Tonight, Ludwig van Beethoven meets George Walker
on the Royal Albert Hall stage.
One work has been performed here 123 times
and the other is getting its long-overdue Proms debut.
Chineke! Orchestra is back.
Welcome to the BBC Proms.
Good evening, and a warm welcome to the BBC Proms.
I'm delighted we're featuring
two very contrasting masterpieces tonight.
First, we've got George Walker's sumptuous Lilacs
and, after the interval, Beethoven's immense Ninth Symphony -
all from Chineke! Orchestra and its conductor for the evening,
Kevin John Edusei.
This will be Chineke!'s fifth performance at the BBC Proms,
and this time it's joined by the newly formed chorus Chineke!
Voices - a brand-new string to the foundation's ever-growing
and blooming bow.
So, quite a party down on stage tonight, with the performers
numbering in the hundreds.
And, up here in the gallery, I'm very pleased to be joined by two
special guests of my own to enjoy the evening's musical offerings.
They are Proms superfan Adjoa Andoh,
whom we've managed to entice away from her busy schedule
filming Bridgerton, of course,
and the comedian and classically trained singer Lloyd Griffith.
Welcome to you both - it's lovely to have you here. Thank you.
Great to be here.
Well, we're kicking off tonight's concert with
Lilacs by George Walker for orchestra and solo soprano.
Walker was born 100 years ago this year in Washington, DC,
to a Jamaican father and an African-American mother.
In his own words, as a child, the summers were long and hot
with no directed activity.
The only thing to hand was the family's piano
and, from the age of five, he became obsessed with the instrument.
Over the next 90 years,
Walker would become one of America's most important
20th-century composers, leaving a litany of firsts in his wake.
In 1945, he was the first African-American musician
to play New York's Town Hall
and the first black graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music.
In 1955, he became the first black recipient of a doctorate
from the Eastman School,
and in 1996 the first African-American to win
the Pulitzer Prize for Music,
for the work we're about to hear - Lilacs.
George Walker died in 2018 and Chineke! is honouring him
in his centenary year with a Proms debut performance
of his magnum opus.
So, Adjoa, he was a big deal over in America.
Did he have an easy road to the top, do you think?
Well, you know, he's such a big deal in Washington, DC,
his home state, that his birthday -
the 27th June - is George Walker Day.
It's officially celebrated.
But he didn't have an easy trip
to the success that he had latterly in his life.
He wanted to be a classical pianist,
wasn't allowed to do that -
sort of gives you echoes of Nina Simone in that way.
Absolutely everything to do with his race
and nothing to do with his gift.
He... When he wanted to compose classical music,
he was encouraged that he should compose jazz or the blues.
His management company even said, you know,
"We can sell you better doing that."
But he stuck to his lights.
And, I mean, I just think he's a very American composer.
There's a lot of Americana in his stuff. There's flavours -
we'll hear this evening - of Gorecki,
the sorrowful songs in the Lilacs.
And, Lloyd, how would you sum up his musical style
for someone who doesn't really know much about his work?
Well, he's very scholarly.
And I know that he didn't really like to be compared to very many
people, but he was a big fan of Bach, and you can kind of tell that
in his work, in the counterpoint.
And there's not an ounce of fat in this piece whatsoever. Yeah.
There's not an ounce of fat in it.
Like, the instrumentation's obviously incredible,
but just the lyrical soprano,
you're just absolutely mesmerised.
So, yeah, and I'd say there's influences of Stravinsky in there -
personally, I think there's a little bit of Britten, as well.
But, yeah, it's really scholarly, it's a beautiful piece -
but, as I say, not an ounce of fat on it, really. Yeah.
I mean, Adjoa, Lilacs is based on a poem by Walt Whitman.
What is the poem about?
Yes, Walt Whitman, the great poetic American consciousness.
He wrote this poem, it was an elegy
after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
He speaks of the lilacs -
lilacs are this floral symbol of joy, of youth, of renewal.
He speaks of birds, the birdsong -
the bird is the image of hope for the future.
And he speaks of the falling star - the fallen star whom he loved,
who is Abraham Lincoln.
And though the star has fallen, the birdsong and the lilacs remain.
So I was just going to read you a little bit
from the first and 13th stanza,
which are the first and fourth movements of George Walker's
beautiful setting of this poem to music. Whitman wrote...
When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,
Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.
Sing on dearest brother, warble your reedy song,
Loud human song, with voice of uttermost woe.
O liquid and free and tender!
O wild and loose to my soul - O wondrous singer!
You only I hear - yet the star holds me, (but will soon depart,)
Yet the lilac with mastering odor holds me.
So beautiful, an elegy for a fallen hero,
and I think we've got a picture we can show -
there it is - of the funeral cortege. The funeral!
Wow. Goodness. Yes. For Abraham Lincoln. Yes.
I'm just wondering, Lloyd,
how does he get across that pathos after the death of Lincoln?
Well, it's interesting because it's a very atonal piece.
And, I mean, for the layperson,
atonal essentially means kind of jumps around anywhere -
there's no real rhyme or reason.
And there's certain moments within the piece
where it comes to life.
It's painted in certain words.
So I think early on, where it talks about blossom,
you can see, like, nice little melismas and stuff.
But it's just really interesting cos sometimes there's no emotion
in there, you know, it's very atonal.
And then sometimes you just see it come through the music where...
..you know, the soprano really,
you know, is given the opportunity to go for it, really.
When we hear the third verse, it's...
It's much more lyrical, isn't it? Yeah, it is, yeah.
And I think it's got a sort of filmic quality,
and it's talking about the sort of white picket-y fence.
And it makes me think of Henry Fonda playing Abraham Lincoln,
walking over the picket fence in the movie,
and it suddenly becomes something much more mellifluous
and expansive in that way.
Well, an enigmatic composer who deserves more attention
than he's historically been given - especially in his centenary year.
Before we sit back and enjoy Walker's masterpiece Lilacs,
let's take a moment to hear what the man himself said about his approach
to composition, and how tonight's soprano soloist, Nicole Cabell,
tackles a work like this.
It's so wonderful that we have a record of George Walker
speaking about music
and himself, and his personal relationship with music,
because when you hear his music, you think,
"This is very unique, this is authentic.
"This is something that only George Walker could have written."
# Shades of night
# O moody, tearful... #
This piece can be challenging for a singer
because it is not what we think of as melodic.
It is sort of intellectual,
esoteric, unpredictable.
Also very range-y - very low, very high.
# That hides the star! #
But the most challenging part is learning the notes...
SHE LAUGHS
..frankly!
You know, I love melodic music and so my muscle memory wants to go
somewhere melodic, and just getting it in your ear is really tough.
I think the idea is, you have to relax with it as a singer
and, vocally, I think it falls into place once the notes are there.
# O helpless soul of me... #
Lilacs is a meditation on grief.
There are a lot of moments where the orchestration is sparse,
and a lot of moments where the orchestration comes in...
..in total, and can cover you!
# O wild and loose to my soul... #
I certainly haven't sung any music that sounded like this.
I love how one moment it is melodic and another moment you have no idea
where it's going. And also how at the end it sort of hits
you emotionally, but you don't feel like you are spoon-feeding
the emotion to anybody -
it just sort of happens at the end, that you feel this weight and power
in the music. But...
..there doesn't seem to be kind of a catharsis
that you have with other pieces, and I love that!
The first time I heard it, I said, "OK, let's start over again."
SHE LAUGHS
"Let's find out more."
Archive footage there, courtesy of
George Walker's sons Ian and Gregory,
and tonight's soloist - the American soprano Nicole Cabell -
sharing her own insights from inside the score of Lilacs.
Despite growing up in California,
Nicole shot to fame when she won Cardiff Singer of the World
back in 2005.
Since then, she's been wowing audiences wherever she's performed.
So what luck that she's with us tonight
for her first Proms performance since 2006.
Now, let's turn our attention to the stage
for Chineke!'s trademark dramatic walk-on.
APPLAUSE
It's one of Chineke! Orchestra's signature moves
to enter the stage en masse, just like this.
They all walk on together -
a sign of the equality across the full ensemble.
Everyone is equal.
APPLAUSE CONTINUES
And there they are, to a rousing reception
from a full house here at the Royal Albert Hall.
The leader, Kelly Hall-Tompkins.
And here, the conductor - Kevin John Edusei...
..and soprano Nicole Cabell...
..for a performance of George Walker's Lilacs.
# When lilacs
# Lilacs
# Last in the dooryard
# Bloom'd
# And the great star
# Early droop'd
# In the western sky
# In the night
# The night
# I mourn'd
# Mourn'd
# And yet shall mourn
# With ever-returning spring
# Ever-returning spring
# Trinity
# Sure to me you bring
# Lilac blooming
# Perennial and drooping star
# In the west
# And thoughts of him
# I love. #
# O powerful western fallen star!
# O shades of night
# O moody, tearful night!
# O great star disappear'd
# O the black murk
# That hides the star!
# The star
# O cruel hands
# That hold me powerless
# O helpless soul of me!
# O harsh surrounding cloud
# That will not free my soul. #
# In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house
# Near the white-wash'd palings
# Stands the lilac bush
# Tall-growing
# With heart-shaped leaves of rich green
# With many a pointed blossom
# Rising delicate
# With the perfume strong I love
# With every leaf
# A miracle
# And from this bush in the dooryard
# With delicate-colour'd blossom
# And heart-shaped leaves of rich green
# A spring with its flower
# I break. #
# Sing on
# Sing on, you grey-brown bird
# Sing
# Sing from the swamps
# The recesses
# Pour your chant from the bushes
# Limitless out of the dusk
# Out of the cedars and pines
# Sing on, dearest brother
# Warble your reedy song
# Loud human song
# With voice of uttermost woe
# O liquid and free and tender!
# O wild and loose to my soul
# O wondrous singer!
# You
# Only I hear
# Yet the star holds me
# But will soon depart
# Yet the lilac
# The lilac
# With mastering odour
# Holds me. #
APPLAUSE
CLIVE MYRIE: Soloist Nicole Cabell, there, acknowledging the audience
and its appreciation of that work by George Walker.
His 1996 piece Lilacs,
an unassuming, whispered end to a piece of immense importance.
And that work getting its long-overdue Proms debut
from the Chineke! Orchestra
In his music and his life,
George Walker always challenged the status quo and broke boundaries.
He said that, in creating Lilacs, he wanted to write a work
that is "sufficiently independent of anything that I know".
Well, many believe that he achieved that.
And that voice,
Lloyd, of Nicole Cabell, there - coming back out.
Really sublime voice, what did you make of that?
LLOYD GRIFFITH: I mean, I'm just smiling from ear to ear.
Her voice is just incredible.
And her intonation. It's not... It's not an easy piece to sing.
ADJOA ANDOH: No.
You know, she's using her whole range there.
And you're just drawn - you're just drawn to her.
Just... She's effortless, isn't she? Oh! Absolutely effortless.
Her voice sort of floats above the orchestra... Yeah.
..with all that hope and yearning and longing.
Well, a short first half there.
The orchestra and audience are taking a break for the interval,
which gives us a chance to settle down
and chat about what's coming up next -
namely Beethoven's Monumental Ninth Symphony - his choral.
Now, he began working on it exactly 200 years ago,
in the autumn of 1822.
It's difficult to comprehend the impact and ubiquity
that the piece has achieved in the following two centuries since.
I mentioned earlier that it's been played on the Proms stage 123 times,
making it one of the most performed pieces in the festival's history.
But it doesn't stop there.
The manuscript was the first musical score
to become part of the UN's Memory of the World Programme heritage list.
Incredibly, when Sony and Philips
were developing the CD back in the late 1970s,
the designers made the disc 12 centimetres in diameter,
so it would be big enough to fit the whole of Beethoven's Ninth.
And the famous Ode To Joy makes cameo appearances
in films like Die Hard and Dead Poets Society,
to Sister Act and even a Muppets animation.
The symphony has left an indelible mark on contemporary culture.
So, Lloyd, for all those people out there
who may not have heard this before and who are wondering
"is it really that big a deal?", why is it such a big deal?
Why do so many people love it? Well, this is the thing.
I think you're thinking, "Do I know it?"
Everybody knows Beethoven's Ninth, but they just don't realise it.
And it's mainly due to the Ode To Joy Anthem at the end.
So you have to sit through essentially three movements
and then two minutes into the fourth, you're going,
"Oh, it's... It's Ode to Joy! I know this!"
"I recognise that!" Yeah. Yeah, everyone knows it.
It's such a huge... It's such a huge symbolic piece that everybody knows.
You know, I bought my little niece a little keyboard
the other week and she's one years old.
And the piece that comes as default is Ode To Joy.
You know, so everybody - as you say -
from a child to someone watching
Die Hard knows about Beethoven's Ninth. And it is...
Yeah, I'd say it's probably his most famous piece.
And people go, "What about the Fifth?"
But I think this just...has got more resonance.
Well, it's ubiquitous now, isn't it?
Because we've got it with the European Union. Yep.
And, you know, for me, sporting events -
you hear Ode To Joy, you're like... "Ready? Come on, then,
"we're going to see something good now."
And it's got that quality of...
Well, it's joyful, it's got that expectation to it, hasn't it?
Yeah. You know, and it was Beethoven's pushback
against his own depression, which is, you know, why there's such
a fierce sense of, "I'm alive and I'm going to move forward."
And, you know, and I think we all pick up on that energy,
which is a great start for your niece! Yeah, absolutely! Indeed.
I mean, it was incredibly original at the time. Yeah.
You know, with voices in the symphonic form and so on.
I mean, was it successful when it was first played?
So it was first performed on the 7th of May, 1824
at the Theater am Karntnertor in Vienna,
and Beethoven himself - now profoundly deaf - conducted.
The orchestra was told on the quiet, "Actually, look at Michael Umlauf -
"he's the actual conductor."
And by the end, Beethoven was a sort of couple of bars behind his music
just because of not being able to, you know, follow it at aurally.
So what he also didn't follow was that, when the piece finished,
people were on their feet,
they were throwing hats and handkerchiefs in the air
and were applauding him like crazy.
He couldn't hear it, and so he had to be turned round by Michael Umlauf
so he could just see what glory he had created,
and how touched and thrilled the audience were. Indeed.
I wonder, Lloyd, how does he bring in
that incredibly famous - now - motif, the Ode To Joy?
How does he bring it in?
And you should know, because you've performed this! Well, yeah, I was...
I've been used to bolster choruses before.
THEY CHUCKLE
Yeah! Because, again, 180, 200 singers in tonight,
so it needs a lot of power.
About two minutes into the fourth movement,
there's a little motif coming from the orchestra.
And then we're really going to experience this tonight,
Ryan Speedo Green - he's going to come in with...
Let me just - I've got the words written down. He basically...
"O friends, not these sounds:
"rather let us intone pleasanter and more joyful ones."
And that's when you know, we're kicking off -
this is the bit that everyone remembers.
And it's just an amazing piece.
And he has got an incredible, incredible,
loud, beautiful voice.
I can't wait to hear it.
For me, one of the standout Beethoven Ninth performances
is actually the annual tradition in Japan
to assemble a choir of 10,000 singers
and perform the Ode To Joy to herald the New Year.
Well, we found this amazing footage while preparing tonight's show
and just have to show it to you.
# Freude, schoner Gotterfunken
# Tochter aus Elysium
# Wir betreten feuertrunken
# Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
# Deine Zauber binden wieder... #
That was pretty... They felt that.
Was that in a football stadium?
CLIVE STAMMERS
Probably a baseball stadium, if it's Japan. I don't know. I don't know.
But that is the point of the piece, isn't it?
Everyone coming together. Unity. Well, you know, when he...
I'm just going to read the German, everyone. Well, why not? OK.
So it's from Schiller's poem, and he says...
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Bruder.
What he's saying is, Heavenly is your sanctuary,
your spells bind again what the fashion strictly divided,
all people become brothers.
So he's basically saying, you know, in the world, society may want us
to be fragmented, but we rely on heavens binding us together.
We are all brothers.
And I think, you know, when he wrote the piece,
it was after we'd had the great paroxysms of shifts in Europe.
We'd had the French Revolution,
we'd had Napoleon,
we'd have the wars with Russia.
Everything was starting to settle again
and he was sort of saying, "Come on, everyone, we need to come together,"
which is the theme of the European Union.
And also, frankly, today,
we could all do with a bit of coming together,
regardless of the fashion for separation.
Very, very, very poignant, given the situation in Ukraine.
Yeah. Of course.
Well, for 200 years, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony has represented
togetherness around the world, as we've just been discussing,
marking chapters of international life through thick and thin.
In 1956, it was sung in lieu of the national anthem
for the united teams of East and West Germany at the Olympics.
In 1986, it was sung by Chilean women
protesting the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
In 1989, Leonard Bernstein gave a performance of the Ninth
to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall,
joined by performers from Eastern and Western Europe.
Every performance of the Ninth is a new page in its history.
Well, earlier, we asked Chineke!'s founder, Chi-chi Nwanoku,
what it means to them that they get to perform the symphony tonight
on the Proms stage.
When you hear Beethoven Nine, you will be moved.
You know, from that first opening, magical,
almost surreal atmosphere that he creates,
with that shimmer of sound,
you're immediately captivated.
It takes hold of you in another...
I feel it's like one of my limbs,
I-I own it.
But I'm always mesmerised by his quiet music writing,
in contrast to those loudest moments
that you hear in late Beethoven.
And, given that he was completely stone deaf by the time he wrote
this piece, you can almost hear this man screaming to be heard.
You know, he even tried to hide his illness
because he was embarrassed.
And, you know, he... People ran away from him.
But he was always craving human interaction and,
being misunderstood - being othered, in a way...
..we - black people - can totally understand that.
We experience that every day of our lives.
As soon as you walk out of your front door,
you experience it in some way.
We're always trying to find a way to fit
into whatever industry or place that we are.
And it doesn't surprise me at all that this message from him
was like the final cry of, "Hear me, hear me!"
Even though he couldn't hear it.
Whether you know anything about Beethoven or not doesn't matter
because this will speak to you.
APPLAUSE
And the orchestra already on stage,
but here is Kevin John Edusei,
returning to conduct the Chineke! Orchestra...
..and, I should say, the newly formed Chineke! Voices,
for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in D minor.
APPLAUSE AND WHISTLING
APPLAUSE
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Deine Zauber binden wieder
# Was die Mode streng geteilt
# Alle Menschen werden Bruder
# Wo dein sanfter Flugel weilt... #
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
# Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund
# Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle
# Weinend sich aus diesem Bund... #
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Kusse gab sie uns und Reben
# Einen Freund, gepruft im Tod
# Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben
# Und der Cherub steht vor Gott
# Steht vor Gott
# Vor Gott
# Vor Gott... #
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Laufet, Bruder, eure Bahn
# Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen
# Wie ein Held zum Siegen
# Freudig, freudig, freudig wie ein Held zum Siegen
# Freude, schoner Gotterfunken
# Tochter aus Elysium
# Wir betreten feuertrunken
# Himmlische, dein Heiligtum
# Deine Zauber binden wieder
# Was die Mode streng geteilt
# Alle Menschen werden Bruder
# Wo dein sanfter Flugel weilt
# Deine Zauber binden wieder
# Was die Mode streng geteilt
# Alle Menschen werden Bruder
# Wo dein sanfter Flugel weilt... #
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Seid umschlungen, Millionen
# Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt... #
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Bruder, uber'm Sternenzelt
# Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Freude schoner Gotterfunken
# Tochter aus Elysium
# Wir betreten feuertrunken
# Himmlische, dein Heiligtum
# Seid umschlungen, Millionen
# Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt
# Seid umschlungen, Millionen
# Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt
# Seid umschlungen, Millionen
# Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt
# Der ganzen Welt
# Seid umschlungen, Millionen
# Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt
# Seid umschlungen
# Millionen, Millionen
# Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt
# Der ganzen Welt
# Seid umschlungen, Millionen
# Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt... #
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Tochter, Tochter aus Elysium Tochter, Tochter aus Elysium... #
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Was die Mode streng geteilt... #
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN:
# Deine Zauber binden wieder
# Was die Mode streng geteilt
# Alle Menschen, alle Menschen, alle Menschen
# Alle Menschen
# Werden
# Als der Flugel weilt
# Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt
# Der ganzen Welt, der ganzen Welt
# Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt
# Der ganzen Welt, der ganzen Welt
# Ganzen Welt
# Diesen Kuss... #
RAPTUROUS APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
CLIVE MYRIE: "I embrace you millions.
"This kiss is for the whole world."
What a finale.
A rousing conclusion to tonight's concert from Chineke! Orchestra
and Chineke! Voices, and a call to us all to become brothers.
The conductor, Kevin John Edusei...
..acknowledging the warm applause of a packed house
here, at the Royal Albert Hall.
What a performance that was.
And fantastic performances from the four soloists...
Ryan Speedo Green, the bass.
Tenor Zwakele Tshabalala.
Mezzo soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis.
And, of course, soprano Nicole Cabell -
who we heard earlier in that rendition of George Walker's Lilacs.
Raehann Bryce-Davis in the red,
followed by soprano Nicole Cabell.
And...
..Ryan Speedo Green, the bass.
Tenor, Zwakele Tshabalala.
And the Chineke! Voices.
And there's the chorus master, Simon Halsey.
And assistant chorus master, Barbara Hofling, there.
Kevin John Edusei again on his feet.
I should say that the audience applauded
every single one of the movements...
..of Beethoven's masterpiece -
something that doesn't usually happen.
But they were pretty happy,
the folk here at the Royal Albert Hall,
with what has been a truly magnificent performance.
I have heard that piece so many times
and it never ceases, Adjoa, to blow me away.
It's just stunning.
ADJOA ANDOH: The applause is thunderous
and it deserves nothing less.
I can't tell you how moving it is -
that newly formed choir, those voices.
You love Mr Speedo, don't you?
LLOYD GRIFFITH: Mr Speedo Green, I do, yeah.
Filling - filling this huge auditorium.
It truly is as joyful as Beethoven must have wanted it to be.
Oh, the soloists...
..back on the stage for more applause.
Lloyd, that choral entrance.
Oh! That's a scary moment. You've got to get it right.
It is honestly perfect.
All those voices - what, 200 voices - absolutely nailing it.
That quartet of soloists.
Yeah.
Like, it's like we're in a football stadium! Yes!
Like, the applause. Yeah.
A second ago, when they came back out, I could feel...
The building was vibrating. It was shaking! Yeah.
The thing is, we're experiencing everything afresh, aren't we?
With absolute pleasure and delight. And this deserves every bit
of pleasure and delight we could summon up.
A really thrilling, thrilling night.
I have to say, as well, like,
singing in choirs myself, that's the one thing
I've missed over the last two years. So this is the first time
that choirs have been able to get together.
But personally, for myself, mentally,
that's the thing that I missed... Yeah. ..being able to sing choir.
So it's amazing to see 200-odd singers there tonight,
getting together, doing the thing that they absolutely love...
In a sold out Albert Hall! Oh! A sold out Albert Hall!
On their feet, it was rocking, so...
I mean, absolutely fair play to them for being able to do that.
And the programming of having
Beethoven and George Walker together.
Yeah. What did that say to you? Well, it's a huge statement.
Do you know what I mean?
Anyone that shares the stage with Beethoven's Ninth,
it's essentially saying, "This is a statement of intent.
"This piece is here to stay around forever.
"It means business."
And I've got a feeling this is not the last time
we're going to hear and see Lilacs on this stage.
It's that... In both composers, that absolute determination
to move forward, regardless of the circumstances,
with the gifts they've been blessed with
into joy, and to share that joy and for us to be in communion together.
Both pieces talk about brotherhood, uniting, coming together.
We're built for it.
As you say - not singing in a choir,
you're not in communion with your fellows,
and that's what we're supposed to do.
Well, that fantastic chorus brings our concert to an end
and what an evening it's been.
From the avant-garde world of George Walker's Lilacs
to the triumph of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
A huge thank you to my two guests - Adjoa Andoh, and Lloyd Griffith -
for joining me tonight.
And I hope it's been as much fun for you as it's been for me here.
We are nearly at the end of this year's Proms season -
there's just a week to go until the last night, next Saturday
at 7:10 over on BBC Two.
But, before that, we've got one more concert for you
here on BBC four and it's a corker.
Join Georgia Mann at 8pm this Friday
to see the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
take on Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story,
a suite to Thomas Ades' Powder Her Face,
and Britten's Sea Interludes.
All that as well as Proms favourite Nicola Benedetti,
who will be performing a violin concerto written specially for her
by jazz legend Wynton Marsalis.
I told you it was a corker.
For now, though, from everyone at the Royal Albert Hall -
thank you for joining us and have a very good night.