A NatWest bank in central London. Not just any old NatWest this: it's probably the most musically significant retail banking outlet in the country (any other competitors that I've missed, just let me know ...).
Why, pray? It was here – on the site of what's now 252 Regent Street – that arguably the most significant symphony of all time was premiered in Britain, having been commissioned by the then newly founded Philharmonic Society – still going strong today as the Royal Philharmonic Society, and this year marking its bicentenary. The piece? Beethoven's Ninth.
The Ninth. That Ninth! In 1822, the enterprising establishers of the Philharmonic Society asked Ludwig for a symphony, having no idea that the result would the first-ever symphony with a chorus – and the first-ever symphony that tried to change the world through its musical, social and political message, with its epic realisation of the dream that "all men become brothers".
The Ninth was first heard in Vienna in 1824, and a year later it was performed inside this branch of NatWest. Well, in the spatial volume the bank now encloses: in 1825, this was the site of the New Argyll Rooms, the John Nash-designed suite of concert rooms.
On Sunday, the Proms makes its annual performance of the Ninth Symphony – this year with the National Youth Orchestra and National Youth Choir of Great Britain – the first-ever free main evening prom, and includes Frieze, a commission from Mark-Anthony Turnage. And earlier in the day, Westminster City council will unveil a green plaque at this über-musical NatWest in commemoration of the Ninth and the RPS's 200 years.
Will a green plaque mark the premiere of Turnage's Frieze in 200 years time? Only the aeons will tell ...
