Britten: Spring Symphony/Welcome Ode/Psalm 150 Orchestral & Concertos Choir Chandos(Classics)

Britten: Spring Symphony/Welcome Ode/Psalm 150

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CHAN 10782

Britten: Spring Symphony/Welcome Ode/Psalm 150

Running Time: 58:14

Release Date: July 2013
Originally recorded in January 1990

Composer (1913-1976)
Benjamin Britten

Solo soprano
Elizabeth Gale

Solo contralto
Alfreda Hodgson

Solo tenor
Martyn Hill

Choral
Southend Boys Choir

Choral
London Symphony Chorus

Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra

Choral
Senior Choirs of the City of London School for Girls

Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra

Choral
Junior Choirs of the City of London School for Girls

Orchestra
Orchestra of the City of London School for Girls

Conductor
Richard Hickox

Venue
St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead

Producer
Brian Couzens

Engineer
Ralph Couzens

Engineer (Assistant)
Richard Lee

Engineer (Assistant)
Peter Newble

Genre:
Orchestral & Concertos
Choir

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P&P for single unit's: UK=£2.4, EU=£9, World=£12

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

(1913-1976)

Spring Symphony, Op. 44

44:44

For Soprano, Alto and Tenor solos, Mixed Chorus, Boys' Choir and Orchestra

Part I

Introduction. Lento, senza rigore

10:03

The Merry Cuckoo. Vivace

1:57

Spring, the Sweet Spring. Allegro con slancio

1:47

The Driving Boy. Allegro molto

1:58

The Morning Star. Molto moderato ma giocoso

3:07

Part II

Welcome Maids of Honour. Allegro rubato

2:38

Waters Above. Molto moderato e tranquillo

2:23

Out on the Lawn I Lie in Bed. Adagio molto tranquillo

6:37

Part III

When will my May come. Allegro impetuoso

2:25

10.

Fair and Fair. Allegretto grazioso

2:13

11.

Sound the Flute. Allegretto molto mosso

1:24

Part IV

12.

Finale. Moderato alla valse - Allegro pesante

7:56

Solo: Elizabeth Gale soprano

Solo: Alfreda Hodgson contralto

Solo: Martyn Hill tenor

Choral: Southend Boys Choir

Choral: London Symphony Chorus

Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra

Welcome Ode, Op. 95

8:16

13.

March. Broad and rhythmic (Maestoso)

1:52

14.

Jig. Quick

1:20

15.

Roundel. Slower

2:38

16.

Modulation

0:39

17.

Canon. Moving on

1:46

Choral: Senior Choirs of the City of London School for Girls

Choral: Senior Choirs of the City of London School

Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra

18.

Psalm 150, Op. 67

5:31

Kurt-Hans Goedicke, LSO timpani

Lively March - Lightly - Very lively

Choral: Junior Choirs of the City of London School for Girls

Choral: Junior Choirs of the City of London School

Orchestra: Orchestra of the City of London School for Girls

58:48

Conductor: Richard Hickox

8-10 January & 27 March 1990

About

This re-release of the Spring Symphony, complemented by two smaller but equally life-confirming works by Britten, marks the composer’s centenary year. It also forms part of our ongoing Richard Hickox Legacy series, which pays tribute to this great conductor who passed away five years ago. Hickox here conducts the London Symphony Orchestra with the soloists Elizabeth Gale, Alfreda Hodgson, and Martyn Hill, and a number of UK choirs.

The Spring Symphony is one of Britten’s happiest and most celebrated works. Part symphony, part oratorio, and part song-cycle, this masterpiece requires large orchestral forces, a children’s choir, three soloists, and a large SATB chorus. Originally Britten had considered setting mediaeval Latin poetry, but the ‘re-reading of much English lyric verse and a particularly lovely Spring day in East Suffolk, the Suffolk of Constable and Gainsborough’, made him change his mind. Instead he found his inspiration in English poets such as Edmund Spenser, John Clare, John Milton, W.H. Auden, and Robert Herrick. In the words of the composer himself, this work not only deals with Spring itself but also ‘with the progress from Winter to Spring and the reawakening of the earth and life which that means’. In view of the year in which this work was completed and first performed (1949), the dominant theme might also symbolise the emergence of Europe from the darkness of war.

The setting of Psalm 150 was composed in 1962 – 63 for the centenary celebrations of Britten’s own prep school, Old Buckenham Hall School. It is a truly engaging and flexible work, which is evident from the score itself. Britten wrote it so that as many children as possible could be involved in the performance by playing a variety of instruments. So rather than naming specific instruments, Britten chose the looser characterisation ‘treble instrument’, i.e. anything from a recorder to a violin or flute, and ‘bass instrument’, which could mean a cello or a bassoon.

The spirited and infectious Welcome Ode for young people’s chorus and orchestra was Britten’s last completed work, written for the visit by the Queen to the Corn Exchange in Ipswich in July 1977 as part of her Silver Jubilee festivities.

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