Land Of Hope And Glory and Rule Britannia! will be performed at the Last Night Of The Proms, the BBC has said.
The confirmation comes after The Sunday Times said organisers feared a backlash because of the perceived association the traditional anthems have with colonialism and slavery.
Downing Street waded into the controversy and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said he had written to the BBC over the issue.
READ MORE: Downing Street comments on BBC plans to drop Rule Britannia from Last Night of the Proms
Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory are highlights of the Last Night of the Proms
Share concerns of many about their potential removal and have raised this with @BBC
Confident forward-looking nations don’t erase their history, they add to it
— Oliver Dowden (@OliverDowden) August 24, 2020
A statement from the BBC on Monday evening said: “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.”
Dalia Stasevska, from Finland, is conducting the Last Night this year, with soprano Golda Schultz and the BBC Symphony Orchestra performing.
The corporation’s statement said: “We very much regret the unjustified personal attacks on Dalia Stasevska, BBC Symphony Orchestra principal guest conductor, made on social media and elsewhere.
“As ever, decisions about the Proms are made by the BBC, in consultation with all artists involved.”
The BBC said a new arrangement of Jerusalem will be performed, along with orchestral versions of Land Of Hope And Glory and Rule Britannia!.
The audience enjoying the BBC Last Night Of The Proms, at the Royal Albert Hall (PA)
In the statement, the broadcaster said: “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.”
Earlier, a Number 10 spokesman said the Prime Minister believes in tackling the “substance” not the “symbols” of problems.
“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 Mr 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.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel