Queen Victoria's 200th Birthday Prom - Mendelssohn, Fischer, OAE, Hough

BBC Prom 40, marking the 200th annivesary of the birth of Queen Victoria,with Ádám Fischer and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Mendelssohn, Piano Concerto no 1 in G minor (Stephen Hough) and Symphony no 3 "The Scottish", with Arthur Sullivan's suite on Victoria and Merrie England and a set of songs by Prince Albert himself (Alessandro Fisher, tenor).  An apposite reminder of how much British music and culture owes to the friendship betwen the Queen, the Prince Consort and Felix Mendelssohn. Victoria was the only heir of a large family of princes more prone to profligacy than cultivation. Being young and isolated, she might have been easy prey for the rich and powerful, married off to someone more interested in his own fortunes than to the fortunes of her country.  Luckily, in Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, she chose a man with a background as illustrious as her own, and even more fortuitously, a man enlightened by the ideals of the Romantc sensibility, who believed that culture was fundamental to progress, and that education and the arts are as valuable to a nation as economic growth.  Imagine if she'd married a gammon! Her horizons, like his, were European, and forward-looking, and she knew good music. In the Giclée print above, she's seen admiring Albert at the organ (with Mendelssohn looking on) "playing so charmingly, clearly and correctly that it would have been credit to any professional". 

To emphasize the difference between the early Victorian era, when Victoria and Albert were together, and the late period, when Albert was long gone, Fischer and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment began the Prom with Arthur Sullivan's Victoria and Merrie England - ballet suite No 1. Two very different artistic sensilibilities indeed. The ballet was very popular in its time (1897), full of colourful scenes and dances. The Queen and her family attended but times had changed.  It's jolly, almost a throwback to popular entertainment : comfort music for the satisfied middle classes, with references to an idealized past, with dutiful patriotic references. The world of the early Romantic period with its soul searching and idealism is very far away. 

In contrast, Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto no 1 in G minor , Stephen Hough playing an 1856 Érard commissioned for Victoria and Albert who used it regularly when they made music in private.  The sound is very different to the sound of a modern concert grand. The leatrher hammers are encased in felt, the registers brighter, more "singing" than pounding. The keys are narrower, requiring lighter, more agile performance technique. Earlier this year, Kristian Bezuidenhout used a slightly earlier Érard when he played Mendelssohn's  Double Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Strings with Sir John Eliot Gardiner (please read more here),  demonstrating how the instruments Mendelssohn used influenced his compositional development.  Since Stephen Hough doesn't normally play early instruments, his approach wasn't as fluid as a specialist like Bezuidenhout, but Fischer and the OAE supported him with verve. I quite liked the tension between piano and orchestra.  The five Lieder by Prince Albert : Gruss aus der Ferne, Standchen, Gruss an den Bruder, Aus Wilhelm Meister and  Lebewohl were far more conventional, composed as they were for private performance, albeit by somewhat above average amateurs. The soloist was Alessandro Fisher.  

With Mendelssohn Symphony No 3 in A minor, Op 56 (Scottish), Fischer and the OAE returned to the almost symbiotic relationship betwee The Queen, Prince Albert and Mendelssohn.  Compared with his privileged upbringing in Berlin, Scotland must have been primitive wilderness, in a era before tourism, without mod cons. But that was the attraction. To early Romantics, Scotland symbolized an escape from the constraints of respectable civilization, where Nature challenged mankind, liberating creative imagination.  Mendelssohn knew Scotland long before Victoria did. His influence may have helped shape her later love for the country and the freedom it represented.  The first movement began with a hush, evoking the mystery that ruins evoked in the Romantic psyche. The pace picked up, with ebullience : nothing meek about the Romantic sense of adventure. The moments of calm made the "storm" in the allegro un poco agitato loom up impressively. Perhaps those soaring chords might also suggest mountains : Fischer certainly didn't stint on intensity.  "Outdoors" freedom in the second movement with its suggestions of energetic Highland dance, ending with figure suggesting hunting horn : a nod to the forests of Middle Europe. Fischer's Adagio was firmly sculpted ; suggesting strength and deliberation, contrasting well with the more feminine melody which might signify Mary Queen of Scots or some doomed heroine. The final movement began briskly,  the brightness of the OAE sound gloriously vivid. "Vivacissimo" gradually becomes "molto assai". What might this signify? The manic energy faded to an anthem, where strong figures again rang forth, now with exuberant triumph.  Blazing finale!  

The sex life of Victoria and Albert

Currently in the news, sensational accounts of the relationship between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  So he kept making her pregnant so he could "manipulate" her and further his own ambitions ?  in the days before birth control, most people had huge families, even if they couldn't afford to keep them well, an accusation that cannot be lodged against the Queen and her husband, who came from the princely line of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The House of Hannover had lucked out in 1714, when George became King of England.  Victoria and Albert weren't so far apart, socially.  Being the only surviving issue of a family not known for statesmanlike virtue, she could have been in a vulnerable position.  Albert made Victoria as much as she made him.  Without his visionary ideals, the Victorian Age might not have become so associated with the cultural values so central to German intellectuals of the era.  How much worse off we'd be had Victoria married a gammon ?

As for their sex life, they both enjoyed themselves without restraint. When told she shouldn't have more children, her response was heartfelt. "Am I no more to have fun in bed"?  As for thre notion that post natal depression proves anything, that's nonsense. It can happen to anyone.  In any case, it is an insult to Victoria to suggest that Victoria was too stupid to have her own mind. Lie our present Queen, she was no pushover : she read and understood what her governments presented her with. She refused, for example, to outlaw sex between women. It wasn't because she thought women were asexual but rather that she couldn't imagine getting it off without a man.  So let's stuff these ideas of Victoria as victim.  Millions of women  are abused and mistreated. These are the women who need our support, in the real world beyond TV and media sensationalism.  Insult Victoria, and you're insulting all women who have managed against the odds.

Apropos Victoria and Albert, I'm looking forward to Prom 40 on 16th August, marking the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth. Ádám Fischer conducts The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in  Mendelssohn, Piano Concerto no 1 in G minor (Stephen Hough) and Symphony no 3 "The Scottish", with Arthur Sullivan's suite on Victoria and Merrie England and a set of songs by Prince Albert himself (Alessandro Fisher, tenor).   G&S for the crowds,  but Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as an insight into the private world of Victoria and Albert.  Incidentally, Victoria and Clara Schumann  were both born the same year.  Both of them had numerous children, and were reasonably happy (Robert and Cara kept sex diaries). And both of them were pioneers, created careers almost without precedent.

God Save the Queen and what she stands for !

God Save the Queen, and long may she reign ! In her rests what is good about the monarchy - above the cheap sideshows of petty politics.  She's not hypnotized by Donald Trump's golden elevator ! Or by crawlers like Farage and May who'd sell out to please the media who control what the public thinks. It is ironic that, at a time when the very basis of democracy is being eroded by the likes of Cambridge Analytica and the Murdoch press, a monarch should stand for the rights of ordinary people.  Long may she reign and not give in to the crass and venal.

Gloriana Royal Opera House Britten's Mock Tudor

Claire Seymour's review of Britten Gloriana at the Royal Opera House is HERE in Opera Today. She wrote the book on Britten's operas - literally. "The Operas of Benjamin Britten :  Expression and Evasion is an authoritative reference work anyone interested in Britten needs to know. So what she says about the opera, and about Richard Jones's production, is worth reading.

"Initially we are confronted with the simple exterior of a theatre. A dignitary paces impatiently beneath the royal crest and flag which adorns the façade, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the royal party; Queen and consort enter, slightly bemused by the cultural offering bestowed in their honour. The ‘fourth wall’ is lifted to reveal an unsophisticated platform; prompter, janitor, curtain hoister and bell-ringer loiter with anticipation in the wings. The orchestral prologue commences, visually illustrated by a perfectly choreographed reverse parade through British monarchical history - faultlessly in keeping with current Conservative-party educational policy - until we arrive at the first age of Elizabethan magnificence and mal-contentment. In a brisk sweep - reminiscent of the gallery of ancestral portraits illuminated by the Prologue to Owen Wingrave - Richard Jones makes a virtue of the opera’s potential cause for irritation - its whimsicality and twee ‘Merrie England-ishness’. "

"Henceforth, all sentimental, mawkish, am-dram naff-ness is viewed through a knowingly ironic filter - which, in fact, perfectly complements the parodies and self-parodies of Britten’s score."

Britten's Mock Tudor carries a punch ! read the whole piece here. 

Glass ENO and Coronation Calypso

Tonight, ENO Philip Glass The Perfect American at the Coliseum. Read about Philip Glass's Satyagraha, Einstein on the Beach and his In the Penal Colony on this site. They are relevant. I don't shatter Glass easily but The Perfect American didn't sparkle for me. Review HERE.

But it was nice seeing London decorated for the 60th anniversary of the Queen's Coronation. Less nice the post-midnight road closures. Admirably tasteful banners in maroon and gold. I love the Queen because she comes over as a genuinely decent person, who works extremely hard and cares about the country.  One of the reasons we admire the Queen is because she came to the throne at the right time. The war was over, but there were still bombed areas and memories of rationing, death etc. And  out of this a pretty, conscientious young woman taking on the mantle of Empire. Highly symbolic. Monarchy is image, not logic, and if it remains, the monarch must fill a need. Which is a contradiction in terms when it's hereditary. Long Live the Queen,  Long May She Reign! Preferably til she's 120. and keeps the throne warm for William. In 60 years, Britain has changed a lot, but she's been a wise monarch, interested in what's happening and placing nation above herself.

Anyway, here is a Calypso from 1953, and the singer, nice tenor, is Young Tiger (George E Browne) who was young then but was nearly 87 when he died in 2007. Listen to the inventive words, and the way they twist round the line.  "Her Majesty looked really divine, in her crimson robe furred with ermine", "the night wind was blowing freezing and cold, but I held my ground like a young Creole".

50 million British go gay

Clever product marketing in 1953. See the Guards in bearskin hats? In fact the boy in front wants candy more than the parade. Will he go gay with a sugar rush? That expression "go gay"conveys so much more than "be happy". It's wonderful, and would be nice to revive. The other, more modern meaning is OK too.

5 million Ghanaians will go gay

"This is the day, 5 million Ghanaians will go gay. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip will be here that special day. We'll drink and dance the whole day and put on kente fine [Ghanaian woven cloth] on that Thursday 12th November 1959."

Chorus : "May God bless this fine Thursday, when all Ghana will go gay. Elizabeth we love you, akwaba wa wa too [Ashanti welcome] "

"Seven long years we waited since Co-ro-na-tion, to Canada and then Nigeria, she brought jubilation. Now hear the drummers thumping on the mighty fontonfrom, the Queen has come at last to Ghana from United Kingdom,"

"With one accord we welcome you to Ghana. The people are rejoicing, from  Axim to Bolgatanga. From our leader Dr Nkrumah to the lowest in the land We all join this song of love, we know you'll understand. "

The song is by King Bruce and The Black Beats, a big Ghanaian highlife band. King Bruce (1922-98) was well educated and spent several years in London, returning to Ghana where he became a senior civil servant. John Collins, an authority on West African music (who also plays in highlife bands) interviewed King Bruce about his dual careers.

"At first the opposition from my employers came in hints. Then in 1967 the opposition came in black and white as a result of a letter I received from the government. It was from the head of the Administrative Civil Service and they told me that I had now got to the stage where I was due for promotion from assistant to full principal secretary and that the only thing that stood in my way was my dance band playing. So I had to decide whether to continue playing or accept promotion. I replied that I had commitments to play up to Easter 1968, but that from April and thereafter I would comply with the undertaking and wouldn't play in public anymore. .....I was very much annoyed because I had always believed that it was the actual playing in a band that sharpens your faculties and brings new ideas. When you sit down doing nothing you don't create new music. So the ban on my playing hurt me very much as I had to sacrifice a lot to play music and had always wanted to pursue it and make something out of it." 
 

COLOUR Coronation film 1953

More rare footage of the Queen's Coronation, 2nd June 1953  in Hong Kong. This time it's COLOUR.  See the procession assemble on the race course at Happy Valley, floats, stilt walkers, heavenly maidens and the giant dragon dance in colour (albeit faded after 60 years).  The film was made by the Hong Kong Amateur Cine Club, but the quality is way above any home movie. No expense was spared, and much preparation work was done to set up shots, arrange permissions etc. Extremely professional results. Perhaps not so surprisng given how well-connected the men who made this film were. It's interesting to compare this with the Cantonese movie with Coronation footage that I wrote about earlier. (see here). This time the film is anglocentric, reflecting the film makers' position in society. So you see the trappings of colonial power, which in the Chinese film is largely irrelevant (though they're having a wonderful time). Many, many thanks to Michael Rogge, who made dozens of films like this from 1949. Because he's Dutch, his perspective was unique. He saw Hong Kong without the filter of British rule. His films are a wonderful archive of Hong Kong as it was, filmed with respect and humanity. His films of the boat people are extremely valuable, since they all migrated on land, fifty years ago.

RARE live footage Queen's Coronation 1953

This is different, and rare - bet you've never seen this before. LIVE footage of the Queen's Coronation procession on 2nd June 1953. One of the reasons it's so remarkable is because it shows Hong Kong, not Britain. And specifically Chinese themes. Dragon and lion dances, elaborate floats, most with Chinese themes, marching bands, both Chinese and western. Fantastic!  Look out for the float with KCR tower and other Hong Kong landmarks on the back of a truck. Onre of the big building lit up with lights is a huge Pai Lau (ceremonial arch) built for the occasion and decoarated weith flowers (traditional Chinese custom). Full screen recommended. These clips were filmed live, then incorporated into the Cantonese movie Bright Light (火樹銀花相映紅) starring mega hero Cheung Ying (張瑛). The "crowds" on the viewing platform are well-known Cantonese movie stars who got to enjoy the show while making the film. The other crowd scenes, with people lining balconies etc.are ordinary people, preserved forever in this amazing historical material.

Why such big celebrations so far away from London? Hong Kong people weren't attached to the Queen, not even to Britain, but they'd been through more than twenty years of war and revolution, rather more traumatic than anything experienced in the UK. After China was invaded by Japan in 1931, waves after waves of refugees moved back and forth, never able to settle anywhere long. Whole generations of displaced people. Under the Japanese occupation, Hong Kong was deliberately depopulated, then bombed flat by the Americans. When the Communists took Beijing in 1949, milllions more refugees fled southwards. So four years later, they're celebrating. It's not so much the Queen they're cheering but the fact that they'd survived horrible conditions and were starting to be prosperous again.

I was there at the Coronation!

Since Windsor and central London are no-go areas for common citizens, we might celebrate the Queen's Jubilee in other ways. I love the Queen because she comes over as a genuinely decent person, who works extremely hard and cares about the country (and Commonwealth). Which is more than we can say about politicians, or other members of her family. One of the reasons we admire the Queen is because she came to the throne at the right time.The war was over, but there were still bombed areas and memories of rationing, death etc. And  out of this a pretty, conscientious young woman taking on the mantle of Empire. Highly symbolic. Monarchy is image, not logic, and if it remains, the monarch must fill a need. Which is a contradiction in terms when it's hereditary. Long Live the Queen, Long May She Reign (even if it's only to keep the seat warm for William).

Anyway, here is a Calypso from 1953, and the singer, nice tenor, is Young Tiger (George E Browne) who was young then but was nearly 87 when he died in 2007. Listen to the inventive words, and the way they twist round the line.  "Her Majesty looked really divine, in her crimson robe furred with ermine", "the night wind was blowing freezing and cold, but I held my ground like a young Creole"  Royalty sure throws a grand party, though we pay and pay and pay and pay.....I'l be doing quite a lot more on the Queen in music over the next few weeks, but very "alternative". Which somehow I think she'd apppreciate more than right-wing Little Englanders.