Release Date: 30 November 2004
Label: Naxos - Ex Select Products / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313220526
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: BRITTEN
Description
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)Simple Symphony Temporal Variations Suite on English Folk TunesThe works recorded on this disc cover the entire span ofBritten's published output, from the Simple Symphony of1934, itself based on material from the composer'searliest years, to the string orchestral arrangement ofLachrymae completed in 1976, the last year of Britten'slife.Britten began composing at a very early age: hisjuvenilia, most of which he carefully preserved, consistsof an enormous number of piano pieces, songs, chambermusic and orchestral works. Unlike many composers,Britten always retained a special affection for thesechildhood efforts and was even persuaded to revive andpublish some of them in later life (and many more haveappeared posthumously). When, late in 1933, he decidedto try his hand at writing a money-spinner for thelucrative schools market, he turned to this early body ofwork to fashion what became the Simple Symphony,Op. 4, for string orchestra (or string quartet). In doing sohe took the opportunity to rework the materialsomewhat, making it 'more fit for general consumption',as he put it. In fact comparison of the original pieceswith their transformation in the Simple Symphonyclearly demonstrates Britten's astonishing progressionfrom a musically gifted child to a consummate master ofhis craft at the age of just 21. The work's fourmovements are memorably tuneful, technically polishedand superbly conceived for the medium, the PlayfulPizzicato being an especially delightful invention.One of the more striking of the numerous works tohave been published since Britten's death in 1976 is theTemporal Variations for oboe and piano, composed in1936 and first performed at the Wigmore Hall inDecember of that year by the oboist Natalie Caine, afriend of Britten's from his Royal College of Musicdays. Although Britten declared himself pleased with theperformance and the favourable audience response, thegenerally negative reviews of several critics may haveplayed a part in his decision to withdraw the work,which was never heard again during his lifetime. Beforecomposing the piece Britten had announced that he wasworking on a 'large and elaborate suite for oboe andstrings'. Although this did not materialise, in the early1990s the oboist Nicholas Daniel (the soloist on thepresent recording) suggested to the composer ColinMatthews that an arrangement of the Variations for oboeand strings could well take the place of the aborted suite.Thus the premi?¿re of the orchestrated version was givenat the Aldeburgh Festival in June 1994 with Daniel assoloist and the English Chamber Orchestra conducted bySteuart Bedford. Formally the work is a series of shortcharacter-sketches, by turns light-hearted andcontemplative, bound together by use of the plangentsemi-tone motif with which the oboe opens the work andwith which it concludes. In this respect the TemporalVariations can be seen as something of a trial run for themore fully accomplished achievement of the V
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Various
Various
Lully
