June 1969 – The ‘Anti-Proms’

Proms (plural noun)

Definition: Short for Promenade concerts – informal and inexpensive concerts with an opportunity for Promenaders (‘Prommers’) to stand and listen. Promenade concerts started in France in the 1830s and were introduced to the UK shortly afterwards.

BBC Proms website

In June 1969, the orchestra were in rebellious form.

A newly decorated Wellington Hall called for something fresh, new and radical… a Prom with a twist, and so the Anti-Prom was born.

James Parr, the orchestra’s planning manager explained:

Dear Concert-goer,

You know, of course, about the Albert Hall “Proms” held each year in the summer in London.

You’ll probably remember too that the Ulster Orchestra tried some in 1967. They were reasonably successful and we felt that we would like to have some more this year in the newly-decorated Wellington Hall …. We’d gone some way with our plans …. we were thinking of them as “Proms” when someone reminded us that nobody had remained standing for very long at our Belfast Proms as there were plenty of seats available anyway – and who wants to stand if you can sit down?!

We thought about it to such a degree that we became almost anti-prom – and then it struck us – we’d have a short Prom season where you didn’t promenade but had a comfortable seat (…) But what to call a Prom concert where you don’t have to stand up?

Enjoy the concerts anyway, THURSDAY (before you go off for the weekend) the 12th, 19th and 26th June 1969. See you there – but be sure of your seat.

The ‘Anti-Proms’ featured a vibrant and eclectic programme. On Thursday 12 June, pianist Laurence Allix joined the orchestra for a distinctly Spanish affair, with Glinka’s Summer Nights in Spain, Turina’s Canciones del Toreros, and de Falla’s Three Cornered Hat.

The second concert on 19th June was a treat for guitar fans, with soloist William Gomez playing Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Guitar Concerto, while the final concert on 26th June featured Mozart and Debussy with soloists Susanna Mildonian (harp) and the orchestra’s own Principal Flute, Edward Beckett.