Welcome to your daily BBC Proms preview, brought to you by BBC Music Magazine! Read on for the lowdown on the action at the BBC Proms tonight.
Yes, tonight it's Prom 60, taking place at the Royal Albert Hall at 10.30pm (BST) on Wednesday 4 September. We say daily - you get two previews for the price of one today, as we're also previewing the earlier Prom today: Prom 59, featuring Gabriel Fauré's serene, soothing Requiem and the second suite from Maurice Ravel's sensuous ballet, Daphnis et Chloé.
Keep coming back to www.classical-music.com throughout the 2024 BBC Proms season, right up until the grand closer that is the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday 14 September. Every day until then we'll be presenting an informative guide to that day's Prom (or Proms), including repertoire, performers and more.
And, to see all of the BBC Proms taking place this year, just visit our comprehensive 2024 BBC Proms guide.
What's on at the BBC Proms tonight?
Tonight's BBC Prom, Prom 60, features a world premiere by the American choral composer Eric Whitacre. It's called Eternity in an Hour and it's a BBC co-commission.
What do we know about Eternity in an Hour?
Eternity in an Hour is a 60-minute piece for choir, small orchestra, piano and electronics, and it's inspired by the poem Auguries of Innocence by the English poet William Blake. Something of a visionary, Blake's poetry has inspired various composers.
Most famous among these was Hubert Parry, who used the words of Blake's poem to compose his famous and much-loved hymn Jerusalem. Other composers to have found inspiration in Blake's poetry include Vaughan Williams, Britten, Stockhausen, John Tavener... and one of the most famous folk singers of all time, the great Bob Dylan.
We can expect an evening of heavenly harmonies and shimmering beauty as Whitacre himself conducts the famous BBC Singers and an ensemble of strings and percussion.
Who is performing at the BBC Proms tonight?
The performers for Eternity in an Hour include the string orchestra 12 Ensemble, and the much-loved BBC Singers. This is a perfect fit because, as we reported recently, Whitacre has just been made artist-in-residence with the BBC Singers. They are joined by pianist Christopher Glynn. Whitacre himself will conduct and perform the piece's electronic soundscapes.
