Essential Britten
If it was Ralph Vaughan Williams who defined English music in the early decades of the 20th century, it was Benjamin Britten who was its voice post war. Gone was nostalgic pastoralism, replaced by a cooler, cleverer, more cosmopolitan style – a bruised musical beauty for a bruised nation, picking up the pieces after the violence and destruction of two world wars.
Read more…- Britten•The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra op. 34 (1945)•Theme. Allegro maestoso e largamente
- Britten•The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra op. 34 (1945)•Fugue. Allegro molto
- Britten•Peter Grimes (London 1945)•Prologue • 5. Interlude I
- Britten•Peter Grimes (London 1945)•Act I • 13. Interlude II
- Britten•Peter Grimes (London 1945)•Act II • 16. 'Now the Great Bear and Pleiades' (Peter, Chorus, Nieces, Boles, Balstrode, Auntie)
- Britten•Peter Grimes (London 1945)•Act II • 17. 'For peace sake!' (Balstrode, Peter)
- Britten•Peter Grimes (London 1945)•Act II • 19. Interlude III
- Britten•Peter Grimes (London 1945)•Act III • 32. Interlude V
- Britten•Peter Grimes (London 1945)•Act III • 41. 'To those who pass, the Borough sounds betray' (Chorus, Swallow, Fisherman, Auntie, Boles, Rector, Nieces, Ned, Swallow, Hobson)
- Britten•String Quartet No. 1 in D major op. 25•I. Andante sostenuto - Allegro vivo
- Britten•String Quartet No. 1 in D major op. 25•IV. Molto vivace
- Britten•Les Illuminations for Voice and String Orchestra op. 18 (1939)•1. Fanfare. Maestoso (poco presto)
- Britten•Les Illuminations for Voice and String Orchestra op. 18 (1939)•5. Marine. Allegro con brio
- Britten•Les Illuminations for Voice and String Orchestra op. 18 (1939)•7. Being Beauteous. To P.N.L.P. Lento ma comodo
- Britten•Sinfonia da Requiem op. 20 (1940)•II. Dies irae. Allegro con fuoco - Alla marcia - Avanti - Poco a poco Più lento
- Britten•Sinfonia da Requiem op. 20 (1940)•III. Requiem aeternam. Andante molto tranquillo
- Britten•A Midsummer Night's Dream op. 64 (1960)•Act I • 1. "Over hill, over dale, thorough bush" (Puck, Chorus)
- Britten•A Midsummer Night's Dream op. 64 (1960)•Act I • 3. "Well, go thy way, thou shalt not from this grove" (Oberon, Puck)
- Britten•A Midsummer Night's Dream op. 64 (1960)•Act I • 11. "Come, now a roundel and a fairy song" (Titania)
- Britten•A Midsummer Night's Dream op. 64 (1960)•Act III • 16. "Now the hungry lions roars" (Puck, Oberon, Tytania, Chorus)
- Britten•Winter Words op. 52 (1953)•1. At Day-Close in November
- Britten•Winter Words op. 52 (1953)•5. The Choirmaster's Burial (or The Tenor Man's Story)
- Britten•Winter Words op. 52 (1953)•8. Before Life and After
- Britten•Missa brevis op. 63•1. Kyrie
- Britten•Missa brevis op. 63•2. Gloria
- Britten•Missa brevis op. 63•3. Sanctus
- Britten•Missa brevis op. 63•4. Benedictus
- Britten•Missa brevis op. 63•5. Agnus Dei
- Britten•Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op. 15•I. Moderato con moto - Agitato - Tempo primo
- Britten•The Turn of the Screw op. 54 (1954)•Act I • Prologue (The Prologue)
- Britten•Suite from the Ballet 'The Prince of the Pagodas' op. 57•Part I • Prelude • Prelude. Quick - Slow
- Britten•Suite from the Ballet 'The Prince of the Pagodas' op. 57•Part IV • The Arrival and Adventures of Belle Rose in the Kingdom of the Pagodas • Pas de deux: The Prince and Belle Rose. Gently moving
- Britten•Suite from the Ballet 'The Prince of the Pagodas' op. 57•Part V • The Pagoda Palace: Darkness to Light • Pas de trois. Flowing
- Britten•On This Island op. 11•1. Let the florid music praise!
- Britten•On This Island op. 11•3. Seascape
- Britten•Hymn to St. Cecilia op. 27 (1941, rev. 1942)•1. In a garden shady
- Britten•Hymn to St. Cecilia op. 27 (1941, rev. 1942)•2. I cannot grow
- Britten•Hymn to St. Cecilia op. 27 (1941, rev. 1942)•3. O ear whose creatures cannot wish to fall
- Britten•String Quartet No. 3 in G major op. 94•I. Duets. With moderate movement
- Britten•String Quartet No. 3 in G major op. 94•IV. Burlesque. Fast, con fuoco
- Britten•War Requiem op. 66 (1961-1962)•1. Requiem aeternam (tenor, children's choir, chorus)
- Britten•War Requiem op. 66 (1961-1962)•5. Agnus Dei (tenor, chorus)
- Britten•War Requiem op. 66 (1961-1962)•6. Libera me (soprano, tenor, baritone, children's choir, chorus)
- Anonymous (Traditional)•Sweet Polly Oliver (vocal arrangements)•I. Sweet Polly Oliver
- Britten•Folk Song Arrangements Vol. II (1942) 'France'•5. La belle est au jardin d'amour
- Britten•Folk Song Arrangements Vol. I (1940-1943) 'British Isles'•1. The Salley Gardens
- Britten•Phantasy for String Quintet in F minor•
- Britten•Concerto for Piano and Orchestra op. 13 (Version 1945)•I. Toccata. Allegro molto e con brio
- Britten•Concerto for Piano and Orchestra op. 13 (Version 1945)•II. Waltz. Allegretto
- Britten•A Ceremony of Carols op. 28 (1942)•2. Wolcum yole!
- Britten•A Ceremony of Carols op. 28 (1942)•4b. Balulalow
- Britten•A Ceremony of Carols op. 28 (1942)•6. This little Babe
- Britten•A Ceremony of Carols op. 28 (1942)•10. Deo gracias
- Britten•Suite for Solo Violoncello No. 1 op. 72 (1964)•Canto primo: Sostenuto e largamente
- Britten•Suite for Solo Violoncello No. 1 op. 72 (1964)•II. Lamento. Lento rubato
- Britten•Suite for Solo Violoncello No. 1 op. 72 (1964)•VI. Moto perpetuo e Canto quarto. Presto
- Britten•Choral Dances from Gloriana (1953)•1. Time (Chorus)
- Britten•Choral Dances from Gloriana (1953)•5. Rustics and fishermen (Tenor, Bass)
- Britten•Symphonic Suite 'Gloriana' op. 53a (1953)•3. The Courtly Dances. March – Coranto – Pavane – Morris Dance – Galliard – La volta – (March)
- Britten•A Hymn to the Virgin (1930, rev. 1934)•Of one that is so fair and bright
- Britten•Spring Symphony op. 44 (1949)•Part 4 • Finale 'London, to thee I do present' (soprano, alto, tenor, chorus, boys' choir)
- Britten•Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo op. 22 (1940)•7. Sonetto XXIV. Spirto ben nato, in cui si specchia e vede. Largo
- Britten•String Quartet No. 2 in C major op. 36•II. Vivace
- Britten•Cabaret Songs (1937-1938)•1. Tell me the truth about love
When London's Sadler's Wells theatre reopened in 1945 it was with Peter Grimes. Britten’s first opera was a rebirth, the symbolic beginning of a rich new era for English music – not only in the opera house but beyond. In many ways the work is a microcosm of the composer’s style and preoccupations. Again and again through his career Britten would return to its deeply personal themes of innocence abused, of the role of the outsider, of the tension between public duty and private desire. Musically too, the work establishes a bittersweet, muscular lyricism, a sensitivity to text and a balance between intricate structural process and outward directness, simplicity that are typical of the composer’s music.
An instinctive understanding and love of the human voice (and particularly the voice of his long-term partner, tenor Peter Pears), runs through an output dominated by vocal forms – opera, song-cycle, sacred music. Even when voices are absent there is often a sense of song, a lyrical line running through music that always fights for beauty, for resolution, even if it sometimes hard-won.