5th September 1999
Something Novel
At the Prommers' Meeting during the 1998 Season, the question was asked if anything were being planned for the next year to commemorate Gerard Hoffnung who died in 1959. Copyright restrictions made it impossible to contemplate anything by the man himself, but John Amis agreed to let us use the text of the introduction he wrote to the music of Bruno Heinz Jaja. We had our first interval talk, the roles taken originally by John Amis and Gerard Hoffnung were filled by Antony Brahms and a genuine German musicologist who had practised her German accent for weeks.
The BBC Radio 3 programme "The Music Machine" had spent a week examining National Anthems and to further this, commissioned one of their own - from Terry Pratchett with music by Carl Davis. This was recorded by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and given its first performance earlier in the year. We were privileged to give the first live public performance. It would be unfair to quote the text - but let me say it began: "When dragons belch and hippos flee, my thoughts, Ankh Morpork are of thee". The second verse is easier. Taking note of the fact that few of us ever know all of the words of national anthems, Terry Pratchett decided not to bother writing many.
Ambitions of performing the entire Beethoven Symphony Cycle at sight in a single day seem for some unaccountable reason to be faltering somewhat. In the end we could not even stage one of them. However, we were able to put out the best chorus we have ever managed and the Mass in C made up for it. Although the programme steadfastly tried to avoid last works and requiems- which have dominated this season so much, we did manage to finish with the last work of a composer who died a century ago.