Britten Centenary 2013

[A Lark Ascending]

Nice website here:

http://www.brittenpears.org/

What is particularly useful is the database of worldwide performances - you can search for anything close to you.

Ironic that you can hear the Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes in Darmstadt tonight. I wouldn't have thought Darmstadt approved of Britten.

Lots of new recordings and repackagings.

Edited January 1, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[A Lark Ascending]

This one is fun too:

http://www.britten100.org/new-to-britten/the-music

Snippets of Britten you can choose according to category - Mood, Genre, Instrument etc.

You can even select on speed (tempo)!

[A Lark Ascending]

Interesting article here on what these centenaries actually achieve:

http://www.overgrownpath.com/2012/10/what-do-composer-anniversaries-achieve.html

I'm not sure it goes much beyond 'When a big fuss is made about a composer for a while there is a surge in Google interest'.

Interested in this section with reference to my links above:

As an example the Britten100 celebrations are being fronted by Albion Media, an international PR and media agency that also represents orchestras, musicians and media owners - a volatile mixture of interests that could, possibly, encourage hagiography at the expense of more balanced critical reassessment.

[Hoppy T. Frog]

Sadly, here in Washington/Baltimore we seem to be ignoring Britten in favor of Wagner (although you can hear Wagner any time it seems, not just an anniversary).

[A Lark Ascending]

I'm never very clear how well Britten travels outside Britain. He doesn't really fit into the modernism of his times but equally can't be conveniently slotted into the early 20thC English tradition (though there are plenty of links).

I know I didn't take to him at first - there's something a bit precious about the music - a bit too self-consciously arty. Yet once I was bitten, I became a total convert, learning to suspend my disbelief with regard the the mannerisms.

Verdi is also a challenge. Wonder if he'll battle it out with Lutoslawski for third place!

[David Ayers]

Never warmed to Britten, heard a lot in concert and in the opera house. I've heard Bostridge do the song cycles on different occasions, which has stayed with me, I've seen Peter Grimes, Billy Budd, Midsummer Night's Dream, Turn of the Screw, of which Budd left no impression, Grimes the most, the others somewhat, and odds and ends of other things. I've got CDs too but never made the leap to really getting into them. Can't explain it.

I guess I'd turn up for the Requiem to hear it done, and I'm always happy to hear a bit of voice and piano - but I'd never turn to the CDs I don't think.

[A Lark Ascending]

I'm much happier in a musical world where people like and dislike (or remain indifferent to) music based on their own reactions than one where people line up to express their devotion to the greatest performances by the greatest performers (in the best possible sound [probably in a glossy box]). I can see why Britten might completely pass some attentive listeners by (Berlioz, Liszt, Chopin, Verdi completely pass me by but I've no doubt of their qualities).

There's an advert for one of this weekend's Britten programmes, a documentary by Ian Bostridge, where he comments on how Britten has never been 'standard'. I think that's right; well known, and much loved by those who 'get it' but never in the front line of popularity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pz2pl

"He (Bostridge) reflects on why Britten has never been fully absorbed into the mainstream of classical music and considers whether it has something to do with Britten's preoccupation with troubled, alienated characters and situations - exemplified in operas such as Peter Grimes and Turn of the Screw."

(Not sure about that - most operas seem to be about troubled characters.)

I love Billy Budd - tremendous music and all carried through without a single female voice (not a preference! just a hard thing to pull off!). It's the 'Building a Library' feature on BBC 3's 'CD Review' today and is broadcast in full tonight (without eating into JRR!). Won't be listening to the full opera as I've recently acquired a DVD I have lined up for some time over the next few weeks.

Edited January 26, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[T.D.]

Never warmed to Britten, heard a lot in concert and in the opera house. I've heard Bostridge do the song cycles on different occasions, which has stayed with me, I've seen Peter Grimes, Billy Budd, Midsummer Night's Dream, Turn of the Screw, of which Budd left no impression, Grimes the most, the others somewhat, and odds and ends of other things. I've got CDs too but never made the leap to really getting into them. Can't explain it.

I guess I'd turn up for the Requiem to hear it done, and I'm always happy to hear a bit of voice and piano - but I'd never turn to the CDs I don't think.

Very much the same reaction for me. Have heard the War Requiem live several times, and multiple operas (those named above plus Death in Venice and Paul Bunyan), some twice. Lots of respect for Britten's music, but never warmed to it; granted I'm much more familiar with the operas.

Re. the Bostridge quote ("...Britten has never been fully absorbed into the mainstream of classical music and considers whether it has something to do with Britten's preoccupation with troubled, alienated characters and situations - exemplified in operas such as Peter Grimes and Turn of the Screw."), I'm inclined to agree. I find Britten an outstanding, possibly "great" (to the extent I'm qualified to judge) opera composer, but have always found his operas rather off-putting, even somewhat creepy and repellent on certain levels. I think it has to do with the troubled characters/situations, but also the gay subtext - Britten seems to have been extremely unhappy, even tormented about his sexuality's place in society. (All IMO of course.)

[A Lark Ascending]

Britten's music always sounds to me like someone splashing cold water in your face - there's something translucent in it; the instrumentation is never 'thick'. There's always lots of space between the sounds. Lots of chiming, bell-like sonorities too.

But precious, very precious. If you can box that up and put it in the basement there's a wonderful world there.

Edited January 26, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[A Lark Ascending]

66 CDs!!!!!!!

[Late]

... there's something translucent in it; the instrumentation is never 'thick'. There's always lots of space between the sounds. Lots of chiming, bell-like sonorities too.

I think that's a very apt description of Britten's work, particularly the work outside of the operas. Have you seen Teresa Griffith's The Hidden Heart?

It's a good documentary, even if one still doesn't learn anything particularly new about Britten. One arc of the narrative, though often couched in implication rather than direct statement, depicts Britten as being not at odds with his homosexuality — particularly when he was insulated by a select group of followers and devotees — but that his inclination toward younger boys, while never acted upon, was indeed a source of torment. Britten's sexual orientation, however, is not the documentary's primary focus. This is just as well, because his music offers so much to explore.

This disc:

is very much worth checking out. It's a mono account (the first?) of the Serenade, and I think it's excellent. (I've only heard one other, however.) This is the recording where Pears clicked for me. (For some reason, I equate "getting" Pears with "getting" Irène Aëbi — they're both acquired tastes? But maybe that would cause Pears fans to fume. I like both singers very much.)

It also didn't hurt Britten's profile when his work was used in "Moonrise Kingdom" (to good effect, I'd say).

I still feel I'm a Britten novice. I have about a dozen discs, and there's always something new to explore in each one.

[A Lark Ascending]

Not seen that one - though there was a a programme a while back specifically about his relationship with boys. Drew the same conclusion as you mention - a torment but not acted on. One aspect of his personality that seemed unpleasant was a tendency to suddenly 'drop' favourites including these young boys in favour of others. There are a couple of new biographies one of which has launched a storm in a teacup about whether Pears infected him with an STD. I read the Humphrey Burton one about 20 years back which I really enjoyed and I recall it handing such matters at a distance.

You get that 'translucent' quality in the chamber-like operas - 'The Turn of the Screw', 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' especially. Very small instrumental ensembles where you really hear the individual instruments rather than great washes of sound.

I bought a lot of Britten recordings in the 80s when the Decca material (now in the megalopobox above) first appeared, often the only place on CD you could hear it at the time so I acclimatised to Pears very quickly. He can sound very 'precious' but I find that with classical singing generally. Still can't take Pears/Britten doing folksongs!

I've never tired of exploring Britten - there's a huge variety in his music and I've never heard anything that I openly dislike (though there are things I find uninvolving). An unusual one is the pre Peter Grimes opera 'Paul Bunyen' written in America in the early 40s. Has more than a little of the New Deal music for the working man about it - half-way between an opera and a musical.

I'm also very fond of the lengthy ballet 'The Prince of the Pagodas' which has some wonderful gamelan-like sounds in the central act. They reappear in his last opera 'Death in Venice' - there's a marvellous suite from that piece arranged by Stueart Bedford that's well worth hearing. Another lesser know piece I love is the suite 'A Time There Was' - a short set of arrangements of English folk songs but instead of the rumpy-pumpy or dreamy nostalgia you usually get these are very eerie. You can see the morning mist rising over the East Anglian fenland.

Edited May 14, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[A Lark Ascending]

This looks like one of the more intriguing events in the centenary:

Peter Grimes on the Beach

http://www.aldeburgh.co.uk/events/grimes-beach

I love the seating arrangements:

Bench seating £75
Sitting on the shingle £50, £40, £20

​The beach at Aldeburgh is an amazing place (great fish and chips too!). Just hope the British Summer doesn't do its worst (except, perhaps, in the storm scene).

Edited May 14, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[Late]

But precious, very precious.

I know what you mean by this, essentially, but I wonder (if you wouldn't mind) if you could put into words your definition of this term? Or at least how you're using it here? I've always found it curious for its negative connotation, and I notice (frequently) its use in the (for lack of a better term) "art world" — particularly poetry and painting.

I have the "Britten Conducts Britten" box that Decca put out some time ago (was there more than one?). I like to go slowly (and randomly), and so have only heard about half of it. I do like "The Prince of the Pagodas."

[A Lark Ascending]

But precious, very precious.

I know what you mean by this, essentially, but I wonder (if you wouldn't mind) if you could put into words your definition of this term? Or at least how you're using it here? I've always found it curious for its negative connotation, and I notice (frequently) its use in the (for lack of a better term) "art world" — particularly poetry and painting.

I tend to mean that highly self-conscious sense of appreciating (and being seen to appreciate) something a bit rarefied. Along with a sense of aren't I a fine fellow because I'm so discriminating, so hard to please ('Uchida? Atrocious. I only listen to Schnabel'). All carried out in a language that pretends to comment on the 'art' but tends to just spin fancy words and project onto the 'artwork'. Which is no criticism of the actual music, painting etc - just the way that those who need to feel that they have some sort of exclusive appreciation insist on talking/writing about it.

Very, very associated with the 'thea-tah' over here. All that 'Larry dah-ling' stuff.

There's something very upper crust in Pears' diction that grates on a bourgeoisie nouveaux type like me. And the whole Pears-Britten crowd very much smacked of that exclusivity. Doesn't stop me enjoying the music, though.

I suspect it might not be so noticeable outside of Britain (you probably think we all talk like that!)

Edited May 15, 2013 by A Lark Ascending

[Late]

... that highly self-conscious sense of appreciating (and being seen to appreciate) something a bit rarefied. ... All carried out in a language that pretends to comment on the 'art' but tends to just spin fancy words and project onto the 'artwork'.

Ah — thanks! That works for me. I'll use your definition in my head now when I read that word in reviews. (For some reason, I've been seeing it a lot lately.) I gather what you mean about Pears' diction; I think it's also interesting that such exclusivity (as Britten apparently enjoyed, at least when he'd achieved a wider public profile) goes hand in hand with sensitivity and/or vulnerability — i.e. having one's feelings (when one isn't "understood") easily hurt.

But I think we share the same feeling — doesn't stop me from enjoying the music. And, as I mentioned above, I'm still a rookie. I'll happily take a long time to absorb Britten's music.

(I actually did live in England — though for only three months — and worked in a pub. I came across seemingly all gradations of the English language. What was frustrating was that, while everyone could understand me, I had a hard time making out certain grittier vernaculars. But when I finally memorized all the regulars' drink of choice, I graduated to being a passable Yank. Smiley face.)

[A Lark Ascending]

It's good to be a rookie and take your time exploring an area of music slowly. I'm much the same with music - I've become very interested in more contemporary music in the last few years and enjoy the thought that I've got an interesting, long journey ahead in composers where one or two pieces have caught my ear.

Yes, some British accents can be impenetrable - try Geordie (Newcastle) or some Ulster dialects.

[A Lark Ascending]

I don't know. You blink and it's nearly over.

This Thursday on BBC 4

'Britten's Endgame'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03hj038

[Late]

On 5/14/2013 at 8:20 PM, Late said:

Spinning this one again tonight. The range Dennis Brain had was amazing. Died like Jackson Pollock.