Benjamin Britten. What do you think of him?

[BlackVelvetElvis]

I'm not familiar with his pieces. What do you recommend for a beginner?
I heard "Simple Symphony" the other night and that intrigued me. I want more!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. As a choral singer, I'm mostly familiar with his choral music

His Rejoice in the Lamb, a setting by the eccentric poet Christopher Smart, is lovely.

[FuzzySlippers]

2. I've seen 3 of his operas:

"Albert Herring", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and "The Turn of the Screw". This was some time ago, and I don't remember them very well, but I do remember not liking "Turn of the Screw" very much.

[MuseRider]

3. The Opera

Peter Grimes is amazing, very sad too. I love it. Britten has done a lot of very nice work. I wish I was more familiar with his pieces but the pieces I have heard I have enjoyed.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. There's a lengthy article about him and his recorded works

in today's (6/10) New York Times.

[CBHagman]

5. Here's the link to the New York Times article.

It's quite helpful in terms of getting a feel for his work, but of course there's no substitute whatsoever for actually listening to one of the works or attending a performance.

I suggest that you see if your local library has a selection of Britten works for you to sample. You can also hear samples online, obviously, at sites such as www.allmusic.com.

I've mostly heard vocal works and especially liked the War Requiem. The ultimate version of that particular work is the recording on the London/Decca label with Peter Pears, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Galina Vishnevskaya. However, I personally found Vishnevskaya's singing too "swoopy," as my old boss used to say (I forget the musical term for her singing technique) and would like to explore other versions. I understand the version on Chandos with Shirley-Quirk and Harper is very good.

There are plenty of options in the vocal realm, such as the operas Peter Grimes, Turn of the Screw, or Bill Budd, or the Ceremony of Carols.

Here's the article and many, many suggested recordings. Enjoy!
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/arts/music/10brit.html?

[Aristus]

6. One of his best and most well-known pieces is

"The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra". It could be subtitled 'Variations on a theme by Purcell'. He takes a melody by Henry Purcell called "The Moor's Revenge" and writes some excellent variations broken down into the seperate parts of the orchestra. First, the whole orchestra, then the woodwinds, brass, strings and percussion (yes, they have a whole variation to themselves). If that weren't enough, he then goes on to write a variation for each individual instrument. This is much more interesting that it sounds.
Finally, he writes a fugue for the re-grouped orchestra that ends the piece.

In performance and on recordings, it is often accompanied by instructive narration. It's a great piece for introducing young music students to orchestral works.

BTW, "The Moor's Revenge" is an excellent piece all by itself. Moody and thrilling at the same time.

[MikeH]

7. I personally have something in common with Benjamin Britten

Both Benjamin Britten and I had our 50th birthdays on disastrous days in American history and in the history of democracy.

Benjamin Britten's 50th birthday was November 22, 1963, the Kennedy assassination.

My 50th birthday was December 13, 2000, the Supreme Court theft of the election that placed * in office.

[TrogL]

8. Mixed feelings

Some of his lighter stuff is too bubble-gum-popping music for my taste.

Failing that I love:

• The War Requium
  
• Peter Grimes
  
• Ceremony of Carols
  
• Symphonia da Requium
  

Trivia note: The night Britten died, I was at a performance by Peter Pears and got to talk to him and say I was sorry.

[are_we_united_yet]

9. Les Illuminations

[tjwmason]

10. Kick for the anniversary of his death

Died 4 December 1976.

I love a fair dash of his work - especially his operas, and choral works.

[Uncle Roy]

11. Also: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings!

A great piece! And I agree with many of the earlier recommendations too, especially the opera "Peter Grimes". If you aren't sure you want to tackle the complete opera, check out the gorgeous but short orchestral excerpts "Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes". If you like those, you'll probably like the opera too. If you aren't an opera fan yet, this is a good one to start with. Also helpful: there are several versions out now on DVD/VHS, and they are all good. See if your local library has one.

A word or two of warning though... "Simple Symphony" is a fun piece, and as its name suggests, it's accessible, and gives pleasure right off the bat. But most of his stuff uses a more advanced musical language, and sometimes you have to hear these things a few times before you start to "get it". Still great music, and well worth getting to know.

The other piece of advice I would offer to anyone who is exploring in classical music land is to check out your local library. It can get awfully expensive otherwise.

Have fun!

Roy