and Sheku Kenneh-Mason's performance of Villa Lobos's Bachianas Brasileiras was beautiful. I first heard this work on an EP by Joan Baez back in the 60s and have loved it ever since. The sight of the prommers waving the EU flags along with the Union Jacks was a reminder that Brexit has badly affected the music scene in this country. And, finally, three cheers for the BBC for another magnificent season of classical music. The BBC truly is a wonderful institution which we should do much more to celebrate.