Prom 44 – Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D Major

Part of the BBC Proms.

Sacred and secular drift and blur into one another in the twilight visions of Debussy’s three orchestral Nocturnes. Sirens coax and seduce sailors with their mysterious song, while back on land a festive parade is all brilliant flashes of light and teeming, fleet-footed movement. But the opening cloudscape looks heavenwards in its plainchant-inspired lines – a prelude to Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D major, whose bold, robust expression of faith owes as much to Beethoven as to Elgar, and couldn’t be further from Debussy’s hazy sonic watercolours. Sakari Oramo conducts the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra and an exciting team of young soloists including soprano Nardus Williams and bass-baritone Bozidar Smiljanic