Last Night of the Proms

The Proms have been a national institution for many many decades. The Last Night is a bizarre spectacular demonstration of national pride, flag waving and traditional British songs. One might have imagined that it would become stuck in the past, a gradually aging audience of no interest to the young and viewed from abroad as yet another example of eccentric British behaviour. However, ticket sales for the whole Proms Season reached a record high, and the spin off Last Night events - the Proms in the Park attract vast audiences, this year reaching a new venue - Middlesbrough. As these are outside, open air events it surprises me how many people want to attend in view of the unreliable weather. It deters no one. The standard of performances are amazingly high and every year a new range of pieces are added to the hard core of traditional Elgar and Arne, so beloved of Sir Malcolm Sargeant.