Tradition meets high jinks once again as Edward Gardner conducts his first Last Night of the Proms. For this grandest of grand finales there are two very special guests. Since her first Proms appearance in 1995, Susan Bullock has emerged as Britain's leading dramatic soprano, specialising in what she calls 'the large ladies' of the repertoire. None is more challenging than Brünnhilde, whose Immolation Scene concludes Wagner's epic Ring cycle. Also featured is a classical music superstar, as popular in the West as in his native China. Lang Lang plays Liszt at his most dazzling on this, his sixth visit to the Proms. Bartók's thrilling suite provides a blast of exotic orchestral colour. Arne, Parry and Elgar bring down the curtain in traditional fashion. But first the Master of the Queen's Music pays tribute to the Promenaders' fundraising efforts on behalf of the Musicians Benevolent Fund in his new work. Saturday 10 September 7.30pm – c. 10.45pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events, Piano music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies Musica benevolens (c4 mins) Musicians Benevolent Fund commission: World Premiere Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin - suite (20 mins) Wagner Götterdämmerung - Immolation Scene (18 mins) Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major (19 mins) INTERVAL Chopin Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22 (9 mins) Grainger Mo nighean dubh (My Dark-Haired Maiden) (4 mins) Britten The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (20 mins) Rodgers The Sound of Music - 'Climb ev'ry mountain' (arr.Robert Russell Bennett) (4 mins) Rodgers Carousel - 'You'll never walk alone' (arr. Jackson) (3 mins) Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D major ('Land of Hope and Glory') (8 mins) Arne Rule Britannia (8 mins) Parry Jerusalem (orch. Elgar) (4 mins) Traditional The National Anthem (2 mins) Lang Lang piano Susan Bullock soprano BBC Symphony Chorus BBC Symphony Orchestra Edward Gardner conductor

Sir Colin Davis tackles a work whose uncompromising nature makes it as great a challenge as anything in the choral repertoire, whether you regard it as a statement of the composer's belief in the spiritual potential of man or his faith in a supreme being. 'A musician must make affirmations,' says Davis. 'If a musician cannot believe in music as a universal ideal, what is he left with? We may be encircled by gloom but music gives us a chance to throw what Meredith calls "that faint thin line upon the shore". ... Beethoven is a man at war with himself but a man who is determined to win.' Sunday 4 September 7.00pm – c. 8.40pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events Beethoven Missa Solemnis (90 mins) Helena Juntunen soprano Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano Paul Groves tenor Matthew Rose bass London Philharmonic Choir London Symphony Chorus London Symphony Orchestra Sir Colin Davis conductor

A celebration of the Golden Age of Hollywood film musicals featuring Annalene Beechey, Charles Castronovo, Matthew Ford, Sarah Fox, Caroline O'Connor, Clare Teal, the Maida Vale Singers, John Wilson Orchestra and John Wilson (conductor). The appearances of John Wilson and his hand-picked, high-octane orchestra have been among the most sensational Proms events of recent years. Joined by a formidable line-up of today's vocal stars, they give what one critic has described as 'the auditory equivalent of a steam-clean' to another cache of show-stoppers. 'Hooray for Hollywood' takes us from the dawn of the talkies and the birth of the movie musical through to the 1960s. An extended sequence pays special tribute to the RKO films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, who was born 100 years ago. Monday 29 August 7.30pm – c. 9.35pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events, Classical for starters There will be one interval

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe's second pairing of Brahms masterworks opens with a work long central to Emanuel Ax's repertoire which he has recorded with tonight's conductor. Brahms's Second Piano Concerto is even bigger in scale than the First and just as technically demanding. After the interval, the composer's astonishing final symphony, where the balance between expressiveness and iron structural control is most perfectly maintained. It ends with an imposing set of variations, Brahms's late-Romantic take on the Baroque-style passacaglia, which uses material borrowed from J. S. Bach. Saturday 20 August 7.30pm – c. 9.40pm Royal Albert Hall Piano music Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major (50 mins) INTERVAL Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor (42 mins) Emanuel Ax piano Chamber Orchestra of Europe Bernard Haitink conductor

Angela Hewitt picks up the Brahms thread from the early evening Prom and launches this Late Night Prom that takes in an unjustly neglected score by Brahms's mentor, Robert Schumann, before observing the composer through the prism of an admirer, Arnold Schoenberg. Andrew Manze, conducting his first Prom as Associate Guest Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, sees Brahms as a misunderstood figure, full of warmth. He will bring his own insights to an increasingly popular arrangement in which Schoenberg incorporates some surprising 20th-century effects. Don't miss the Gypsy-style finale! Friday 19 August 10.00pm – c. 11.20pm Royal Albert Hall Piano music Brahms Three Intermezzos, Op. 117 - Nos. 1 & 2 (7 mins) Schumann Introduction and Concert Allegro, Op. 134 (13 mins) Brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor (arr. Schoenberg) (42 mins) Angela Hewitt piano BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Andrew Manze conductor

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is celebrating its 30th anniversary with two years of Brahms under Bernard Haitink, and brings a pair of concertos and a pair of symphonies to the Proms. Haitink describes the COE as 'a group of exceptionally talented musicians. As true chamber musicians, they are used to listening to each other, without being exclusively focused on the conductor. This matches exactly the idea I have of conducting an orchestra.' After Brahms's relatively mellow Third Symphony, one of the world's best-loved pianists performs a work boiling over with youthful passions. The same musicians return with more Brahms in Prom 49. Friday 19 August 7.00pm – c. 9.00pm Royal Albert Hall Piano music Brahms Symphony No. 3 in F major (38 mins) INTERVAL Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor (45 mins) Schumann Fantasiestücke, Op 12 - No. 1 Des Abends (4 mins) (encore) Emanuel Ax piano Chamber Orchestra of Europe Bernard Haitink conductor

Musician, actor, comedian and rock 'n' roll superstar Tim Minchin hosts a Proms first - the Comedy Prom. Joined by guests including BBC Two Maestro winner Sue Perkins, musical cabaret duo Kit and The Widow, soprano Susan Bullock and rising star British pianist Danny Driver (making his Proms debut), Tim will weave his way through a spectacular evening of comedy, musical fun and surprises. Also appearing Beardyman, The Boy with Tape on his Face, Doc Brown, and the Mongrels. Marking the centenary year of Franz Reizenstein, one of the highlights is sure to be his Concerto Populaire, a whistlestop tour through competing favourite piano concertos. The programme offers a fresh, accessible and funny take on the Proms, accompanied on a grand scale by the ever-versatile BBC Concert Orchestra under Andrew Litton (guest conductor) and Jules Buckley (music director). Saturday 13 August 7.30pm – c. 9.40pm Royal Albert Hall Classical for starters There will be one interval

The five inventive multitaskers of the Spaghetti Western Orchestra have their own way of presenting film music in concert. Fascinated by the scores of Ennio Morricone, they have devised an unclassifiable entertainment in which his epic soundtracks for film maker Sergio Leone are recreated with extraordinary virtuosity on instruments both conventional and rather less so. 'We really embraced the absurdity of a bunch of Aussie guys trying to do what Morricone did with a cast of hundreds and so we went about listening to the music and exploring the idea that every sound is equal and giving equal importance to all sounds.' Expect a loose narrative, new uses for the asthma inhaler and the cornflake packet, and a rich harvest of post-modern laughs. Friday 12 August 10.15pm – c. 11.30pm Royal Albert Hall Spaghetti Western Orchestra There will be no interval

Assisted by guest star Chloë Hanslip, Keith Lockhart and the BBC Concert Orchestra bring the silver-screen excitement of music associated with the cinema, from Pinewood to Hollywood, from Psycho to Star Wars, with a special tribute to the late John Barry. Friday 12 August 7.00pm – c. 9.20pm Royal Albert Hall Classical for starters Herrmann Music from The Man Who Knew Too Much, Citizen Kane, and Psycho (18 mins) Ennio Morricone Cinema Paradiso - theme (7 mins) Walton Henry V - suite (arr. Muir Mathieson) (21 mins) INTERVAL John Williams Music from Star Wars, Schindler's List and Harry Potter (14 mins) Jonny Greenwood Norwegian Wood - suite (arr. Robert Ziegler) (10 mins) BBC Commission, World Premiere Sir Richard Rodney Bennett Murder on the Orient Express - suite (8 mins) Barry Out of Africa - Love Theme (7 mins) Various Music from the James Bond films (10 mins) Ennio Morricone The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Main Theme (3 mins) (encore) Chloë Hanslip violin Rory Kinnear narrator BBC Concert Orchestra Keith Lockhart conductor

When in 2008 Nigel Kennedy came back to the Proms after an absence of 21 years, his Late Night concert with his own quartet followed an early-evening performance of Elgar's Violin Concerto which he capped with a solo Bach encore. Tonight's special event confirms that JSB continues to mean a great deal to him. The man dubbed 'the people's violinist' has recorded Bach concertos with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and with members of the Berlin Philharmonic. Discovering something new every time he explores the composer's music, Kennedy points up the parallels with jazz. Bach loved the dance forms of his own day and his music benefits from being played with emotional freedom and a keen rhythmic sense. Saturday 6 August 10.00pm – c. 11.00pm Royal Albert Hall J. S. Bach Partita for Solo Violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006 - No. 1 Preludio (4 mins) J. S. Bach Partita for Solo Violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 (36 mins) J. S. Bach Das Pendel (arr. Kennedy) (7 mins) Waller How can you face me now? (arr. Nigel Kennedy) (7 mins) (encore) Waller Honeysuckle Rose (arr. Nigel Kennedy) (7 mins) (encore) Waller Viper’s Drag (arr. Nigel Kennedy) (5 mins) (encore) Nigel Kennedy violin Rolf Bussald guitar Yaron Stavi double bass Krzysztof Dzeidzic percussion

The music of Sergey Prokofiev looms large in this fascinating collaboration between Vladimir Jurowski and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. First, an esoteric offering from the master's London-based grandson, a crossover artist in the best sense, determined to find new audiences and to reconfigure the classical tradition by way of Minimalist grooves, dancefloor beats, club nights and remixes. The influence of the senior Prokofiev is plain in the sizzling keyboard writing of Britten's early Piano Concerto, which gives BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Benjamin Grosvenor another chance to shine, following his First Night Proms debut. In the second half, Prokofiev's ballet music recounts the doomed love of Verona's most romantic couple. Saturday 6 August 6.30pm – c. 9.05pm Royal Albert Hall Classical for starters, Piano music Gabriel Prokofiev Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra (21 mins) Britten Piano Concerto (35 mins) Gould Boogie Woogie Etude (2 mins) (encore) INTERVAL Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet - selection (50 mins) Benjamin Grosvenor piano, New Generation Artist DJ Switch dj (turntables) National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Now Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel - known by his own musicians as 'the Dude' - joins his old friends in the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and some mightily distinguished guests to tackle a colossus of the standard repertoire. Writing for vast forces including offstage brass, two solo singers and a large choir, Mahler takes listeners on a spectacular journey through the entire gamut of emotions. Beginning at the graveside, he remembers happier, busier and (spiritually) emptier times on the way to an apocalyptic revelation of the Day of Judgement. The promise of eternal life is then renewed in some of music's most uplifting pages. Friday 5 August 7.30pm – c. 9.10pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events Mahler Symphony No. 2 in C minor 'Resurrection' (85 mins) Miah Persson soprano Anna Larsson mezzo-soprano National Youth Choir of Great Britain Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra Gustavo Dudamel conductor

Returning to the Proms for the first time since 1988, cellist Lynn Harrell celebrates the 95th-birthday year of Henri Dutilleux with a performance of one of his best-loved works, nocturnal, mysterious and beautifully coloured. Debussy's languorous reverie fired up a stylistic revolution and gained notoriety when Nijinsky choreographed it for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The same company commissioned Ravel's sumptuous evocation of Ancient Greece, embracing the most atmospheric sunrise in all music, but before that there's room for his notionally Hispanic experiment in writing 'orchestral tissue without music' - the ever popular Boléro. Wednesday 3 August 7.30pm – c. 9.55pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events, French music concerts and events Debussy Prélude à L'après-midi d'un faune (8 mins) Henri Dutilleux 'Tout un monde lointain...' (27 mins) J. S. Bach Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009 - No. 5 Bourées 1 & 2 (3 mins) (encore) Ravel Boléro (15 mins) INTERVAL Ravel Daphnis and Chloë (50 mins) Lynn Harrell cello Edinburgh Festival Chorus BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Donald Runnicles conductor

Grainger is celebrated in a special Late Night sequence as star Northumbrian smallpiper Kathryn Tickell and friends take a fresh look at the prodigious activities of this wild colonial boy. A pioneering collector of folk music from around the globe and arguably the world's first crossover artist, Grainger explored new worlds and invented new sounds, by turns touching, funny and provocative. Special guests, including the distinguished English folk singer June Tabor, place his achievement in its folk-music context. Tuesday 2 August 10.15pm – c. 11.30pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events Grainger Green Bushes (9 mins) Grainger Molly on the Shore (5 mins) Grainger Shepherd's Hey - medley (12 mins) Grainger Early One Morning (5 mins) Grainger Shallow Brown (8 mins) Grainger Scotch Strathspey and Reel (9 mins) Interspersed with traditional and contemporary folk music, including material which formed the basis for Grainger's arrangements June Tabor singer Wilson Family BBC Singers (men's voices) Kathryn Tickell Band Northern Sinfonia John Harle conductor

Tasmin Little and Sir Andrew Davis tackle a favourite concerto which the violinist has only recently felt ready to commit to disc. It is preceded by one of Elgar's most radical part-songs, notated in two keys simultaneously in a manner which might be said to parallel the incorrigible experiments of Percy Grainger. To mark the 50th anniversary of that composer's death, his In a Nutshell suite receives a first outing at the Proms, reaching its popular march finale by way of some unpredictable and darkly complex invention. Once considered dangerously radical itself, Strauss's perky symphonic poem documents the adventures of a purely mythical rascal. Tuesday 2 August 7.00pm – c. 9.15pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events, Classical for starters Elgar There is sweet music (4 mins) Elgar Violin Concerto (50 mins) INTERVAL Grainger Irish Tune from County Derry (4 mins) Grainger Suite 'In a Nutshell' (20 mins) R. Strauss Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (15 mins) Tasmin Little violin BBC Singers BBC Symphony Orchestra Sir Andrew Davis conductor

Strauss at his most passionate (and lascivious!) bookends a concert full of spectacle and panache. At its heart is the patriotic cantata Prokofiev drew from his music for Eisenstein's epic film about a medieval Russian hero's defeat of the Teutonic invader. That score had quite an impact on Walton's own wartime work for the cinema but it is the subtler brio of his Violin Concerto that is heard before the interval. Midori is one of relatively few international superstars to have taken up a piece whose formidable technical challenges were actively encouraged by Jascha Heifetz, its original soloist, but whose lyricism is all pervasive too. Saturday 30 July 7.30pm – c. 9.55pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events R. Strauss Don Juan (17 mins) Walton Violin Concerto (32 mins) INTERVAL Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky - cantata (40 mins) R. Strauss Salome - Dance of the Seven Veils (12 mins) Midori violin Nadezhda Serdiuk mezzo-soprano CBSO Chorus City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons conductor

Anyone who has split their sides laughing at CBBC's hit television series Horrible Histories now has the chance to see and hear the cast perform some of the most popular songs from the show, ranging from the Savage Stone Age and the Vicious Vikings to the Gorgeous Georgians and the Vile Victorians. Backed by children's choirs and the Aurora Orchestra, the songs will be interspersed with some great music by composers such as King Henry VIII, Lully, Mozart and the prolific 'Anon'. Horrible Histories, based on the best-selling books by Terry Deary with illustrations by Martin Brown, has proved a massive success. Children love the series, and the songs (music by Richie Webb) have proved among the most memorable elements of the show. Come to see the stars and sing along! Following the success of the first-ever signed Prom last year, Dr Paul Whittaker, Artistic Director of Music and the Deaf, returns to guide you through this free Prom. Saturday 30 July 11.00am – c. 1.00pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events, For families Louise Fryer (presenter), Horrible Histories cast, Choirs from The Music Centre, Kids Company Choir, Aurora Orchestra and Nicholas Collon (conductor). There will be one interval.

Vladimir Jurowski's Hungarian Prom kicks off with Kodály's effervescent Dances of Galánta. Bartók's more acerbically ebullient First Piano Concerto will give pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet a chance to use both hands: his previous Proms appearances, in 2008 and 2010, both involved pieces conceived for the left hand alone! In tonight's second half, an influential masterwork from one of this year's featured composers, born 200 years ago. Liszt's A Faust Symphony 'in three character portraits, after Goethe' will be played in the version that concludes with a grandiose setting of the 'Chorus mysticus' unheard at the Proms since 1967. Tuesday 26 July 7.30pm – c. 9.55pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events, Piano music Kodály Dances of Galánta (16 mins) Bartók Piano Concerto No. 1 (24 mins) INTERVAL Liszt A Faust Symphony (62 mins) Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano Marco Jentzsch tenor London Philharmonic Choir (men's voices) London Symphony Chorus (men's voices) London Philharmonic Orchestra Vladimir Jurowski conductor

Sir Roger Norrington has chosen Mahler's last completed symphony for his final concerts as Principal Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, a post he has held since 1998. Written at a time of personal crisis, the Ninth begins with what some have heard as the irregular rhythm of Mahler's own failing heartbeat and it ends with a long fade to eternal nothingness. In between comes perhaps the greatest, certainly the most cathartic, of all late- Romantic symphonies. Sadly, the composer did not live to hear it. Tonight's performance promises to be both a moving occasion and a revealing one, taking up the faster pacing and purer orchestral sonorities of the composer's own time. Monday 25 July 7.30pm – c. 9.00pm Royal Albert Hall Mahler Symphony No. 9 (73 mins) Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) Sir Roger Norrington conductor

The ultimate in dramatic intensity, this extraordinary work speaks of heaven and hell, fire and earth, darkness and light in music that is as much theatrical as devotional. The Requiem is always a special event - the more so when we have on the podium a Verdi specialist whose recent Cologne recording, which also featured Ferruccio Furlanetto, has been much acclaimed. Tonight's stellar line-up also includes Marina Poplavskaya and Joseph Calleja, who both sang alongside Furlanetto in last year's Simon Boccanegra. Sunday 24 July 7.00pm – c. 8.40pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events Verdi Requiem (86 mins) Marina Poplavskaya soprano Mariana Pentcheva mezzo-soprano Joseph Calleja tenor Ferruccio Furlanetto bass BBC Symphony Chorus BBC National Chorus of Wales London Philharmonic Choir BBC Symphony Orchestra Semyon Bychkov conductor

Music composed by Nitin Sawhney for the Human Planet television series, and performances by artistst including Ayarkhaan (Sakha Republic), Bibilang Shark-Calling Group (Papua New Guinea), Khusugtun (Mongolia), Rasmus Lyberth (Greenland), and Enock Mbongwe (Zambia). BBC Concert Orchestra, Charles Hazlewood (conductor) and Paul Rose (presenter).. Big-screen video projections and excerpts from Nitin Sawhney's score for the acclaimed landmark BBC One series Human Planet, alongside artists heard in BBC Radio 3's accompanying Music Planet series. Saturday 23 July 7.30pm – c. 9.45pm Royal Albert Hall For families There will be one interval

Basque-born Juanjo Mena, recently named Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, makes his Proms debut with this dazzling Franco-Spanish evening. Debussy's three orchestral Images are interspersed with evocations of an idealised South filled with the rhythms of Gypsy dancing and the scent of jasmine. The brilliant showpieces of Ravel are complemented by Falla's Impressionistic Andalusian concerto, in which the orchestra is joined by pianist Steven Osborne. Friday 22 July 7.30pm – c. 9.50pm Royal Albert Hall Classical for starters, French music concerts and events, Piano music Debussy Images - Gigues (7 mins) Ravel Rapsodie espagnole (15 mins) Debussy Images - Rondes de printemps (9 mins) INTERVAL Ravel Alborado del gracioso (8 mins) Falla Nights in the Gardens of Spain (24 mins) Debussy Images - Ibéria (20 mins) Steven Osborne piano BBC Philharmonic Juanjo Mena conductor

Thursday 21 July 7.30pm – c. 9.45pm Royal Albert Hall Piano music Sibelius Scènes historiques - Suite No. 2 (19 mins) Sibelius Symphony No. 7 in C major (23 mins) INTERVAL Bartók Piano Concerto No. 3 (24 mins) Janáček Sinfonietta (24 mins) András Schiff piano Hallé Sir Mark Elder conductor

In the first half of his second Prom Myung-Whun Chung pairs works by German Romantics from opposite ends of the 19th century, including the meltingly beautiful Brahms Double Concerto with Renaud and Gautier Capuçon. After the interval comes a piece with French connections which swept away that old order. A sensational succès de scandale in 1913 for Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes, The Rite of Spring not only prompted the most famous riot in musical history but sounds sensational still, rediscovering rhythm as music's primal driving force. Tuesday 19 July 7.00pm – c. 9.00pm Royal Albert Hall Classical for starters Weber Oberon - overture (9 mins) Brahms Concerto in A minor for Violin and Cello (Double Concerto) (32 mins) INTERVAL Stravinsky The Rite of Spring (33 mins) Renaud Capuçon violin Gautier Capuçon cello Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France Myung-Whun Chung conductor

New British music, Brahms, Liszt and a lavish choral work blaze a trail for some of 2011's Proms musical strands. Benjamin Grosvenor made his Proms debut, and there's Janáček's extraordinary celebration of Slavic culture, the Glagolitic Mass. Friday 15 July 7.30pm – c. 9.40pm Royal Albert Hall Choral music and singing events, Piano music Judith Weir Stars, Night, Music and Light (c4 mins) BBC Commission, World Premiere Brahms Academic Festival Overture (11 mins) Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major (20 mins) INTERVAL Janáček Glagolitic Mass (45 mins) Benjamin Grosvenor piano Hibla Gerzmava soprano Dagmar Pecková mezzo-soprano Stefan Vinke tenor Jan Martiník bass David Goode organ BBC Singers BBC Symphony Chorus BBC Symphony Orchestra Jiří Bělohlávek conductor