Last Night of the Proms

Last night a truly special event took place in the heart of London and across the country, televised and broadcast to millions, and symbolic in a unique way of what makes Britain so great. For some the Last Night of the Proms is pure jingoism and over-zealous nationalism, for some lovers of classical music it is an embarassing festival of eccentric silliness that degrades the whole genre, but in reality it is the fact that it is in a way a little of each - both patriotic and slightly silly - that makes it so great, so British, and so symbolic of what makes Britain great. We know Britannia no longer rules the waves and to say so is a bit silly, but we're still going to sing it because we don't care that it isn't exactly true, and as proof that we don't care there's a lady in the third row dressed as a Viking and the opera singer leading the show is dressed as Nelson, to say nothing of the vacuum cleaners of earlier in the evening. We are proud of our country, but aren't arrogant with it, and the fact that we aren't affraid to laugh at ourselves and be slightly eccentric or silly is proof - and that is something both very British, and very great. The politically correct people who would like to dismantle all forms of patriotism and the purists who feel the whole thing too embarassing shall not stop us, because as the song says, Britons never shall be slaves - to them or any other. * * * * * On the theme of the Last Night of the Proms, and what seemed to me a year with rather less "Land of Hope and Glory" than usual and of course no "Fantasia of Sea Shanties", I got thinking what other music symbolises our country and what else would be nice to hear on the Last Night. "Rule, Britannia!" for me is great but a bit showy, I tend to prefer the less militaristic and more romantic "Land of Hope and Glory" with its assertation of the freedom that is the true spirit of this nation and of course "Jerusalem", with its love of our countryside and fight for a better tomorrow. But for me the favourite has to be the serviceful "I Vow To Thee My Country", which combines the rural romanticism of Jerusalem with the love of country and service to it ("all other things aside") that - shown by so many over the years - enables us not only to freely dress up in daft outfits or wave flags each year but truthfully sing of our great "...land of the free".