Britten: A Shepherd's Carol

Throughout Britten’s public career as the leading opera and song composer of his age there have appeared, from time to time, small-scale works composed for more intimate occasions – the wedding anniversary of friends, for instance, a BBC feature program, songs for children, a chorus for a prisoner-of-war choir and – for his own use – individual folk song arrangements as modest encores to a song recital. The specific occasions for which these pieces were written are of no more than documentary interest; their musical value, however, claims the attention of every admirer of Britten’s art, for the composer has always lavished his full powers on the smallest undertaking and brought distinction to the homeliest genre. Louis Halsey and the Elizabeth Singers recorded a number of these smaller-scale pieces in 1964. Two folk song settings O can ye sew cushions and The Salley Gardens were not included on the Argo LP, instead issued separately, the next year, on an EP, together with Old Abram Brown and Oliver Cromwell. All four settings are included on this disc. Completing this collection are the Hymn to the Virgin (an early work, composed in 1930 and revised four years later) and the Missa Brevis, written to mark the retirement of George Malcolm as organist and choirmaster of Westminster Cathedral. Although Britten himself recorded the work for Decca, this is a rare and much sought-after ‘live’ recording made during Mass at Westminster Cathedral in January 1960. It was issued on a 45rpm EP record.

While Pears's recording of Britten folk song arrangements with piano is well known, a beautiful recording he made of songs with harp, featuring Osian Ellis, is altogether rarer and exhumed here on CD for the first time. Ellis's Decca recording of the Suite for Harp also makes its first appearance, as does the Wilbye Consort's of Sacred and Profane and other Britten choral works to make up two very well-filled CDs.

Treasures of Christ Church is a newly recorded, special collection of 500 years of English choral music sung from original manuscripts, uncovering the unique history of music at Christ Church from Tallis, Taverner, Handel, Purcell and Byrd through to world premieres from Rutter and Goodall.

All of the composers on Treasures had an association with Christ Church (whose hallowed halls were famously seen in the Harry Potter films), stretching back to the tenure of John Taverner, through Tallis, Handel, Purcell and Byrd to present day world premiere recordings of works by John Rutter and Howard Goodall.

The history: John Taverner, the most outstanding English composer of his time, was appointed Informator Choristarum of Cardinal College, Oxford in 1526, with the brief of establishing the foremost choral institution in the country. He succeeded magnificently and the tradition continues to this day at what is now known as Christ Church, Oxford. The Choir maintains a special and distinctive place within the great English choral tradition, with an unbroken, continuous tradition of glorious music-making for over five hundred years. Today the choir is renowned for its vibrant sound and artistic versatility, qualities that have been praised throughout the world. Packaging will feature striking visuals with photographs of original manuscripts on pristinely preserved parchment and leather-bound, gold-embossed scores. The promotional video will take viewers through the unrivalled archives and include interviews with Stephen Darlington and the composers.

This superb collection, released in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Britten’s birth, features all three of The Sixteen's celebrated Britten recordings.

Arguably the most famous British composer of the 20th century, Benjamin Britten possessed a formidable talent and distinctive style. His remarkable career spanned over 40 years and this collection of choral works features a fascinating selection of music from throughout his life.

Works include Hymn to the Virgin, a piece originally conceived during his school days; A Boy was Born which first brought him to the public’s attention; the much-loved A Ceremony of Carols - a masterpiece composed on board ship as Britten returned to England from the USA in 1942; and the Choral Dances from ‘Gloriana’ with tenor soloist Ian Partridge.

A Ceremony of Carols won a coveted Deutsche Schallplattenkritik when first released.

This special collection of his works showcases the way in which the composer’s love of poetry formed a crucial basis for much of his choral and operatic music; inspired by poets such as Auden, Smart and Hopkins, Britten crafted their works into compelling narratives. His imaginative text setting and the artful melodies of works such as Rejoice in the Lamb, A Ceremony of Carols and the iconic War Requiem have captivated listeners throughout the 20th century and beyond. Among the world-class performers featured in the collection are Robert Tear, Janet Baker, Elisabeth Söderström and the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge.

This box set is part of our series of Britten releases to mark the composer’s centenary.

Benjamin Britten was born on the day of the Patron Saint of Music – St. Cecilia – 22nd November in 1913 in Lowestoft. He showed remarkable skill at composition from his earliest days. In 1924 he met Frank Bridge (1879-1941), a fine composer in his own right, and became his pupil; through him he developed an appreciation of contemporary music with scores by Bartók and the Schönberg school, particulary Berg.

In 1930 he entered the Royal College of Music and developed the pianistic skills which made him such a brilliant interpreter of both his own music and other greats particularly Mozart and Schubert. From these times date the beautiful A Hymn to the Virgin, Quatre Chansons Françaises and the Sinfonietta, his official Op. 1. He visited Vienna in 1934 and saw Wozzeck but family resistance prevented him studying with Berg (who, in any case, died from blood poisoning caused by an insect sting a year later).

He worked for some years in the film unit of the General Post Office where he met W.H. Auden whose poetry inspired the brilliant song cycle Our Hunting Fathers. The experience in the film unit enabled him to develop the expressive immediacy and technical abilities – often using small and unconventional resources – which would assist his composition of operas in the years to come.

In 1939 he decided to follow Auden to America, accompanying him was the tenor Peter Pears (1910-1986) who was to be the inspiration behind so many great operatic roles and song cycles. There he composed the Sinfonia da Requiem, the Michelangelo Sonnets and the First Quartet. His first opera, Paul Bunyan, to an Auden libretto, was also composed there but then withdrawn (it was revived for the Aldeburgh Festival in the year he died).

He started to get the pangs of homesickness especially when he read, by chance, an article by E.M. Forster on the Suffolk poet Crabbe (whose work was to lead to arguably his greatest success) and he returned to England in 1942. He wrote A Ceremony of Carols and Hymn to St. Cecilia (another Auden text) during this year.

For British Opera the date 7th June 1945 will always remain a red-letter day as it heralded the premiere of a masterpiece, Peter Grimes. The triumph not only established Britten as Purcell’s successor as Britain’s greatest music dramatist but its numerous performances abroad showed that Britain had an international composer celebrity.

The Rape of Lucretia was premiered the following year as was the work by which Britten is probably best remembered – certainly by thankful schoolchildren for their guide to the Orchestra. Here he subjects the theme by Purcell to a series of ingenious variations played by each member of the orchestra and then as groups and finally a fugue where everything comes together in a simply unforgettable coda.

Indeed when one examines Britten’s output it is hard not to credit him with at least one work of genius, if not a masterpiece, virtually every year for the rest of his composing life – whether it be an opera, for example The Turn of the Screw in 1954 or A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1960; a choral work, for example Spring Symphony in 1949 or the War Requiem in 1961, a large vocal work, for example Serenade for tenor, horn and strings in 1943, Nocturne in 1958 and Phaedra in 1975; a smaller vocal work, for example the Canticles of 1947, 1952, 1954, 1971 & 1974; the works he wrote for Mstislav Rostropovich – the Cello Sonata in 1961, the Cello Symphony in 1963 and the three Solo Cello Suites in 1964, 1967 & 1971; the two remaining string quartets in 1945 & 1975 and a full length ballet The Prince of the Pagodas in 1956.

Besides setting many classic poets from Britain including Blake, Burns, Coleridge, Donne, Hardy, Keats, Jonson, Milton, Owen, Shakespeare, Shelley, Spenser, Tennyson and Wordsworth he also set texts in French (Hugo, Rimbaud and Verlaine), Italian (Michelangelo), German (Hölderlin) and Russian (Pushkin). He was also partly responsible for the reawakening of interest in the music of his great predecessor, Henry Purcell by making realizations of a large number of his works. He also launched the music festival in his adopted town of Aldeburgh.