Godiva and the Great British Prom

Date: 02 August 2012 09:54:13

Last night Godiva Awakes arrived in Milton Keynes - accompanied by our local version of the last night of the Proms. Sounds surreal? It was a bit, but it was also a great deal of fun and a good way to spend a day off. We actually missed the procession and just saw the giant mechanical puppets standing in the park before the prom. We were impressed.

We had gone for the prom...ok Karl (formerly known as TOH) had gone for the music, I had gone to earn brownie points. It was my second attempt at doing classical, (this post detailing the first one a couple of years ago). This time it was the Milton Keynes City Orchestra I was listening to.

There was a huge rainbow in the sky immediately before the performance and it was the most beautiful thing I encountered all evening. It wasn't that the music was bad, it wasn't - I could tell it was being exceedingly well played - it was just I can't connect with most classical music.

The first half of the concert was what I would describe as Radio Two classical. By that I mean it was jolly stuff which was constantly reminding me of those black and white films that used to be on BBC Two on a Saturday afternoon.

The first bit was English Folk Song Suite by Vaughan Williams. I didn't get the significance of the word suite until the conductor introduced the second piece of music - I thought we were on the forth! The first bit of the suite was ok, it was quite jolly; the second I found too sombre but the final bit I found surreally fun it seemed to have a bit of a rawhide thing going on between 4 & 20 blackbirds baked in a pie.

Then the orchestra who looked like they'd wandered in from an art deco hotel moved on to Butterworth's Banks of Green Willow. I began getting bored at this point. So as not to distract Karl from his listening I wandered off to the loo whilst Australian Soprano Martene Grimson sang Love is a Plaintive Thing and The Sun Whose Rays. I know she was excellent because good soprano sounds like screeching to me and her singing sounded v. screechy to me.

For some reason, which never got explained, Holst's Marching Song got moved to the first half. This was more "prairie music" which made think someone in a gingham skirt was about to take to the stage and prance about...they thankfully didn't.

Then it was on to Fantasia on Greensleeves which threw me by taking a few moments to move into the ice cream van music. I'd forgotten how boring it could be after about 30 seconds. Didn't quite get why it kept going off theme and getting a bit strange and Gothic. Karl called me a philistine when I expressed that by the end of that piece I was bored and had lost the will to live.

The first half ended on a high though as they played Coates Damnbusters March. I got told off for sitting in this cultured crowd with my arms out playing aeroplanes during the part that everybody knows. I smiled when a couple of the adults went to the front and went all out in doing the actions. Karl made sure I sat firmly where I was.

During the break I managed to procure a napkin and paper cup with the union jack on so I could have fun at the end when it got to the bit I was looking forward to. However, before we got to that stage we had to sit through some more grown up Radio 3 style posh classical. It began with Capriol Suite by Warlock. I can only describe it as mind-numbingly boring. Still, I had a gorgeous full moon to distract me.

Then it was more Holst, this time it was the Country Song which was better - it had some cool clarinet at the beginning. I was still a bit sad that the title hadn't launched us into a bit of Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson.

The next piece Nimrod sent Karl onto a different plane. He sat there with his eyes closed and enjoyed the colours it gave him (Wiki def of synesthesia for anybody who needs explanation). I on the other hand sat there bored stiff, just not getting it. The final boring bit was Soiree Musicales by Britten and had five movements, thankfully the conductor warned us of this at the beginning. Now as a Suffolk girl I know I should have an appreciation of Britten....but I still didn't really engage with it.

Then we on to the fun time. It began with Pomp and Circumstance before Martene Grimson came on and led us in Rule Britannia and Jerusalem. This time I enjoyed her singing because she sounded just like Lesley Garrett doing it on TV. Yes, when it comes to this stuff I am that uncultured and shallow.

The evening was rounded off by some wonderful fireworks which were beautiful and went on much longer than I'd expected.