Photograph of W. H. Auden in London in January 1938
Auden began at the end with his 1934 poem "Our Hunting Fathers". He added three poems by other hands and a prologue of his own, together taking aim at "the rituals and values of the hunting set" (Paul Kildea) as humans pet animals with one hand before snaring, killing and eating them with the other.
You're welcome. It was new to me, too. Yes, MoH is definitely in there.
It came as the 22-year-old composer's intellectual, political and aesthetic world was expanding, in large part due to the influence of W. H. Auden. Auden and Britten worked together at the GPO Film Unit. Our Hunting Fathers was their first collaboration for the concert hall rather than the screen.
The piece was commissioned for the 1936 Norfolk and Norwich Triennial Music Festival. The festival had seen the premiere of Elgar's song cycle Sea Pictures and Vaughan Williams's Job, and was the occasion for one of Britten's formative musical experiences as a boy, so the commission was a big deal.
#TheCompleteBritten #78
Our Hunting Fathers, Op. 8 (1936) - symphonic cycle for high voice and orchestra
Prologue (W.H. Auden)
1 Rats away! (anon)
2 Messalina (anon)
3 Dance of death (Thomas Ravenscroft)
Epilogue and funeral march (W.H. Auden)
Britten's "real Op. 1" had a difficult birth. 🧵 /1
#TheCompleteBritten #77
Around the Village Green - film score (1936)
Two Essex villages (Finchingfield and Great Bardfield) represent the idyllic English village of popular cliché. Directed by two women - Marion Grierson and Evelyn Spice - the film was aimed chiefly at the overseas tourist market.
Everything Will Swallow You, with an owl bookmark.
Everything Will Swallow You, with a Green Man bookmark.
Everything Will Swallow You, with a chicken bookmark.
THREAD. Today I'm giving away 3 signed hardbacks of my latest book, each with fab linoprint bookmarks, made by my mum Jo.
Repost & reply to enter.
You might like it if you like:
Folkloric creatures
Old records
Intricate psychedelic stories
The idea of circular time
All shares much-appreciated.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9842257--mozart-gran-partita-orchestral-version
Close up of the head of a statue of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) in front of Mariahilfer church in Vienna.
#NewReleases2026 #72
Apart from a flat finale, Franz Gleissner's (1761–1818) orchestral arrangement of Mozart's Gran Partita works wonderfully. A too-fast Adagio aside, I hugely enjoyed Goebel's splendidly played performance. Recommended.
But isn't that Haydn rather than Mozart behind Reinhard?
'The Met insisted its officers are “working hard to reduce collisions and ensure the safety of all road users”.'
- but that work doesn't include prosecuting drivers who hit cyclists, obviously #motonormativity #carbrain
I know, who'da thunk it?
The documentary, made by the GPO Film Unit (headed by Grierson's husband John), is a fascinating insight into how social, economic and technological changes in rural life were viewed when it was made.
I'm building Youtube and Qobuz playlists of all Britten's music as I listen. Find them in this 🧵
Britten conducted 16 "slap up" players on the soundtrack, recorded on 21st October 1936. Mischievously or otherwise, Britten adapted a Scottish folk tune, "The bottom of the punch bowl", to evoke idyllic English village life as well as English folk songs "Early One Morning" and "The Plough Boy".
#TheCompleteBritten #77
Around the Village Green - film score (1936)
Two Essex villages (Finchingfield and Great Bardfield) represent the idyllic English village of popular cliché. Directed by two women - Marion Grierson and Evelyn Spice - the film was aimed chiefly at the overseas tourist market.
#TheCompleteBritten #76
Two Lullabies for two pianos (1936)
1. Lullaby
2. Lullaby for a retired colonel
Britten wrote these when he and South African pianist Adolph Hallis auditioned for the BBC as a piano duo. The first lullaby's harmonic unease slightly undermines its stated aim.
I do not want to create an account or open a subscription I just want to buy a thing and never hear from you again why is this so hard.
Brahms was my mum's favourite. She played his symphonies & concertos often on LP when I was a kid, but I never really 'got' them until, on a long bus journey in 1987, I happened to listen to Boult's recording of Symphony No. 2 on cassette, and it was like meeting an old friend I'd known all my life.
Wonderful
I'm building playlists of all Britten's music on Youtube and Qobuz as I listen. Discover them in this 🧵
If the first lullaby isn't quite as soothing as you'd expect, the second (the only one they played at the audition) seems meant to keep the colonel awake, as Britten mischievously makes him march to military tunes including The British Grenadiers, before The Last Post turns out his lights.
#TheCompleteBritten #76
Two Lullabies for two pianos (1936)
1. Lullaby
2. Lullaby for a retired colonel
Britten wrote these when he and South African pianist Adolph Hallis auditioned for the BBC as a piano duo. The first lullaby's harmonic unease slightly undermines its stated aim.
Brahms, eh?
I mean,
BRAHMS!!!!
Album cover. Arvo Pärt: Complete Symphonies. Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Eva Ollikainen. Chandos CHSA5372. https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9846170--arvo-part-complete-symphonies
Happy #NewReleaseFriday! Anyone familiar with Arvo Pärt's holy minimalist music in his signature “tintinnabuli-style”, is in for a shock with the semi-serial sonic swirls of his Symphonies 1 & 2. But the chant-driven #3 may be where his mature style really began.
▶️ open.qobuz.com/playlist/513...
You're welcome, Tim. The first of many, I hope.
Looking forward to reading it Tim
My first Gramophone Magazine Icons piece on the great Eleanor Steber (well, it would be, wouldn't it) is in the May issue, where you'll also find me writing about Joan Sutherland and Sondra Radvanovsky
Reading Mallarmé today. Many swans. From the poetry, I go to Sibelius’s diary, 21 April, 1915:
‘Today at ten to eleven, I saw sixteen swans. One of my greatest experiences! Lord God, what beauty! They circled over me for a long time.’
And from there, I inevitably wander off to here 👇
The cellist blows smoke out of his nose as he listens to playback
Gregor Piatigorsky listening to playback of his Brahms sonatas
📷 W. Eugene Smith, 1947
youtube.com/watch?v=8_rs...
IT is really important because without it Isaac Newton would just have discovered gravy.
Asked Aretha Franklin which wildlife charities she supports. She said RSPB ETC.
Have a good weekend folks
