BBC PROMS: 22 August 2025
J.S Bach, orch. Ottorini Respighi: Three Chorales
Thomas de Hartmann: Violin concerto
Hemryk Górecki: Symphony no. 3 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Joshua Bell (Violin)
Francesca Chiejina (Soprano)
Dalia Stasevska (Conductor)
This evening’s Prom was one of reflection on troubled times: pieces inspired by reactions to conflict
and its aftermath.
Respighi’s orchestration of J.S Bach’s chorale Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (BWV 659) provided a
sonorous, sombre opening. Orchestrated for strings only in large numbers, and in low registers
virtually throughout, it formed a suitable mood-setting piece for what was to come.
Ukrainian composer Thomas de Hartmann’s violin concerto (1943) might be interpreted as a
response to the invasion his homeland by the Germans. In the first movement dark, menacing
orchestral tones set the scene whilst Joshua Bell’s solo violin soars above. At times there are hints of
eastern European folk-music, perhaps indicating happier times whilst hints of mechanised warfare
are never far behind. The second movement lilts with dotted rhythms in the violin, interspersed with
virtuosic arpeggio passages, followed by a short third movement and then a lively, busy finale with
more dance-type rhythms and a frenzied violin part that drive the piece to its end.
Chopin’s 2nd piano nocturne, arranged for violin and orchestra was a very well-considered, calming
encore.
Górecki’s Symphony no. 3 (1976) – a very familiar piece to any 1990s music student, and indeed
many others given its huge popularity at the time – is a vast work when heard complete, running just
short of an hour. The opening statement, played by half the double bass section and built up in
layers rising through the strings, is a type of minimalist fugue. In the central section Francesca
Chiejina’s voice hangs beautifully over the rich tone clusters before the long wind-down through the
strings ends the first movement. In the second, Chiejina demonstrates the remarkable power of
carrying the vocal line through the textures, particularly when singing very low in her register at
pianissimo levels: real pathos to the words of a prayer, inscribed by an 18-year old in the walls of her
cell in a Gestapo prison in occupied Poland in 1944.
Conductor Dalia Stasevska moulds (as much as conducts) the complex soundscapes and I was
particularly impressed by the work of the piano and harp (effectively the only ‘percussion’ used) in
placing their entries. Five or six repeats of the same note at gradually diminishing dynamic, each
several seconds apart, for example – beautifully done.
At the end the audience held silence for perhaps half a minute – the most fitting response to a
remarkable evening of contemplative music.
