The Proms start tonight in the Royal Albert Hall and even as I write these words the BBC Symphony, Jirí Belohlávek and a cast of not quite a thousand (but lots of singers nonetheless) have launched into Mahler's Eighth. I'm old enough to remember when Mahler was considered an acquired taste. Now it's a taste sensation that you can't escape. There is even a conductor who specializes in a single Mahler symphony.
Well, I don't have any Mahler for you today, but I do have a less grandiose choral work to celebrate the opening of the Proms. It is taken from the Last Night of the Proms in 1953 - September 19. This is Vaughan Williams' gorgeous Serenade to Music, in the choral version as presented by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus led by Basil Cameron, a conductor who made relatively few records.
This work is included with the July BBC Music Magazine, but that transfer manages to be both dull and strident. My version attempts to remove the muddy vesture of this mastering, perhaps with some success. I'm not in the habit of offering things that are already out there, but I do love this work.
LINK
Also wanted to mention a small site that may be of interest to you (thanks to a tip from John Leifert). The Museum of Broadcast Communications has a web site with quite a few interesting music clips from Chicago television. The other day I watched Aaron Copland rehearsing his Billy the Kid with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia. This 1960 rehearsal was staged for the cameras, to be sure, but is nonetheless fascinating - and the sound is good. Here's a link.
2 weeks ago