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Doctor Who Prom
Jul. 26th, 2010 12:25 amThis is the first chance I've had today to get online for any length of time to pontificate about the Doctor Who Prom yesterday night.
It's ages since I've been to the Albert Hall. It's not my favourite venue because the acoustic is so odd, but there's always a fantastic atmosphere at the Proms. It's the first time I've taken my kids to a concert, which is something I've been meaning to get around to for a while.
I managed to get some tickets on the day booking opened - although not the ones I'd wanted. We were up in the Circle, with a clear view of the stage and the big screen (and others that were dotted around) - my Promming days are long gone, I'm afraid. I did it a lot when I was younger, but these days, my back can't take standing up for long periods - and anyway, unless we'd managed to get to the front, the kids wouldn't have been able to see anything, so sitting was a better option.
Anyway. The orchestra was on fine form - I only heard a couple of bum notes! (Believe me, I've heard some pretty ropey performances by professional orchestras in my time). There was a good selection of music, most of it from Series 5 - and while that's not surprising, it was a little disappointing. There's enough top-notch music by Murray to fill an entire concert, and while I recognise (of course) that this is the Proms and they're going to pepper something like this with "classical favourites", I'm not a fan of that sort of concert programme.
( Let me tell you why )
But enough of the moaning - onto the good stuff! And there was a LOT of good stuff. I've been a fan of Murray's music for a while now, and I really do think that he's one of the best composers working in TV and film today. And actually I should include Ben Foster in that, because it's a collaborative effort in that Ben is the orchestrator - and if you're a music nerd (like me) the instrumentations are frequently as interesting as what's actually being played.
( the music )
I didn't have time to hang around afterwards to see if I could bag any autographs - I had the kids with me, and I was sure it'd be a scrum-and-a-half! In any case, we had a train to catch and as is typical at the weekends, half the Underground was suspended for engineering work, so I wanted to make sure we didn't end up stranded at Liverpool Street!
I'm still surprised they didn't have a Soundtrack album out in time for this - they'd have sold shedloads!
Oh - the whole thing is available on the iPlayer for the next week and is definitely worth a listen. Being in the audience, I didn't get to listen to the interval talk, but I listened this morning, and that's worth it, too - many of the people who've created/written music for DW over the past 47 years talking about their experience of writing music for aliens!
(If you're interested, but can't find it online, let me know.)
It's ages since I've been to the Albert Hall. It's not my favourite venue because the acoustic is so odd, but there's always a fantastic atmosphere at the Proms. It's the first time I've taken my kids to a concert, which is something I've been meaning to get around to for a while.
I managed to get some tickets on the day booking opened - although not the ones I'd wanted. We were up in the Circle, with a clear view of the stage and the big screen (and others that were dotted around) - my Promming days are long gone, I'm afraid. I did it a lot when I was younger, but these days, my back can't take standing up for long periods - and anyway, unless we'd managed to get to the front, the kids wouldn't have been able to see anything, so sitting was a better option.
Anyway. The orchestra was on fine form - I only heard a couple of bum notes! (Believe me, I've heard some pretty ropey performances by professional orchestras in my time). There was a good selection of music, most of it from Series 5 - and while that's not surprising, it was a little disappointing. There's enough top-notch music by Murray to fill an entire concert, and while I recognise (of course) that this is the Proms and they're going to pepper something like this with "classical favourites", I'm not a fan of that sort of concert programme.
( Let me tell you why )
But enough of the moaning - onto the good stuff! And there was a LOT of good stuff. I've been a fan of Murray's music for a while now, and I really do think that he's one of the best composers working in TV and film today. And actually I should include Ben Foster in that, because it's a collaborative effort in that Ben is the orchestrator - and if you're a music nerd (like me) the instrumentations are frequently as interesting as what's actually being played.
( the music )
I didn't have time to hang around afterwards to see if I could bag any autographs - I had the kids with me, and I was sure it'd be a scrum-and-a-half! In any case, we had a train to catch and as is typical at the weekends, half the Underground was suspended for engineering work, so I wanted to make sure we didn't end up stranded at Liverpool Street!
I'm still surprised they didn't have a Soundtrack album out in time for this - they'd have sold shedloads!
Oh - the whole thing is available on the iPlayer for the next week and is definitely worth a listen. Being in the audience, I didn't get to listen to the interval talk, but I listened this morning, and that's worth it, too - many of the people who've created/written music for DW over the past 47 years talking about their experience of writing music for aliens!
(If you're interested, but can't find it online, let me know.)
