The 2020s
As we draw closer to the present day, the world struggles to contain a pandemic, people rally against racial injustice and the UK bids farewell to its longest-reigning monarch.
Time to welcome in the next 100 years of classical music and the 大象传媒.
Listen on Radio 3 and 大象传媒 Sounds
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Radio 3's Soundscape of a Century
Press rewind on a century of the 大象传媒 with an epic, eight-hour soundscape. Listen on 大象传媒 Sounds now (UK only).
The music
Works already making their mark on the 2020s
- James B Wilson and Yomi Sode: Remnants (2020)
- Huw Watkins: Arietta (2020)
- Edward Elgar: Nimrod from Enigma Variations (1899; recorded at the 大象传媒 Proms 2022)
- Jennifer Higdon: Percussion Concerto (performed at 大象传媒 Young Musician 2022)
Events to listen out for
2020
March: A global pandemic hits home
On 23 March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses the nation on TV and radio. He warns that the emerging coronavirus is “the biggest threat this country has faced for decades” and tells the public to stay at home, only shopping for necessities and travelling only when essential.
Only essential workers can travel to their places of work, and millions of people in the UK are furloughed. As lockdowns and travel restrictions bring an abrupt halt to live performance, artists and musicians find increasingly ingenious ways to share their creativity online. 大象传媒 Arts and Radio 3 invite the general public to play their part in the 大象传媒 Lockdown Orchestra.
Despite the restrictions, coronavirus spreads around the globe. By the end of September 2020, there will be over a million Covid-related deaths worldwide.
May: Black Lives Matter
George Floyd, an African American man in Minneapolis, dies after a police officer kneels on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Footage of the murder goes viral online and sparks global outrage.
Protestors around the world, rallying around the slogan Black Lives Matter, mount thousands of demonstrations against racism, inequality and police brutality. In June, activists at a demonstration in Bristol pull down the statue of Edward Colston, an 18th-century merchant and slave trader whose name is widely remembered in Bristolian landmarks. This incident and others like it spur on international conversations about the decolonisation of arts and culture.
UK composer James B Wilson is moved to write his 2020 work Remnants by the viral image of Londoner Patrick Hutchinson carrying an injured counter-protestor to safety during a demonstration in central London. The work, which sets words by poet Yomi Sode, is premiered by Sode and the Chineke! orchestra at the post-lockdown re-opening of the Southbank Centre, and broadcast on Radio 3.
2022
September: Death of Queen Elizabeth II
Just after 6.35pm on 8 September, every 大象传媒 radio station flicks to the news. On television, newsreader Huw Edwards announces that Britain's longest-serving monarch has died peacefully at Balmoral at the age of 96. More than 250,000 people will queue for hours to pay their respects at the Queen’s coffin at her lying-in-state in Westminster Hall, and 20 million people watch the Queen’s funeral on 大象传媒 television.
Many public events in the days that follow the Queen’s death are suspended, including the remaining concerts of the 大象传媒 Proms 2022. When the Queen’s death is announced on 8 September, hundreds of audience members have already arrived at the Royal Albert Hall. The concert is cancelled, but the Philadelphia Orchestra performs the National Anthem and Nimrod from Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The Royal Box remains empty, its curtains closed, as a mark of respect.
