About the Proms / Proms Memories

Philip Hulm
My first Prom was in 1971. I remember the young conducter Andrew Davis was also making his Proms debut that night. The progeramme was amongst others, Chopin Piano Concerto No.1, Vlado Perlemuter as soloist, Mozart's 4th Horn Concerto, Alan Civil as soloist, Brahms's 2nd Symphony and the concert ended with Tchaikovsky's Marche Slave. In those days I used to travel down from the north of England by overnight bus, queue all day outside the Albert Hall then get the overnight bus back the same night. Such youthful enthusiasm. I'm glad I now live in London and graduated to the comfort of the seats. My enthusiasm for the music though is as great as ever.

Wayne Fitzgerald
The special Carry On music sequence which Richard E Grant hosted in the movie music Prom! It would have been perfect for a Last Night sequence, with its irreverent reverence for a classic movie series. The music was beautiful, even if the films are notoriously dodgy.

I remember well going to the Albert Hall and listening to the (then young) Yehudi Menuhin playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto in D. I would listen to as many of the broadcast Prom concerts as possible, the Last Night being the most exciting, especially Constance Shacklock singing Rule Britannia - how I wish I could obtain a recording of that!

Mike Crew
Hi, I'm Mike Crew and I still treasure my 1959 Proms prospectus, autographed by Sir Malcolm Sargent - Flash Harry in person! I'm now nearly 66, but cannot erase those early years when I queued for hours to get to the front of the arena on first nights, last nights and any other concerts I managed to attend. My late father used to reminisce about his regular visits to The Queen's Hall under the baton of the affectionately called 'old man' - Sir Henry Wood. Apparently, my grandfather, 1873 - 1944, also used to wax lyrical about his visits to Henry Wood's promenade concerts. What an amazing institution for all of us who love our rich musical heritage, regardless of our roots. I am so grateful - thank you - thank you - thank you!

Ruth Haslett
For many years I have religiously listened to the PROMS. I organise a supper party where everyone dresses up in evening clothes, or I have joined a party of the like. In recent years this has been supported with the TV or digital radio, BUT I have noticed that one particular person has been missing for a number of years. There was always a gentleman, on his own, at the front of the audience, with a baton, in dress suit. He was always picked out by the commentator. "What has happened to this wonderful gentleman of the audience?" Does anyone know? The company I keep all remember him but none of us can regretably remember when he stopped appearing at the Proms and he is always a topic of discussion.

Rose Knight
My memories go back to the Queens Hall and the Blitz. Queens Hall was beautiful and the accoustics fabulous. I remember the air-raid sirens which meant staying on after the concert. I never felt any fear and enjoyed the atmosphere of those occasions, the feeling of a music loving community. However, I was at the Queens Hall the evening before it was bombed later in the night when it was empty. Luck or providence? I survived to attend the Proms at the Albert Hall later, making friends in the queue. The sound wasn't as good as the Queens Hall until it was improved.

Ray Cannon
I have attended the Proms for many years but the memories of my first season are still amongst the most vivid due to the thrill of the new experience. My first two concerts were in August 1948 (I still have the programmes as treasured mementos) and I was able to prom at the front which added to the excitement.

The first concert was by the BBC SO conducted by Malcolm Sargent and included the 2nd Brandenburg Concerto, my interest in classical music having been stimulated by Bach on the radio (a rather serious beginning some friends thought). The second concert (the LSO) gave me one of my lasting memories when Pierre Fournier gave a superb performance of the Dvorak cello concerto. The goose bumps stayed with me all the way home.

This year I prommed for another unforgettable evening to hear Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan orchestra (why can't all walks of life co-operate like musicians). I wondered while standing enthralled if there are others still promming in the arena after 60 years. It's getting a little tiring but worth it. My visits, now often with my wife, are not so frequent as they used to be, but the buzz is still there and to coin a commercial phrase I hope to prom till I drop.

David Cain
It was 1966, the first visit of a foreign orchestra. The Moscow Radio Orchestra under Gennadi Rozhdestvensky opened my ears to what Tchaikovsky symphonies should really sound like. And I can still recall the emotion as the conductor cried as we demanded encore after encore.

Dr Ronald Senator
I recall a prom in the old Queens Hall next to the BBC when I was still a teenager. I was standing next to Constant Lambert, whom I knew. The air raid sirens sounded. Very few people left the hall. We stayed till the early hours of the morning. The orchestra (BBC Symphony) improvised some jazz, splitting up into groups. It was very thrilling! The Queens Hall was demolished after a direct hit in a subsequent air raid. The Proms moved to the Albert Hall, where I became a regular nightly prommer. I have since become a composer and music professor (I am now 82). But my formative years were back then with a nightly feast of classics.

Joan Mott
I am nearly 85 years old and my memories of the Proms go back to the 1950s. I still have 25 programmes ranging from 1950 to 1977 and 15 prospectuses ranging from 1951 to 1976, the earlier conductors being Sir Malcolm Sargent and Basil Cameron and including artists such as Peter Katin and Moura Lympany, Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick, Barry Tuckwell and Leon Goossens.

The prospectus for 1951 - the Year of the Festival of Britain - contains photographs of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir William Walton, a young Benjamin Britten, Sir Arnold Bax, the then Master of the - note - King's Musick and Sir Arthur Bliss, complete with tweed coat and Trilby hat. It also contains articles on "Great Concert Halls of London (1851-1951)"; "The Music they heard in 1851" and "Henry Wood as I knew him" by Basic Cameron.

The programmes and prospectuses cost sixpence (2-1/2p) in the 1950s, doubling in price to one shilling (5p) by the 1960s and in the 1970s they became 20p. These bring back so many happy and sentimental memories of promenading in the Gallery or sitting on the floor in the Arena, but I have now reached the stage where I must downsize my possessions and long to find a home for them in the Proms Archives, if there is one, where they can continue to exist - or with someone who will keep them and value them for their historical musical content. I hope someone somewhere will make contact. It is wonderful that people these days continue to enjoy what I enjoyed all those years ago. Long may the Proms continue for generations to come - food for the soul!

Alan White
I was a regular promenader between 1948 and 1953 when I was undergraduate and then post-graduate science student living in Wimbledon. The District Line made access to the Albert Hall very easy but sometimes, when funds were low, I used to make the jouney by bicycle. The promenaders were a happy lot full of hope for the future in that immediate post-war era. Many must have been ex-sericemen and women but also there were quite a few like me who had spent a significant part of their life in air raid shelters. I don't remember the word "austerity" ever being used. After all, most of us had never known anything else.

I was studying piano and organ as a hobby but without a gramophone at home and a radio of very uncertain provenance. The Proms were the great opportunity for me to hear for the first time the major works of the orchestral repertoire. Of these new experiences certainly the most shattering and memorable was the first time I heard Beethoven's Ninth on a "Last Friday".

Perhaps I avoided foreign orchestras and conductors, but my impression was that the workload was shared almost entirely between the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the batons of Sir Adrian Boult, Malcolm Sargeant and Basil Cameron who, for some reason, seems largely forgotten these days. I believe the concerts were somewhat shorter than they are today to allow sufficient rehearsal time for such a large number of performances.

I have always regretted that I missed by four years the conducting of Sir Henry Wood. However I remember very clearly when he died because I was working in a field at the school harvest camp when another boy, also in the music club, walked across to tell me the sad news.

Of course everyone knows about Sir Malcom Sargent's relationship with the promenaders but one evening we had some additional entertainment when a press photographer persisted in carrying out flash photography from a position on the edge of the arena in the last aisle adjacent to the orchestra. Sir Malcolm stopped everything by crashing his baton down on the music stand and told the photographer in no uncertain terms to go away, which he did. I remember his rather tatty raincoat as he slunk up the aisle. After a short pause the movement was resumed from the beginning.

Because of my interest in the piano I always pushed to the front for piano concertos and remember with such enormous pleasure the virtuosity of Soloman, Myra Hess, Clifford Curzon and Dennis Matthews. I probably did not go to many concerts featuring soloists on other instruments but one performer I do remember clearly, and that is the violinist Ida Haendel: only six years older than me and already famous. I enjoyed hearing her interviewed by Sean Rafferty recently on Radio 3 prior to a Wigmore Hall concert. At 84 she is still going strong. Now thanks to incredible technology, unthinkable those many years ago, we can listen and view the Proms live and for seven days retrospectively. This is how I shall keep up with their progress for, I hope, many years to come.

Andrew Golds
My favourite memory dates back to around 1964 and the visit of the Glyndebourne Festival's Don Giovanni. It was great fun. At one point Zerlina, a country girl has been seduced by Don Giovanni and has to beg her lover Masetto's forgiveness with the lovely aria 'Batti, Batti o bel Masetto'. Of course he does and they kissed to good applause. The applause died away but they continued kissing! Zerlina (I think Sheila Armstrong) gave a little struggle but Masetto (Leonardo Monreale) held her tight and wouldn't let go. The prommers cheered them on. Eventually Monreale let her go and emerged with a huge grin. The Glyndebourne productions at the Proms enabled many prommers to enjoy excellent performances they would never otherwise be able to afford to attend.

Harold Beck
I have been going to the Proms for 71 years. Before the war I went to school at the Regent Street Polytechnic, just down the road from the Queen's Hall and my father got me to buy 30 Balcony tickets for the last night (no ballot then). So in 1937 and 1938, with family and his work colleagues I greatly enjoyed the festive occasion and had the pleasure of seeing Henry Wood go through his hat, stick and coat routine.

The school was evacuated to Minehead but I came back to London from time to time. That was how I was able to go the last night of the Proms on Saturday 23rd August 1941. Because of the destruction of the Queen's Hall the Proms had been moved to the Royal Albert Hall. The BBC was involved in that it broadcast concerts but I do not think at that time it sponsored them. I had no difficulty getting a stall seat, which happened to be near the open BBC box from which the broadcast announcements were made. During the interval I went to the BBC box and got the announcer, Stuart Hibberd, to autograph my programme. I still have the programme - it is a treasured possession.

Programmes were generally plain and simple in those wartime years - something like a single folded A4 sheet. In addition to the information about the music and the performers there was a notice saying that in the event of an Air Raid Warning there were trenches in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park where the audience could shelter.

Martin Halfacre
As a teenager I frequently used to cycle to the Albert hall from the London suburbs where I lived, to attend the proms. We would join the queue for the top gallery and when the doors opened my brother and I had to run all the way up to the top gallery so that we could get a place in one of the few wooden seats available. Whenever a Vaughan Williams composition was programmed we were often able to see the great man seated in one of the boxes below us.

The concert on August 26th 1958 was primarily scheduled to be a Brahms evening with one new work , a Partita by Willam Walton starting the second half. We heard the stunning news of RVW's death while we were waiting in the queue for that evening's performance which was to be played by the Halle Orchestra and conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. To a silent Proms audience the orchestra started the evening with a tribute to RVW. A performance of (to the best of my recollection), the Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis.

Since those early days I have been a lifelong fan of RVW's music and am fortunate to have been able to get tickets for my wife and myself for the Proms Anniversary concert on August 26th.

Peter Ludbrook
I first went to the Proms in 1959 when Sargent and the BBCSO got thro' a staggering workload (today it would probably be in breach of employment law, health & safety law and human rights legislation). For me it was a cheap way of hearing a lot of basic repertoire. My first really vivid memory is Stokowski conducting the Mahler "Resurrection" and repeating the last 5 or 6 minutes as an encore! I doubt you could get way with that now.

I loved it when the first visiting orchestras appeared because they played better than our home grown bands. Not true today! I recall 4 amazing concerts by the sensational Leningrad Philharmonic. A force of nature. In '69 the Czech Phil came with a wonderful programme of Martinu & Mahler. One of the great concerts of my life. Haitink and the Concertbebouw introduced me to Bruckner.

The list of great conductors is endless but I count myself lucky to have heard Abbado, Boult, Barbirolli, Bernstein, Dohnnanyi, Horenstein & Ozawa to name but a few. Three soloists stand out. Du Pre , hair flying, playing the Schumann concerto, Itzahk Perlman, supported by crutches, playing a sublime Beethoven Violin Concerto with Dorati and finally Kissin giving a solo recital that was stupendous. Then there was the new music. Stockhausen's "Gruppen" and "Carre". The UK premiere's of Penderecki's "St Luke Passion" and Messiaen's "Transfiguration". I also recall being bowled over by Boulez conducting "Gurrelieder".

A different experience was provided by a late night concert by Soft Machine. A riot of noise and the smell of illicit substances! I think the work that produced the most booing was Maxwell-Davies conducting his "Worldes Blis" (anything but). Lots of fun. I'm glad to have heard Gunther Wand have his Indian Summer with the BBCSO. Magisterial Bruckner and the only conductor who made that orchestra sound world-class.

I don't Prom any more. Standing plays havoc with my arthritic knees and varicose veins. It seems to me that the Arena has fewer young people in it than when I was young (a wonderful pick-up place!) so I welcome the Proms attempts to gain new audiences. To those diehards who protest I can only say that you don't have to attend.

In an eight week season I'm spoilt for choice. I think the programmes are shorter, no bad thing, and that performance standards are much higher. The range of music on offer is also much broader than in the past. The hall itself looks magnificent these days and it's good to hear the organ in such respendent form.

I never liked the Last Night even in 1959 when it was a more modest affair than it is now. I'm always astonished by how excited some people get about it when I know for a fact they never go to any other Prom! Anyway I don't have to go to it. The acid test is that even now I still get a buzz of of excitement when the Proms Prospectus comes out and I can plan my Summer music. Thank you BBC.

Philip Jongeneel
As a teenager in the late 1950s I started to go to the Proms, joining the queue early enough to be able to enjoy the camaraderie of the other prommers. We would do crossword puzzles to pass the time. I well remember one wonderful occasion, when, before leaving home, I watched "The Lone Ranger" on TV, thinking that the music was far too good to have been written in Hollywood. I kept thinking about the sound of the strings and wondering what the music really was. Imagine my surprise that evening, when the opening work at the Prom was the William Tell Overture. Such was my musical education.

Vivien Allen
My name is Vivien Allen, but I was still Hallett when I went to my first Proms in 1943. Sir Henry was still conducting but shared the season with Malcolm Sargent. Thanks to a back injury I could not stand in the Arena but managed to scoot up the stairs to claim a front seat in the top tier. We could see down the tunnel and when we saw it was Sir Henry coming we let out a shout of 'Timber' and there was a giant roar from the whole hall.

I had just been accepted to study the organ at the RAM and wrote to Sir Henry to say how wonderful the season had been and thank him. He wrote back saying he hoped I would play a concerto with 'his' orchestra at the Academy but it was not to be. He was already ailing and died the following year.

Jane Coomber
Developing mumps during the Gilbert and Sullivan Prom 44 years ago. I sat in the swivel chairs in the stalls with my mother. My neck started to swell and I remember a sorrowful journey home to Ealing Broadway, on the District Line.

Jane Lee
A couple of summers ago. Palpable excitement in and all around the Albert Hall for a stunning Domingo Proms debut as Siegmund in Die Walkure, with Terfel as Wotan, under Pappano. An unforgettable evening.

PS - I agree about Henry Wood - heard some young promenaders behind me recently asking who the bust was .....? And I wish I'd kept my old programmes!

Dee Tomlin
I met my husband at the proms in the early 1980s. For my 18th birthday my parents gave a me a full season ticket, which as I recall was £30 for the whole season. We celebrate our 23rd Wedding Anniversary in September.

Last night I took my son and daughter to two proms that were fantastic. We listened to Sheherezade one of our family favourites, and then stayed for the Rachmaniov Vespers sung beautifully by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.

Perhaps we should celebrate 23 years of marriage on the 7th of September at a Prom!

Katy Duffell
My memories of being a Proms Season Ticket holder for the Arena during the 1960s and attending as many concerts as I could during the wonderful 8-week Prom season, for a comparatively small amount of money. Also the opportunity to experience the world's top conductors, orchestras, and soloists was too good to miss. There was this great atmosphere while queuing nightly outside the Royal Albert Hall, chatting to other Prommers until the magic moment when the doors were opened and there was the usual mad scramble to be as close to the front of the Arena (or the rail) as possible. You just had to be in the first 2-3 rows to be a 'real Prommer' - getting as close to the orchestra and conductor as you could to soak up the fantastic atmosphere that the Proms created every night by being so close.

One annual 'fun' concert which several of us never missed, was the Viennese evening with dear Sir John Barbirolli and the Halle Orchestra. The Prommers were always noisier leading up to the start of the concert in anticipation of a wonderful evening of light music. Dear Sir John used to involve the Prommers and the whole audience - there was always a lot of laughter and cheering and numerous encores.

Peter Clamp
LIke Andrew Twynam I attended the Prom concert (my first) on 4th August 1975 when Sir Adrian Boult conducted a magnificently "taut and concentrated" interpretation of Vaughan Williams's 5th Symphony. I remember in particular the passion of the climax to the 1st movement "Preludio". Once on the rostrum the 86 year old conductor seemed to shed his years, his back ramrod straight and precise baton totally in control of the wonderous playing of the LPO. After the performance I simply had to see Sir Adrian again and rushed around to the stage door to catch the great man leaving, totally oblivious to all the shouts and congratulations of the cheering throng. I hope he didn't mind our youthful enthusiasm too much. It was the most transcendental musical experience of my life.

Martyn Pedley
I remember going to a Beethoven Choral in 1976. It was preceded by the Britten Sinfonia da Requiem. At the time I was working in a music shop in Tunbridge Wells. I still have the programme of the concert: wonderful interpretations, and a packed Albert Hall.

Peter Rudman
I remember booking for several concerts in, I think, 1978 and to my dismay several were cancelled because of the Musicians' Union strike!

Paul Dendy
I was at the Prom on 27 July 1967 when Messiaen's 'Et exspecto... ' received its UK premiere. The experience totally 'blew me away' and I have been a devotee of Messiaen ever since. I remember that one of my companions lasted only five minutes or so, and the other one probably only stayed to keep me company! I rushed out and bought the LP (cond. Boulez) immediately and I still have that much cherished recording. This year's Messiaen-fest is a sheer delight and I look forward to the rest of the season. There is one thing that puzzles me about that 1967 concert, though. We went to it for whatever the other work on the programme was and I have absolutely no recollection of what it was. Anybody out there got any idea?

David Brooks
Nobody who was a Prommer in 1968 can forget the first concert of the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra, on August 21. It was the time of detente, but there was still some nervousness that boiled over when we heard about the Soviet invasion of Prague. History could not have chosen a more dramatic centerpiece: the Dvorak Cello Concerto, with Rostropovich. Well, there were protests inside and outside, Slava and half the orchestra were in tears, and after hurrying through a painful performance he gave us a Bach Sarabande that left no doubt as to his feelings.

But that's not really the most memorable day for me. One week later, on August 28, I "met" young Jeannie Toone at the orchestra's last concert (Brahms 4th). Forty years on, we've lived in the USA for 25 years, now with three grown children (including a cellist) and a grandson - but on August 28 we'll be at our first Prom in years. In the seats, sadly. Ironically, it's coals to Newcastle: an American orchestra, the NYPO. See you there!

Ian
As a long-time (but intermittent) Proms goer, I thought that readers might be interested in a couple of memories. In 1972 or 3(ish) a good school friend and I were taken to our first Prom. I can still remember every item of the programme vividly. Rudolf Kempe with his Munich Orchestra. The revelatory (to me) Tod und Verklarung and Szeryng's wonderful performance of the familiar Beethoven Concerto, among them. Saturation in the works of Richard Strauss promptly followed.

Through the rest of my teens, regular visits to the Proms were at the core of my musical education. Numerous works and composers were encountered for the first time in many of these concerts. Composers revealed to me in wonderful atmospheric performances included Carl Nielsen and Leos Janacek. One of these memorable experiences (1976?) was my first hearing of the superb "Job" of RVW, (to be performed once again this year). Sir Adrian Boult was about 90 and rather frail but the vigour with which he conducted this amazing work (dedicated to him by RVW) was astonishing. He conducted from a high stool with an unusually long baton and with broad and precise gestures. There was no doubting who was in charge. When the Albert Hall organ lent its weight to the terrifying "Satan sittting in triumph" the hairs stood up on the back of one's neck. At the end of the concert, from my seat in the Circle, I could see Sir Adrian as he shuffled down the passageway under the choir. At least three times he batted away the proferred hand of some poor young chap trying to look after him, so that he could return to the podium for a well-deserved ovation. I bought his most recent recording of the work within a few days. My son and daughter are enjoying a few concerts with me this season. Next generation well underway, I believe!

George Clarkson
I was a young Civil Servant living in london from 1947 and attended my first Winter Prom in 1948. As I recall, these Proms lasted 2 weeks and were much appreciated. Until 2 years ago, I managed to attend a Prom each year since 1960 travelling from Yorkshire. Despite the advent of more recent concert halls, the RAH holds a special affectionate place in my heart; though I can no longer visit London, I remain an avid radio listener.

Barry Marsh
My teenage years were filled with many visits to the Proms, but one particular concert I will never forget was the first Proms (and I think London) performance of Mahler's 10th Symphony in the performing version by Deryck Cooke. There were many tears running unashamedly down cheeks at the close of that final Adagio. As the last note died away, there was complete and utter silence for several minutes. What we had just experienced was, in the 1960s when Mahler was being re-discovered, a journey into a strange new sound world, emotionally draining but at the same time searingly beautiful.

Kevin Jones
I was a late developer and did not discover Messiaen until the 1970s. My favourite Messiaen Prom was when Trois Petites Liturgies was performed and this was followed by a performance of Javanese gamalan music and dances. Later I was able to capture a repeat performance of the concert on tape, which like all such ephemera was subsequently over-written. I always liked to observe concerts from the seats known as the choir stalls. Saw Wayne Marshall perform Messiaen from one of these shortly before the organ was taken out of service. Have not been to the Royal Albert Hall for several years as I now live in far off Norfolk.

fayejane
In 1976 i was 6 years old. My first memory of the last night of the proms. My great Aunt would take me to the pier for an hour then we would return home to watch it on tv.I'm making a memory for my daughter by watching together the last night of the proms every year and hope she has the same fondness for it that i do.

Cheryl Bhagwandin
Having been a few times to the Proms during student days in the early 80s, including Last Nights, my most memorable experiences were afterwards with my Dad up in the Gallery listening to Beethoven's 9th, the slow movement, and realising for the first time that slow movements were not boring, but could be, as that night, spell binding, another time listening to a new piece that sounded a bit like parts of Holst's Planet Suite, we were there in space and, best of all, a totally random choice of concert in the 90's with a friend listening to Mihaud, Boeuf sur la toit. I had never heard of Milhaud and I was bowled over. The percussionists were superb and totally playing up to the audience. It was being televised and when we watched it later it had captured none of the atmosphere, anarchy, exuberance and joy we had felt and experienced. That memory will never leave me.

Anthony Gordon
Out of so many memorable Proms over thirty or so years the one that really stands out for me was a spectacularly inventive piece of programming. It was a Sunday evening in the 1980s that began with Singcircle performing Stockhausen's Stimmung. After the first interval there was a thoroughly theatrical performance of Ligeti's Volumina by the Swedish organist Karl-Erik Welin then after a second interval Imrat Khan played Indian Ragas. Very fond memories too of a couple of all night Indian Proms.

Kenneth Jones
I too was at the Jacqueline Du Pre concert in the mid-60s. I was on the front rail only feet away from her. Her performance has never left my memory, it was so wonderful, and so was she. As I recollect it was Sir Malcolm conducting, but I attended so many proms in the 50s and 60s.

Ray Coggan, Harrogate
Living in Harrogate, I don't get to the Proms often, but in August 1998 I was one of the thousand voices in the Choral Prom of Carmina Burana. A very long day with the rehearsal in the morning, some time to relax in the Park (it was a glorious sunny day), listen to Huddersfield Choral's late afternoon performance, then singing our hearts out to the thousands in the Hall in the evening.

To add to the pleasure, I had time-recorded the broadcast and missed just one note as the tape reversed. Also a friend, Dorothy Keeling, not seen for a few years, was interviewed as she had been in the first performance. A day to remember. Can we have another please?

Jean Abbbott
I've still got the programme from my first Prom as a teenager in 1964, by which time programmes were a shilling (though maybe cheaper in the arena). The highlight was Britten's War Requiem, with Meredith Davies the main conductor and Britten conducting the Melos Ensemble. Soloists were Heather Harper, Peter Pears and Thomas Hemsley plus the BBCSO. The Requiem was preceded by Vaughan Williams's 6th Symphony conducted by Sargent. It seems to me that many Proms are now much shorter.

Two other major moments were Janet Baker in the Glyndebourne production of Gluck's Orfeo and Euridyce. This was her final ever live opera performance. The hall was packed and the atmosphere electric, and the tension and drama of the performance far higher than the recorded version.

There have been many other heart stopping moments over the years, the most recent only last year, when the Uzbekh trumpeters slowly rotated in the middle of the hall and the whole building vibrated with the incredible noise.

John Rogers
At my first Prom in 1951 the programme note began 'This afternoon I have attended a rehearsal of the most tuneless, noisy, unpleasant new symphony'. No, this was not someone at the rehearsal of the new work in the second half of the programme (an Alan Rawsthorne symphony) but Carl Maria von Weber at the rehearsal of the work in the first half, Beethoven's Fourth Symphony. It taught me to be open minded about new music.

Also remember promising myself (and keeping the promise) of going to the Beethoven Choral Symphony the day after I finished my national service as call-up had robbed me of the chance to go, and meeting several of my recent colleagues on the train, going home for a 48 hour weekend pass.

Paul Rixen
In the early 1970s I was lucky enough to be at the front of the arena to enthrall to a superb performance of Elgar's Violin Concerto given by Yehudi Menuhin and conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Not only did it stay with me in my head and my heart on the long journey home, but ever since.

Jayne
I try to get to the Proms at least twice a year - it's when my father and I meet up. I love choral music but I have 3 best memories:

1. Was on September 11th - that awful day of the twin towers. It was quite ironic that there was the American theme that season. The atmosphere was very emotional and very patriotic and the conductor made an amazing speech before starting the performance.

2. At a late performance we went to hear highlights of Veil of the temple by Tavener. It was absolutely amazing, and very mystical when Tavener himself walked across the setting with other members of the production. I was, again, very proud to be at such an occassion and to see Tavener himself was a moment I won't forget.

3. When Bobby McFerrin was conducting and how he got absolutely everyone to join in. He got some great sounds out of everyone there that night.

Gail Cronin
So many wonderful memories - my first Prom way back in 2000, with Gergiev giving Shostakovich 7; then a few years later with my best friend to hear Harry Christophers and The Sixteen perform a heavenly Spem In Alium, as well as other Tallis, Byrd, etc; with same best friend in 2003 blissing out to Alice Coote singing Les Nuits d'Ete by Berlioz; with my sister who that same night in 2004 became a Chopin fan on hearing Chopin's Concerto No.2, as well as Schumann and Dvorak; staying on that same night to hear Holst's Savitri; happily sharing out my cherry tomatoes to other queueing Pommers while waiting to hear and see Ravi and Anoushka Shankar - Anoushka was so, so brilliant - then Ravi came on and together they were Sublime!; and Saturday, 31 July 2004 - Shostakovich's Violin Concerto in the early evening, followed at 10pm by Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra - Out Here To Swing. The fine musicianship, the wonderful music, the intricate and lively rhythms, and the cheer that went up when he said what a great honour it was for them to be at the Greatest Music Festival in the World. He was right, it is! Long Live the Proms! Whether in cameraderie with the Prommers or just listening at home, I'm so, so grateful that it is there.

PS: Thanks for the Dr Who Prom, too. I was listening at home, didn't expect it to be so wonderful but you transmitted the electric atmosphere perfectly. Murray Gold's music is fabulous, out of this world! Keep up the good work!

Marion Williams
Regarding my most memorable Proms experience, I think back to one occasion when Simon Rattle had all the soloists and some of the audience on their feet, doing the Conga! Quite astounding!However, the most thrilling Prom for me was the performance of Delius`s "Sea Drift", with Richard Hickox, Thomas Hampson, the BBC Welsh Orchestra and choir. At the end, I felt as if I`d been holding my breath. I found the performance so enthralling that I was in a dream for the rest of the evening`s concert. I have been unable to trace a recording of this, except those made by other performers and they do not achieve the beauty and perfection of that night at the Proms.

Mike Fowler
I moved as a 17 year old from Hull to London in 1961. My orchestral listening history was three concerts a year by the Hull Philharmonic and one visit a year by the Halle. The Proms was such a thrill. Every night there was something new to listen to. I hardly knew any of the standard repertoire then. Contemporary music was as thrilling as a Brandenburg to me. I never bought a season ticket. I would go round the queue at the start of the season and buy tickets from season tickets holders for the concerts they didn't want to hear, or couldn't for some reason. I managed to see almost every concert for three years, when I left London.

One particular memory was Jacqueline du Pre playing the C Major Haydn concerto. During the 1st movement her A string broke. She just pulled it out of the way and continued with all her high notes played on the D string. A radio listener would not have noticed. She then borrowed the Principal cellists instrument for the next movement.

Trevor Jones
Two from last year - the unforgettable climax of the First Night with Beethoven's 9th. I had been one of the ticket holders for the performance in 2006 that was cancelled because of the fire - remember that? Drove all the way into the heart of London from Northamptonshire without the radio on only to see everybody turning round and coming away from the Hall. Then of course, good old Radio 3 played the pieces as if the concert had happened, so I spent the next couple of hours driving home listening to Ludwig and getting more and more fed up with the thought of how amazing it would have been.

Ten months later, and I WAS THERE! And it was even better than I had hoped for. Words will not do it justice. But the one that will stay with me even longer is the surprise. The very next time I came, to hear Rachmaninov, a short piece by Arvo Part began the programme, his Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten. I'd never heard of it - barely heard of Part - and it literally had me open mouthed with astonishment by the end. Never has a piece of music reached so deep inside me and wrenched emotion out like that. And it's this - the unexpected treasure - that is for me what the Proms is all about. Through this wonderful festival I have discovered so much amazing music that has become a part of my life and enriched it. Good old Henry Wood.

Laurence McDonald
In 1969, the year after the 'Prague Spring', the Czech Philharmonic played Martinu's 6th Symphony (and also, if memory serves, Mahler's 5th?). At the end of the Martinu, many roses were thrown onto the platform.

Donny Pearson, Seattle, Washington, USA
My mom and I went to the 2007 BBC Proms in the Park at London's Hyde Park. Here are the parts that I loved: 1) I enjoyed the BBC Concert Orchestra's performance of the Ron Grainer-composed theme music to 'Doctor Who', the longest-running science fiction franchise in the world. 2) In the final - or should I say next-to-last-part of the 'Last Night' final portion, my mom and I, and all the Prom-lovers from around the world in attendance, sang along to the British national anthem 'God Save the Queen', which is also the royal anthem of Canada, Jamaica, Australia and most other parts of the Commonwealth - and the first verse is, in my honest opinion, easier to sing along to than any other national anthem in the world, especially the U.S. national anthem. Overall, the Proms in the Park event was AWESOME! This September, I'll listen to the 'Last Night of the Proms' from London's Royal Albert Hall on the internet. Let's hope it will be MORE AWESOME!

Mrs Jefferies
I have never been to a "live" proms concert though as a child my parents would always meet up with friends to watch the Last Night. To this day I still watch the Last Night as it reminds me of a time spent with family and friends, and I enjoy singing along! Hopefully this year we are going to throw our own Last Night party and make a new tradition with friends.

Andrew Twynam
One memory springs to mind, approximately 32 years ago dashing up to London after school in Kent, a very warm evening, more or less missing the first half (Gerhard violin concerto?) but witnessing Sir Adrian Boult conducting Vaughan Williams 5th Symphony second half, Sir A being helped to the rostrum, perching on a chair, absolutely minimal conducting movements. I was spellbound sitting as I was virtually alone behind the orchestra. I seem to remember a long period of silence at the end, everybody had been so moved - possibly one of Sir Adrian's last performances?

Robert Lobley
I first visited the Proms in 1953, I still have some of the programmes (price sixpence!). As others have mentioned Friday night was always Beethoven night, but on Friday 4th September 1953 they played Vaughan Williams new Sinfonia Antarctica after the interval. In 1959 on a Tuesday they played Holst, Berg, Vaughan Williams, Debussy, and Hindemith, I do not think they would do that now.

We all loved the Albert Hall but in those days it was rather seedy and it had an echo. This was later cured by hanging the flying saucers from the roof. We also enjoyed being told off by Sir Malcolm Sargent (Flash Harry). My guess is that overall the prommers are now older - in those days lots of students did their courting at the Proms. It was cheap warm exciting and romantic.

My wife and I still go to several proms each season, we really look forward to selecting and booking them and walking across the park from Paddington station before and after. The Albert Hall has been refurbished beautifully and there is nothing like the atmosphere of a good prom. Sometimes on the train, we talk to a white haired lady called Barbara. She has been attending most proms since I was a schoolboy in the 1940s. She missed a few when her children were born and later when her husband died. Last autumn she was run over and spent the winter in a wheelchair. I was delighted to see her on the first night at the very front standing in her usual place and leading the applause, such is the power of the proms!

James Upton
1988 The Third Act of Parsifal, Reginald Goodall. Sunday afternoon in the Summer. Goodall made of it a magnificent Adagio. His swansong. For me, formative to my incipient Wagner appreciation.

When I rhapsodised at work next day, I was not understood. The power of the spirit; no power at all in the brash worlds outside the auditorium. All power to one who has been touched.

Andrew Stafford
With the coronation came a television, and my first memory is of hearing Land of Hope and Glory wafting up the stairs while I at seven or eight was supposedly asleep.

In the late 50s I was allowed to watch (only the second half was braoadcast) Sargent conducting Delius' Brigg Fair and Monica Sinclair singing all the verses of Rule Brittania. the statuesque Constance Shacklock, her fair hair woven into a sort of coronet, seemed to take over this role for most of the sixties.

My first experience of schoolboy promming was in 1966, when Boult, replacing an indisposed Sir Malcolm, conducted Janet Baker, Richard Lewis and Forbes Robertson in Gerontius: the memory of the ranks of white draped ladies from the Goldsmiths Choral Union, the Alexandra Choir, the Royal Choral Society, Harlow and Highgate stretching up into the very remotest parts of the choir, the organ terraces and every available shelf and projection gave ample visual and vocal weight to the hosts of Heaven.

Best of all were the Halle weekends, where, after a serious Friday night, Barbirolli would conduct the Viennese Saturday evening, for which we queued all day; many Prommers wearing evening dress and amusing themselves with a penny farthing ridden round and round outside the Hall.

We threw streamers, clapped our way through the Radzetsky March and hummed the Gold and Silver waltz. Champagne and flowers for Glorious John and a speech from him.

John Baguley
Can anyone as ancient as me recall a time at the Proms when Malcolm Sargeant stood on that famous rostrum conducting the orchestra while behind him or nearby there were three lights; one of which warned that the air raid siren was sounding, a second warned of imminent danger and a third that the all clear was sounding? Obviously I am trying to recall a period in wartime Britain.

Erick Orr, USA
I came to London for the first time in August of 1998. Though my traveling companions had no interest in seeing a concert that didn't stop me.

I took a short walk from my hotel across from Kensington Palace (we were all amazed at how many memorials and bouquets were still in place for Princess Diana) to Royal Albert Hall where, not knowing how much cheaper the stall seats were, I instead shared a box with another American. The BBC Concert Orchestra was led by Barry Wordsworth and I can't remember the first piece, the 2nd was a piano concerto by Simpson and after the interval the Enigma Variations.

I became very impressed by the orchestra and the audience because everyone stayed stone silent durning the Nimrod variation. In America, someone would clear their throat, rattle their program, or get paged at that time.

I knew nothing of the Proms tradition at the time but thanks to the internet I can keep up with the performances and the Last Night as best as I can.

Paul Wyke, Florida, USA
I remember "Friday Night is Beethoven Night". I listened with my mother on the BBC Home Service and somtimes the Third Service.

To the Proms and my mother, I owe my love of music and in its broadest compass. When and why, was the title Henry Wood Promenade Concerts eventually dropped?.

James Argles
I'm a relative newcomer - only 17 seasons - but I will never forget August 1994, and the Berlin Philharmonic's performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony under Claudio Abbado. It was my first "promming" Prom; I'd queued all day in a state of excitement and anticipation, and nothing could have prepared me for the thrill (which I still feel every time) of emerging from the corridor up into the main hall.

It took my breath away, to be in the middle of this magnificent auditorium. But that night, even such feelings as those were just a preamble to the greatest Mahler 9 I've ever heard - an extraordinary reading, of the deepest humanity and insight. What remains with me most clearly, however, was the silence of the whole audience - even the building itself seemed to be holding its breath - at the end of the performance. That silence seemed to stretch time itself, and I felt as if I was suddenly weightless, and airborne, and utterly at peace. As the tears rolled down my cheeks, I remember acknowledging to myself that to have experienced this was the greatest privilege, and a special moment that would stay with me all my life. I still think so ... I'm getting goose bumps just writing this!!

Hugh Wilman
I think I started to go to the proms in my late 'teens' (early fifties). I couldn't have found a more wonderful way of spending five bob or so!

A particularly memorable occasion was when I first heard Holst's The Planets, coupled with Elgar's Enigma Variations. The organist Arnold Grier (I believe, from memory) had been engaged, not only for the famous glissando in the Holst, but also to add support in the last variation of the Enigma. The effect of the deep, firm, unexaggerated bass underpinning Elgar's thrilling orchestration was unforgettable. Sadly, I have never heard this done since , either in performance or on records; it is probably regarded as too unauthentic, maybe even 'vulgar'! I hasten to add, however, that Mr. Grier did NOT vulgarise the effect. I feel sure that Sir Edward would have been equally thrilled, in view of his love of wonderful musical sounds.

Joy Brice
My favourite is fairly recent. The short piece played by the BBC SO in 1995 - in English "Night Retreat to Madrid" (dont know the Spanish) arranged by Berio. It stopped me in my tracks, hair stood on end and took 3 years to track down a recording. It was and is wonderful and will always be my favourite. Sadly hardly ever played. But have it on video. This is proper music not just a collection of noises so often heard in the ultra modernist of today. Looking forward to the season.

Sue Holroyd
I first went in the mid 1960s. We queued to hear Jacqueline Du Pre. I think she played the Elgar Cello Concerto, but the only thing that remains with me is the memory of her long blonde hair swinging around the cello as she played.

Mrs A Bailey
I went in 1999. It was amazing, it has special memories because I went with my brother who unfortunately is no longer here.

My dad bought the tickets; when we first went in I was amazed. I would love to get a copy of 1999, my brother recorded it but we lost the tape. Special memories indeed.