Anthems return for Last Night of Proms

The full pomp and circumstance of the Proms will be restored this September with a traditional final night featuring "Rule Britannia" and "Land of Hope and Glory" after a year's absence.

The full pomp and circumstance of the Proms will be restored this September with a traditional final night featuring "Rule Britannia" and "Land of Hope and Glory" after a year's absence.

The flag-waving anthems were dropped from a hastily rearranged Last Night of the Proms in 2001 when it took place four days after 11 September.

Organisers of the concert season said yesterday that it was appropriate for the bombastic tunes to return as they unveiled a programme which will also include "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Oklahoma!".

Nicholas Kenyon, the director of the BBC Proms, said: "We talked long and hard about the format of the Last Night and I think the association between these pieces and the Last Night was too strong."

The only traditional item to retain its place in last year's programme was the hymn "Jerusalem".

This year, organisers have ensured that concert-goers will experience the full range of musical genres. A series of Proms in the Park events, including concerts in Hyde Park and Belfast, will be held to coincide with the Last Night.

The inclusion of "Oklahoma!" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" in the wider Proms season, which starts on 19 July, is to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the composer Richard Rodgers.