Don’t let Brexit rowdies wreck the Proms spirit
Ex BBC music boss warns of ‘Little Englanders’ celebrating poll win
AS a sea of Union flags flutters to a series of rousing anthems, the Last Night of the Proms has always proved a thrilling spectacle.
But the prospect of such patriotic fervour this year has prompted fears it will be ‘hijacked’ by Little Englanders celebrating Brexit.
Sir Nicholas Kenyon, who campaigned for Remain and was director of the BBC Proms between 1996 and 2007, expressed his concern yesterday and argued that British music has derived ‘deep and lasting’ inspiration from continental Europe.
His comments risk causing discord with concert-goers and prompted a backlash in which he was labelled ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘a Brexit denier’.
Writing in The Guardian, Sir Nicholas, 65, said: ‘As the annual ritual of the Last Night of the Proms approaches in the year of the Brexit referendum, there may be a sense of foreboding that this most British of occasions might be hijacked to celebrate the triumph of Little England, to reinforce the message of a land of hope and glory in which Britons never shall be slaves – to the EU or anyone else.
‘How wrong that would be. At the end of a hugely successful BBC Proms season, with music and orchestras from around the globe, this would be to radically misread the forces that gave birth to the music of the Last Night celebrations, to the concept of the Proms and to the entire tradition of adventurous British music.
‘The inspiration our native music has derived from continental Europe and beyond has been deep and lasting.’
But Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘It would be a great shame if the Last Night of the Proms was hijacked by remorseful, unpatriotic Brexit deniers. ‘The Proms is a chance to celebrate our British culture and being British is not about where you’re born or your ethnicity. It’s about how you look at life.
‘At the Last Night of the Proms, we all come together and celebrate this British identity.’
Peter Bone, another Tory MP, added: ‘There are a number of the people in the Establishment who don’t accept the will of the British people but I have no reason to believe that the Proms is going to be hijacked by anyone connected to the Brexit debate.’ The concert takes place at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday.
Sir Nicholas was a music critic for newspapers including The Times and The Observer early in his career. In 1992 he was appointed Controller of BBC Radio 3, but left amid accusations he had dumbed down the classical station’s output.
In 2013, as managing director of London’s Barbican Centre, he claimed the Proms had been ‘dangerously English’ until he brought in international musicians.
Ahead of the June 23 referendum, Sir Nicholas said Brexit could threaten Britain’s status as an ‘ international cultural powerhouse’. The father of four was knighted in 2008 for services to classical music.