91Èȱ¬

Proms 2024
17 Jul 2011, Royal Albert Hall
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19:00 Sun 17 Jul 2011 Next Event

Proms 2011 Prom 4: Brian – Symphony No. 1, 'The Gothic'

Prom 4: Brian – Symphony No. 1, 'The Gothic'
19:00 Sun 17 Jul 2011 Royal Albert Hall
Over a thousand performers gathered for a rare performance of Brian’s gargantuan work, ‘The Gothic’.
Over a thousand performers gathered for a rare performance of Brian’s gargantuan work, ‘The Gothic’.

About this event

This season's sequence of Choral Sundays kicks off with arguably the grandest statement in British music, Havergal Brian's 'The Gothic', a gargantuan work that earned an entry in the Guinness Book of Records under 'Longest Symphony'.

Completed in the 1920s but unplayed until 1961, its most famous outing came in 1966, when Sir Adrian Boult presided over a 91Èȱ¬-sponsored rendition at the Royal Albert Hall.

Its Proms debut features not one but two orchestras and a raft of choirs. Even Mahler never contemplated a work on quite this scale, although he too found inspiration in Goethe's Faust.

There will be no interval

Due to the staging and production requirements for 'The Gothic' on Sunday, Prom 4 will have limited Promming capacity. For this Prom we will not sell to the Arena or Gallery day queues until 20 minutes before the concert, subject to availability.