Imogen Tilden 

The BBC Proms: how many of the weirder and wonderfuller moments do you remember?

The Proms, the world's biggest classical-music festival, opens this Friday at the Royal Albert Hall. Celebrate some of the concerts' less expected moments from the last few decades with our quiz
  
  


  1. Stephen Hough has made 25 appearances at the Proms. In only one was he not playing the piano. What was he playing?

    1. Tubular bells

    2. The harpsichord

    3. A vacuum cleaner

    4. A swanee whistle

  2. 1999's performance of Bernstein's Wonderful Town ended how?

    1. With audience, chorus and soloists congoing around the arena

    2. With nine encores (still a Proms record)

    3. With soloists Thomas Hampson and Kim Criswell doing an impromptu encore of Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe

    4. With two Royal Albert Hall ushers doing a tango around the gallery

  3. Bryn Terfel has sung in two Last Nights. In 2008, he was dressed as Falstaff, but what was he wearing for his performance in 1994's Last Night? 

    1. A bearskin

    2. The Welsh rugby kit, complete with a rugby ball

    3. A gold-sequinned dress, tiara and Dr-Martens boots

    4. A thawb and a keffiyeh

  4. In August 1974, Thomas Allen collapsed during a performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana. What happened next? 

    1. Conductor Sir Georg Solti sang his part

    2. A member of the audience took over

    3. The performance was abandoned, and the orchestra played a Mozart symphony instead

    4. After a 20-minute pause during which a doctor in the audience attended to him, he recovered enough to continue

  5. Who was responsible for Esther's Nose Job in 1970? (Incidentally the first rock group to appear at the Proms.)

    1. Soft Machine

    2. Deep Purple

    3. Kraftwerk

    4. Henry Cow

  6. In 2007, a significant part of the audience got to go home wearing the orchestra's clothing. Which orchestra?

    1. Grimethorpe Colliery Band

    2. The Vienna Philharmonic

    3. The Orchestra of Life

    4. The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra

  7. Parts of Mark Anthony Turnage’s new work Hammered Out, premiered in 2010, featured a striking resemblance to what?

    1. Jessie J’s Price Tag

    2. Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)

    3. Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean

    4. The Ting Ting’s That’s Not My Name

  8. Why did the BBC take the Proms off the air in 2011? 

    1. There were vocal protests inside the hall against the presence of the Israel Philharmonic

    2. The piece being premiered involved language deemed “unacceptable” pre-watershed

    3. Tube-strike action meant that a portion of the orchestra were late for the concert, whose start was delayed by half an hour

    4. A bomb scare necessitated the evacuation of the Albert Hall

  9. Who described Harrison Birtwistle’s Panic, premiered in 1995's Last Night, as “a horrible cacophony”?

    1. His mother

    2. The Daily Mail

    3. John Birt, then BBC Director General

    4. Peter Maxwell Davies

  10. Why did Simon Rattle restart the Berlin Phil’s Rite of Spring in 2003?

    1. He sneezed so violently he dropped his baton

    2. The bassoonist missed the entry

    3. A prommer slipped and fell in the fountain

    4. A mobile phone went off during the opening bars

  11. What did Ilan Volkov play during John Cage night in 2012?

    1. A cactus spine

    2. A bale of hay

    3. A vacuum cleaner

    4. The spoons

  12. What unusual request did Matthew Herbert make of the audience for his 15 August 2012 performance?

    1. That everyone wear blindfolds

    2. That everyone make paper airplanes and launch them into the air at a given point

    3. That everyone turn ON their mobile phones so the sound of texts and phone calls could contribute to the ensuing performance

    4. To boo rather than applaud at the end

  13. Which of these haven't appeared at a Prom?

    1. A Weeping Angel

    2. Wallace & Gromit

    3. Kings George I, II, III and IV

    4. Tinky Winky the Teletubby

  14. In 2011, pianist Dejan Lazić’s encore was what?

    1. The Lady Gaga Fugue by Giovanni Dettori

    2. Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata

    3. His own arrangement of Happy Birthday, in honour of conductor Ivan Fischer’s 60th

    4. John Cage’s 4’33”

  15. Audiences at 21 July 2009’s Prom got to witness performers dressed as giant bunnies simulating sex. To accompany what music?

    1. Purcell’s Fairy Queen

    2. John Cage’s Musicircus

    3. Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring

    4. Eric Whitacre’s Higher, Faster, Stronger

Solutions

1:C, 2:A, 3:B, 4:B, 5:A, 6:D, 7:B, 8:A, 9:B, 10:D, 11:A, 12:C, 13:D, 14:A, 15:A

Scores

  1. 7 and above.

    <b>Read/watch more: </b> </br> 1. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5343nfOnkk">Arnold's Grand, Grand Overture </a></br> 2. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/1999/aug/12/artsfeatures.proms1999">Review</a></br> 3. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19NdCL4QiVI#t=12">Bryn Terfel at the Proms 1994 (at 1'07")</a></br> 4. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_McCarthy_(conductor)">Carmina Burana's stand-in</a></br> 5. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/1970s/1970/august-13/8163"> Soft machine at the Proms</a></br> 6. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/aug/21/proms2007.proms">Review: Simon Bolivar YO </a></br> 7. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/3ysm8cc">Beyonce's surprise appearance at the proms</a></br> 8. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/kprlcs5">Proms disrupted by pro-Palestinian protest</a></br> 9. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/aug/10/classicalmusicandopera.proms20071">Panic at the proms</a></br> 10. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/sep/02/classicalmusicandopera.proms2003">Berlin PO/Rattle: review</a></br> 11. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/15/john-cage-centenary-tribute">Celebrating Cage</a></br> 12. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/l9ptj8r">Proms 2012 wk 5 in review</a></br> 13. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3MLU6fvlzE">Watch the Dr Who prom</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWn9jJ9ptvY">Watch the Horrible Histories prom</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a50xFfhTy4A">Watch the Wallace and Gromit prom</a></br> 14. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig51Guf5hjs">The Lady Gaga Fugue</a></br> 15. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/pqkbyad"> The Fairy Queen's 'bonking bunnies'</a>

  2. 11 and above.

    <b>Read/watch more: </b> </br> 1. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5343nfOnkk">Arnold's Grand, Grand Overture </a></br> 2. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/1999/aug/12/artsfeatures.proms1999">Review</a></br> 3. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19NdCL4QiVI#t=12">Bryn Terfel at the Proms 1994 (at 1'07")</a></br> 4. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_McCarthy_(conductor)">Carmina Burana's stand-in</a></br> 5. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/1970s/1970/august-13/8163"> Soft machine at the Proms</a></br> 6. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/aug/21/proms2007.proms">Review: Simon Bolivar YO </a></br> 7. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/3ysm8cc">Beyonce's surprise appearance at the proms</a></br> 8. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/kprlcs5">Proms disrupted by pro-Palestinian protest</a></br> 9. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/aug/10/classicalmusicandopera.proms20071">Panic at the proms</a></br> 10. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/sep/02/classicalmusicandopera.proms2003">Berlin PO/Rattle: review</a></br> 11. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/15/john-cage-centenary-tribute">Celebrating Cage</a></br> 12. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/l9ptj8r">Proms 2012 wk 5 in review</a></br> 13. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3MLU6fvlzE">Watch the Dr Who prom</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWn9jJ9ptvY">Watch the Horrible Histories prom</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a50xFfhTy4A">Watch the Wallace and Gromit prom</a></br> 14. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig51Guf5hjs">The Lady Gaga Fugue</a></br> 15. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/pqkbyad"> The Fairy Queen's 'bonking bunnies'</a>

  3. 15 and above.

    <b>Read/watch more: </b> </br> 1. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5343nfOnkk">Arnold's Grand, Grand Overture </a></br> 2. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/1999/aug/12/artsfeatures.proms1999">Review</a></br> 3. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19NdCL4QiVI#t=12">Bryn Terfel at the Proms 1994 (at 1'07")</a></br> 4. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_McCarthy_(conductor)">Carmina Burana's stand-in</a></br> 5. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/1970s/1970/august-13/8163"> Soft machine at the Proms</a></br> 6. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/aug/21/proms2007.proms">Review: Simon Bolivar YO </a></br> 7. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/3ysm8cc">Beyonce's surprise appearance at the proms</a></br> 8. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/kprlcs5">Proms disrupted by pro-Palestinian protest</a></br> 9. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/aug/10/classicalmusicandopera.proms20071">Panic at the proms</a></br> 10. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/sep/02/classicalmusicandopera.proms2003">Berlin PO/Rattle: review</a></br> 11. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/15/john-cage-centenary-tribute">Celebrating Cage</a></br> 12. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/l9ptj8r">Proms 2012 wk 5 in review</a></br> 13. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3MLU6fvlzE">Watch the Dr Who prom</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWn9jJ9ptvY">Watch the Horrible Histories prom</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a50xFfhTy4A">Watch the Wallace and Gromit prom</a></br> 14. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig51Guf5hjs">The Lady Gaga Fugue</a></br> 15. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/pqkbyad"> The Fairy Queen's 'bonking bunnies'</a>

 

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