Two contemporary works and “the greatest symphony of modern times” gave an opportunity for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to show off their credentials in the first of four Proms appearances. They were joined by an augmented BBC Singers for Judith Weir’s Moon and Star and the soprano Claire Booth for the world premiere of Brett Dean’s The World’s Wife.
Proceedings began with Weir’s cosmic tone poem, a work that contemplates the immensity of space, and designed, according to the composer, “to portray the idea of musical height and distance”. Drawing on Emily Dickinson’s aphoristic poem Ah, Moon – and Star!, Weir’s atmospheric score unfolds from high-pitched and luminous orchestral sonorities and upper voice chords (sounding as if filtered through Holst and Messiaen) that hang suspended in the air, evoking an eerie vastness inhabiting both rapture and something other worldly. From my position in the Albert Hall (the work was originally written for this building in 1995) words from the BBC Singers were not always distinct (clearer on the radio transmission) and were often masked by the density of orchestral textures. Rhythmic sun bursts from a busy brass section occasionally made me wish I could hear the choir unaccompanied. But that was never Weir’s intention who wanted the voices to be “a source of textural richness”. And so they were, with close harmonies beautifully balanced and shaped, even if one might not have caught the wry humour in Dickinson’s richly imagined notion of “a Chamois’ Silver Boot” spinning around the earth. Ascending figures from lower strings, syncopated brass shots and tangy woodwind all made their own striking contribution to an involving performance from the Glasgow-based orchestra and the BBC Singers steered by its chief conductor Ryan Wigglesworth.
There followed Brett Dean’s settings of five texts for soprano and orchestra, drawn from former poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy. Written for the voice of Claire Booth, The World’s Wife can be likened to a mini-opera, its words viewing famous historical figures through the lens of women. Dean’s colourfully orchestrated settings, akin to adventures in rhythm and colour and conceived for a large chamber orchestra suit the text’s mischievousness which in Booth’s crystal clear sung and spoken delivery have a dramatic immediacy of their own, vividly bringing to life the subversive quality underlining ‘Valentine’, with Dean’s visceral response a punch in the face. ‘Mrs Darwin’ brought mockery and febrile string textures, while ‘Prayer’ offered succinct pleas for an untroubled domesticity. Booth revelled in the angularities of ‘Mrs Icarus’, whose contempt for a husband as a ‘Grade A pillock’ is filled with derision. ‘Medusa’ was no less theatrical in its demonstrative gestures, the mythical and once-feared Gorgon invested here with poignant emotions that the soloist projected with remarkable intensity.
And where one might have anticipated emotional depth in Elgar’s First Symphony, it was only partially glimpsed, the work’s magnificence suggested but never wholly grasped. Any sense of nobilmente never quite surfaced and the main body of the first movement, heavily larded by too much brass, unfolded in a forthright fashion, constituent parts lacking connective logic. A feverish March followed, initially apocalyptic in its intensity, Wigglesworth’s ‘stout and steaky’ approach bringing plenty of rambunctious drama if little sense of coherence. It was with the heart-easing Adagio that the orchestra were at their best, its confessional spirit finally emerging with solo clarinet and strings at the end to produce the sort of magical stillness where one almost forgot to breathe. What a pity the audience felt compelled to applaud and break the spell. Then on to an invigorating Finale, its forward impulse and red-blooded delivery never in doubt, just a wish for balance issues to be resolved. By the end it was triumph rather than elation that caught the ear, its closing peroration not without grandeur.
David Truslove
Judith Weir – Moon and Star. Brett Dean – The World’s Wife (world premiere). Elgar – Symphony No.1 in A flat major.
Claire Booth – soprano; BBC Singers; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Ryan Wigglesworth – conductor
Royal Albert Hall, London, 29 July 2026
All photos © BBC/Mark Allan