article_snippet.sent: For 120 years it has been a great British institution, bringing world-class performances of classical music to the public.
article_snippet.sent: conductor Sir Henry Wood had accepted a challenge from Robert Newman, manager of the new Queen’s Hall, to ‘run nightly concerts to train the public’.
article_snippet.sent: The plan was to gradually raise the standard of music until they ‘created a public for classical and modern music’.
article_snippet.sent: conductor Sir Henry Wood more than lived up to a challenge from Robert Newman, manager of the new Queen’s Hall, to ‘run nightly concerts to train the public’.
article_snippet.sent: conductor Sir Henry Wood conducted the first promenade concert, as it was known, offering tickets for as little as a shilling.
article_snippet.sent: conductor Sir Henry Wood established a tradition of playing Wagner on Mondays and Beethoven on Fridays, later adding Debussy, Strauss, Rachmaninov and Ravel.
article_snippet.sent: By the time of Sir Henry’s death in 1944, they were firmly established as the highlight of the classical music calendar.
article_snippet.sent: The series of 92 concerts will also include a tribute to Sherlock Holmes, with a performance of pieces referenced in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books, including compositions by Wagner and Paganini.
article_snippet.sent: Sir David Attenborough will host another of the afternoon concerts, featuring music from Sir David Attenborough natural history television series Life Story.
article_snippet.sent: More traditional fare includes the complete Beethoven piano concertos and Sir Simon Rattle conducting Elgar's The Dream Of Gerontius.