Last Night Of The Proms

[jourdain2]

A bit different, quite enjoyable, but there is a big BUT - did anyone else notice that in 'Rule Britannia' the line 'Britons never, never, never shall be slaves'  was changed to 'Britons never, never, never will be slaves'!  Quite a different meaning.  Anyone any idea why?  It was even 'will' on the subtitles.

It grated terribly with me. 

[ToraToraTora]

probably some 5C tawt doing the subtitles.

[jourdain2]

But the soprano was singing 'will'.

[perseverer]

A quick internet search gives "will" in every result

[Neveracrossword]

The original wording , from 1740, is 'Will'...

[Old_Geezer]

They probably shallved the other version.

[Buenchico]

From a reputable source:
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/rule-britannia-lyrics-composer/

. . . and from the original poem, 'Alfred: A Masque' by James Thomson and David Mallet:
https://postimg.cc/cvt6TbY4

[Canary42]

Where there's a will there's a shall

😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 

[Ludocruz]

Did anybody notice the lady trumpeter in the silver dress? During the latter part of Last Night ... she was mainly holding her instrument rather than playing it... I wondered if she had an issue with joining in with the more 'colonial' anthems, not that it deterred the hundreds waving European Union flags🤔

[barry1010]

Many Britons were slaves. 

[jourdain2]

OK I hold my hands up - they always used to sing 'shall' I'm sure, and when I checked on the box it came up with 'shall'. Sorry.  :(

[rockyracoon]

That's something I've learnt today. I always thought it was 'shall'

[Old_Geezer]

In fairness, were I asked before checking I'd have felt certain it was "shall".  Must be a Mandela Effect in operation. Or maybe everyone I heard singing it were getting it wrong.

[naomi24]

I thought it was 'shall' too.  It makes no difference to me.  It's still the same rousing, flag-waving song - and long may it remain.

[douglas9401]

Grate Britain?

[10ClarionSt]

When we attended the National Festival of Music for Youth proms concert at The RAH in November 2001, the organisers completely changed the words to Land Of Hope And Glory because it was only weeks after 9/11 and they said the words were too jingoistic and not appropriate at such a delicate time. I sang the original words, along with lots of others.

[DTCwordfan]

Actually, I found it all to be a bit sterile and 'forced' - not the same. Bring back Marin Alsop, she was brilliant.

[piggynose]

?si=AHI_lI0P_d9qnxde

Marín Alsop for those of us who don't know her.

[jourdain2]

Agree about Marin Alsop.

[Henry1865]

Many years ago a letter to a newspaper gave an example of the difference between the two words.

"I will drown; nobody shall save me".

[New Judge]

I was taught that, grammatically, the difference between "shall" and "will" was that "shall" is used for the first person (I/we) and "will" is used for the second and third persons (you/he/she/they). I wasn't aware there was any other hard and fast rule for their use. Although I appreciate there are occasions when a subtle difference in emphasis may be required, I'm not sure "shall/will" is the way to achieve it. That said: 

 "I will drown; nobody shall save me". 

Apart from that example being grammatically incorrect (it should be "I shall drown; nobody will save me") I don't really see what the author of the letter is getting at.