Proms 2025 Mahler’s Seventh

Night-time darkness and blazing musical sunlight collide in Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 – a musical epic that packs the whole world into five contrasting movements. Vast orchestral forces – including mandolin, cowbells and guitar – conjure a shifting landscape of waltzes, serenades, fanfares, marches and mysterious ‘night-wandering’ – by turns romantic and humorous, sardonic and sincere. To open, John Storgårds conducts the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and tenor Allan Clayton in the world premiere of award-winning composer Tom Coult’s Monologues for the Curious, inspired by the ghost stories of M. R. James.

Allan Clayton © Sim Canetty-Clarke