Benjamin Britten

Britten's Jubilate is written for SATB choir and Organ accompaniment.Benjamin Britten's birthday (22nd November 1913 Lowestoft) falls on St. Cecilia's Day a happy augury for the career of one of Britain's greatestcomposers. Essentially a vocal composer Britten won international fame for his operas and song-cycles. He never abandoned the principles of tonality and was a 'modern' composer who reached a mass audience and a conservative whoseoriginality no radical would sensibly deny. He shared with his predecessors Parry Vaughan Williams and Holst an intense interest in works for amateurs and children. His brilliant gifts as a pianist and conductor coupled withhis virtuosic inventiveness also led him to compose music for great performers such as the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and the singers Galina Vishnevskaya Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Janet Baker.The greatestpersonal influence on his music was the Tenor Peter Pears for whom he composed many operatic and vocal roles. In 1948 Britten Pears and Eric Crozier founded the Aldeburgh Festival now one of the most respected established fornew English music. In 1952 he was made a Companion of Honour in 1965 received the Order of Merit and in 1976 the year of his death he became the first composer to receive a life peerage.Oxford University Press wasBritten's first publisher. In the early 1930s A Boy Was Born and the Simple Symphony brought him great critical acclaim and launched his compositional career. Oxford is delighted to present some previouslyunpublished pieces in collaboration with the Britten Estate. These include the Double Concerto for Violin and Viola premiered at Snape by the Britten-Pears Orchestra under Kent Nagano in June 1997; Two Portraits forString Orchestra premiered on BBC Radio 3 in December 1995 by the Northern Sinfonia under Martyn Brabbins; The World Of The Spirit the full version first performed in 1938 on the BBC Home Service the abridged

These settings of poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins the Jesuit poet were written while Benjamin Britten was resident in America.The title is a shorthand form of a pious inscription Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam often placed at the head of a piece of work.Benjamin Britten was a central figure of 20th century British classical music with a range of works including opera other vocal music orchestral and chamber pieces.

Britten For Organ is a superb collection of four pieces by composer Benjamin Britten for solo Organ as edited by Colin Matthews and Timothy Bond.

These two previously-unpublished Psalm settings were written while Benjamin Britten was studying at the Royal College of Music in London but despite encouragement from Ireland Vaughan Williams and Howells werenever performed during the composer's life.Scored for chorus and orchestra the contrasting movements show many of the traits so loved in Britten's later music. After being unearthed again from archives the premiere ofTwo Psalms was given on 1 December 2012 by the Oxford Bach Choir and English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Cleobury.Out Of The Deep and Praise Ye The Lord for SATB chorus and orchestra.Full Score.

The Full Score for Benjamin Britten's Young Apollo Op.16. For Piano and string Orchestra this is a radiant expressive characterful and dramatic work that signified Britten's return to tonality and a fresh approach to his composition.

This is the full text of the speech made by Benjamin Britten when he was presented with the first Aspen Award at Aspen Colorado on 31st July 1964. It is a fascinating document in which for the first time Britten set down some of his beliefs and convictions as an artist. The speech which has been constantly quoted and referred to in the years since its first publication not only throws light on his creative personality and practice but also illuminates many of the issues which are the concern of all those with an interest in the arts of the present day. It has long been out of print and this re-issue of the original edition will undoubtedly find many new readers.

The first performance of the Songs and Proverbs of William Blake Op.74 was given by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Benjamin Britten at the Aldeburgh Festival on 24 June 1965.Available here is Britten's fantastic song-cycle of pieces set to the lyrics and proverbs of William Blake for Baritone Voice with Piano accompaniment.

British composer Benjamin Britten’s Six Metamorphoses After Ovid is a piece of program music written for solo Oboe in 1951. The piece was inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses and each of the titular six metamorphoses is based on a character from Roman mythology and includes an inscription summarizing their story. The music for each metamorphosis reflects its character atmosphere or plot – for example the fifth metamorphosis Narcissus (‘who fell in love with his own image and became a flower’) is marked lento piacevole and is meant to convey the act of staring at a reflection in a pool. By virtue of the musicbeing written for a solo instrument Britten allows the performer to be highly expressive so that the characteristics of each God can be fully represented through the performance. With a performance time of ca. 13 minutes this virtuoso solo piece will quickly become a staple in any intermediate to advanced Oboe player’s repertoire.

A perfect example of the young Britten's masterful vocal writing in a Christmas choral suite destined to become a major repertoire work. Christ's Nativity is a superb Christmas Suite for a cappella chorus (SATB Divisi) written in 1931 by composer Benjamin Britten.

Lyrics and Ballads of Thomas Hardy-Winter Words Op.52 by Benjamin Britten is a settings collection of poems by Thomas Hardy. The book includes the poems in their original form and Britten's settings for each one written for High Voice and Piano accompaniment.

Komische Oper in 3 Akten-Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring composed in 1947 was the first work to be written for the newly established English Opera Group and is an intimate Comic Opera in three acts.Perfect for a classroom cantata it can be performed by a relatively small cast supported by a small orchestra of 13 players and is fairly short. The tale of moral repression and the youthful exuberance that overcomes it is told in colorful music of rich imagination and subtlety.This is the Hardback Study Score version. Hawkes Pocket Score 854

From A Ceremony of Carols op. 28-Set to Robert Southwell's wonderful Welsh text by Benjamin Britten. Arranged for 3 part Treble voices and Harp or Piano Accompaniment with both the original Welsh text and the English translation.