Vale Park Proms 2017

According to the statistics, south east England had nearly 20% more rain in August this year than average. Certainly it seemed as if it rained every day for the first three weeks of the month, so we had good cause to be apprehensive about the weather for the annual Vale Park Proms on 27th August. This is the concert the Band performs each year in Vale Park, Aylesbury as part of the Parklife Weekend organised by Aylesbury Town Council. Fortunately as the day approached the weather grew more settled, and the afternoon of the 27th was quite warm and partly sunny. By the time in the evening the concert was due to start there was barely a blade of grass to be seen as people poured into the park ready to enjoy the concert. This year we welcomed back soprano Alison Langer and tenor Lawrence Thackeray as soloists. Alison and Lawrence are due to marry soon, so it was very appropriate that they sung People will say we’re in love from Oklahoma in the second half.

The theme of the concert was “stage and screen”, and it began with the opening “sunrise” fanfare from Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, better known to most people from its use in the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey. This was followed by music from the Disney film Beauty and the Beast by Alan Menken. The first solo item featured Lawrence Thackeray singing Dein ist mein Ganzes Herz by Franz Lehár, and later in the first half Alison Langer sang the aria Sempre Libera from La Traviata by Verdi. The first half ended with music from the original Star Wars films by John Williams.

After the interval the second half opened with music from TV – Doctor Who: Through Time and Space, followed by film music from The Incredibles. As already mentioned, Alison and Lawrence came together to sing People will say we’re in love, and the the last piece before the “Proms” finale was from the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series by Klaus Badelt.

Of course the highlight of the evening for most of the audience is the finale, when they can join in singing and waving their flags and glow sticks. Following Jerusalem the Band played the Fantasia on British Sea Songs by Henry Wood, including Rule Britannia, and finally Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March no. 1 with which the audience joined in singing Land of Hope and Glory. After its inevitable encore a fireworks display rounded off the proceedings.

So ended another highly successful Proms concert by the Band. Now it’s time to start thinking about our next concert in November.

Here is a complete list of all the music played:–