Composer Julian Anderson will launch this year’s BBC Proms with the debut of new work Harmony at the Royal Albert Hall.
The music festival, which is thought to the world’s largest, will begin tonight (12 July) before culminating with the infamous Last Night of the Proms on 7 September.
Speaking to the BBC, Julian described the four minute long Harmony as ‘a short piece about eternity’.
He said: ‘When you're writing a piece to open a concert series, it seems to me there are two options: one is to write a piece that's very loud and rather like a fanfare, and the other is to write a quiet and more meditative piece.
‘I've chosen the second option which is perhaps the less obvious of the two.’
Sea-inspired works by Britten and Vaughan Williams will also be performed on the opening night, which will be conducted by Sakari Oramo, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Other highlights include the return of The Doctor Who Proms as part of the TV show's 50th anniversary celebrations and a BBC 6 Music Prom with Cerys Matthews, Laura Marling and punk veterans The Stranglers.
This years proms are expected to feature 75 concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall, 13 in the Cadogan Hall and four Proms in the Park events around the UK.
Read the full list of events taking place this year.
The music festival, which is thought to the world’s largest, will begin tonight (12 July) before culminating with the infamous Last Night of the Proms on 7 September.
Speaking to the BBC, Julian described the four minute long Harmony as ‘a short piece about eternity’.
He said: ‘When you're writing a piece to open a concert series, it seems to me there are two options: one is to write a piece that's very loud and rather like a fanfare, and the other is to write a quiet and more meditative piece.
‘I've chosen the second option which is perhaps the less obvious of the two.’
Sea-inspired works by Britten and Vaughan Williams will also be performed on the opening night, which will be conducted by Sakari Oramo, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Other highlights include the return of The Doctor Who Proms as part of the TV show's 50th anniversary celebrations and a BBC 6 Music Prom with Cerys Matthews, Laura Marling and punk veterans The Stranglers.
This years proms are expected to feature 75 concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall, 13 in the Cadogan Hall and four Proms in the Park events around the UK.
Read the full list of events taking place this year.
