Proms at Home

Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Imaginary Coney Island’
from On the Town

Welcome to Proms at Home!

Open your ears, unlock your imagination and enjoy an orchestral adventure!

This week’s Proms at Home is a celebration of the wonderful songs and dances of the American musicals – and includes a musical train ride to a dream destination. So jump on board and let’s explore Leonard Bernstein’s Imaginary Coney Island.

Imaginary Coney Island

Coney Island isn’t actually imaginary – it’s a real place in New York City, in America. People love going to Coney Island to play on its beautiful beach, swim and have fun on all the fairground rides.

So it’s no surprise that in Leonard Bernstein’s musical On the Town, set during the Second World War, a sailor called Gabey, who’s never been to New York before, decides to get on a train to visit Coney Island. Gabey’s looking for love and adventure – but he’s also tired and soon falls asleep, dreaming of Coney Island and what he hopes to find there …

And that’s why this is an Imaginary Coney Island – because it only exists in the imagination of a snoozing sailor!

Coney Island can exist in our imaginations too. We’ll hear the brilliant John Wilson Orchestra bring Gabey’s dream to life using music. What kind of place do you think Gabey is imagining? Is his dream Coney Island peaceful? Is it busy? Happy? Dangerous?

What images, smells, sounds and people do you imagine?

Here’s a clip of conductor John Wilson and his orchestra performing Imaginary Coney Island at the 2012 Proms:

_{(Dan Gold, Jeffrey Blum)}

Listen Out ...

For the quiet clarinet that opens the piece and the gentle saxophone solo you’ll hear played soon after. How does the opening of the piece make you feel?

Can you spot any instruments that start to change the mood of the piece – and of Gabey’s dream?

Where Next?

• Fancy an exciting, surprising musical ride, full of twists and turns, just like a rollercoaster or a helter-skelter at Coney Island? Then have a listen to Anna Clyne’s fantastic Masquerade. Just shut your eyes and see what kind of imaginary adventure Anna’s music takes you on.

Here it is being performed by Marin Alsop and the 麻豆官网首页入口 Symphony Orchestra at the Last Night of the 2013 Proms:

• Or you could discover a bit more about the all-round musical superstar Leonard Bernstein, the composer of Imaginary Coney Island.

Bernstein was born in 1918 and was an American composer, conductor and pianist. He loved writing music for dancers – have a listen to his Mambo (from another musical he wrote called West Side Story) and you’ll soon be dancing – and shouting ‘Mambo’!

Here it is, being performed by Alpesh Chauhan and the 麻豆官网首页入口 Philharmonic at the 2016 Ten Pieces Prom:

You can hear Mambo and learn lots more about Leonard Bernstein at the Ten Pieces website.

Your Turn

• The stage show of On the Town contains lots of songs, but the story of Gabey’s train ride is shown using dance (just like in a ballet).

So this is music to move to! You don’t have to sit still and listen – as the orchestra plays, what shapes, dance styles and movements do you feel like making? Do they change as the dream unfolds?

• In this video Vicki Hawkins and Mousetrap Theatre Projects will show you how to create your own dance piece. Why not upload your finished piece to Proms at Home? It might be featured in the Proms at Home creative showcase!

Happy listening and we hope you’ll have lots more orchestral adventures with Proms at Home.

_{Proms at Home notes by Andrew McCaldon}

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