Organisers of the concert announced the line-up for the Last Night of the Proms ahead of the event on Saturday September 12 at Royal Albert Hall. A campaign to omit the famous song from the concert has garnered widespread support on social media. Many backers had said the words of the song were offensive and outdated and called for a ban on it being performed in public.
In a statement, the BBC said: “In light of the recent speculation about the Last Night of the Proms, we are today announcing the programme for the concert.
“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 Proms will reinvent the Last Night in this extraordinary year so that it respects the traditions and spirit of the event whilst adapting to very different circumstances at this moment in time.
“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.”
The BBC said the programme would include “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”.
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