Proms songs Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia will be played without lyrics

Social media users were split over the mix of flags at the classical event of the year
BBC One/BBC Two
Kit Heren25 August 2020

A fresh row is brewing over the Proms after the BBC revealed that two patriotic favourites will be played without any lyrics.

Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia are usually played at the Last Night of the Proms to an enthusiastic, flag-waving crowd.

The BBC confirmed on Monday night that the songs will be played at the traditional end-of-summer event at the Royal Albert Hall, after Downing Street reacted to reports that the corporation was considering a change following this year's Black Lives Matter protests.

But the patriotic favourites will be played by the orchestra alone - with no vocal accompaniment.

BBC Proms Royal Albert Hall

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Father Marcus Walker, rector at Great St Bartholomew’s in London, wrote on Twitter: “Hilarious that people are dressing the BBC promising ‘orchestral versions’ of Land Of Hope And Glory and Rule Britannia as a retreat.

“It’s nothing of the sort, it’s gutting the songs of their words – of their meaning. You may think that’s a good thing or not, but it’s no retreat.”

The BBC said there had been “unjustified personal attacks” on social media on Dalia Stasevska, the Finnish conductor leading the Last Night this year, after she was reported to have been in favour of dropping the songs.

“Decisions about the Proms are made by the BBC, in consultation with all artists involved,” the corporation said.

There will be no live audience to sing along because of coronavirus restrictions.

The national anthem will be sung at the event, which will air on BBC Radio 3 and on BBC One and feature soprano Golda Schultz and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The BBC said: “The Proms will reinvent the Last Night in this extraordinary year so that it respects the traditions and spirit of the event whilst adapting to very different circumstances at this moment in time.

“With much reduced musical forces and no live audience, the Proms will curate a concert that includes familiar, patriotic elements such as Jerusalem and the national anthem, and bring in new moments capturing the mood of this unique time, including You’ll Never Walk Alone, presenting a poignant and inclusive event for 2020.”

The BBC added: “The programme will include a new arrangement by Errollyn Wallen of Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem alongside new orchestral versions of Pomp And Circumstance March No 1 Land Of Hope And Glory’ (arr Anne Dudley) and Rule Britannia! as part of the Sea Songs, as Henry Wood did in 1905.”

A Proms performance in a previous year 
AFP/Getty Images

A Number 10 spokesman said on Monday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes in tackling the “substance” not the “symbols” of problems, after the Sunday Times reported that the songs could face the axe.

“This is a decision and a matter for the organisers of the Proms and the BBC,” the spokesman said.

“But the PM previously has set out his position on like issues and has been clear that, while he understands the strong emotions involved in these discussions, we need to tackle the substance of problems, not the symbols.”

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that “confident, forward-looking nations don’t erase their history”.

He wrote on Twitter: “Rule Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory are highlights of the Last Night of the Proms.

“[I]Share concerns of many about their potential removal and have raised this with (the) BBC.

“Confident forward-looking nations don’t erase their history, they add to it.”

It comes after a prominent academic joined calls to drop the songs from the Last Night running order, calling them "racist propaganda".

Kehinde Andrews, a professor of Black Studies at Birmingham University, told Good Morning Britain that the songs, which date back to the days of the British Empire, do not represent the UK of the 21st century.

He said: "Some songs, particularly those two [are] racist propaganda which celebrates the British Empire which killed tens of millions of people... many people [in the UK] now like myself... are descendants of those victims of colonialism."

But freedom of speech campaigner Inaya Folarin hit back, arguing: "I think that's completely and fundamentally divorced from what most people believe to be Britain. We recognise it has a complex history full of horror and terror but also triumph and many uplifting things.

"We need to teach history holistically and not try and teach a narrative of cultural self-loathing which I think is very divisive.

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