Ho conosciuto Britten grazie ai “Quattro interludi marini”, che sono tratti dall’opera "Peter Grimes" but usually carried out in concert: an exciting listen, even if not of the highest impact. Reads like Stevenson, Treasure Island, the honor and the pirates, kidnapped the boy and the open sea and its power, but its calm and beauty. Later, I discovered amazing things about Britten: for example, that the "Symphony simple," still performed around the world (the original title is "A Simple Symphony"), one of the most pleasant to listen to music that I know is was written when Britten was only ten years.
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) for our luck left us a lot of music. He has written music for each Typically, symphonies and chamber music, transcriptions of English and Irish songs, opera, ballet, Balinese music, and was also conductor and pianist.
Britten is the last great work, I think we can say, the last of all, that close the history of opera. Opera composers were still there, in the last forty years, but almost none of these works remained in the repertoire, and above all no one is more like Britten was great, to be put on a par with Puccini, Stravinsky, all the greats twentieth century. In the second half of the twentieth century, the works remained in the repertoire are almost exclusively those of Sciostakovic, but has stopped writing works long before then Nino Rota, with Stravinsky "The Rake's Progress" and a few others.
The "Peter Grimes" is 1945, "The Rape of Lucretia" (written for Kathleen Ferrier) is 1946, "Albert Herring" 1947, "Billy Budd" in 1951, "Gloriana," 1953, "The Turn of the Screw "by Henry James in 1954," Dream of a Midsummer Night "(from Shakespeare), 1960," Death in Venice in 1973.
Billy Budd, Melville's novel about, is not very successful: it was certainly too complex Melville's novel, which in the book is reduced to a simple story of sailors, but the long series of agreements following the sentencing to death of the young sailor is one of the most impressive things I've ever heard in music. Deserves much attention, "Death in Venice, plus a Faust of Goethe's novel that Thomas Mann, and is justly famous (and disturbing) world of spectra mentioned in" The Turn of the Screw "(The Turn of the Screw) theater and music are indivisible, drawn with great fidelity to the masterpiece of Henry James.
Britten also supervised memorable reworking of Henry Purcell ("The Fairy Queen", documented by an excellent recording) and the seventeenth-century "Beggar's Opera," the work of the Beggars John Gay, which inspired Brecht and also gave the title to a famous Rolling Stones album.
Britten "manner" we have music che non si finirebbe mai di ascoltare, come “Soirée musicale”, tratta da Rossini; “Il principe delle pagode” con l’esplorazione della musica balinese; le “Variazioni su un tema di Frank Bridge”, e molto altro ancora. Britten, così come Stravinskj, Prokofiev e Shostakovic, aveva una tale padronanza tecnica della musica che poteva scrivere qualsiasi cosa, e farla bene.
In honor of Britten, the port here a poem by John Donne and two fragments of Rimbaud, among the ones to music, and advice to all "A Ceremony of Carols," a collection of Christmas songs for English children's choir: it seems that small thing, but listening is, once again, memorable and exciting (especially the solo harp and "Balulalow).
9. Death Be Not Proud
Death Be Not Proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do goe,
Rest of their bones, and souls deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, Warri, and sickness dwell, And
poppie, or charmes can make us sleep as well
And Better Than thy stroake; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, wee wake eternally,
And Death Shall Be No More, Death, thou shalt die.
(from The holy sonnets of John Donne, Text by John Donne, 1572-1631)
Death, be not proud, though some call took thee mighty and dreadful, for thou the six, because those that you believe to overwhelm not die, poor death, nor can you kill me. From rest and sleep, not that your image is derived great satisfaction, and then you will have a better result, and our best if they go first to you, rest their bones, liberation of the soul. You are a slave of Fate, of Chance, kings and desperate, and staying with poison, with the war and sickness, and opium or charms can make us sleep as your best shot, so why being proud? After a short sleep, we awake to eternal death will be no more, Death thou shalt die.
1. Fanfare
J'ai seul the clef this savage parade.
3a. Sentence
I have stretched ropes from steeple to steeple of
garlands from window to window golden chains
star to star, and I dance.
(musicato da Benjamin Britten in "Illuminations", op.18, per voce e orchestra d'Archi)
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