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

Par BRITTEN BENJAMIN. Britten's Chorale is a setting of a French carol dating probably from the 17th century, entitled Romancero, although more commonly known as Picardy. The text is by W.H. Auden, and the piece was first performed by the Purcell Singers in December 1961 in London. A Piano accompaniment is provided for rehearsal purposes. / Niveau : Elémentaire / Répertoire / Voix Mixtes

These two previously-unpublished Psalm settings were written while Benjamin Britten was studying at the Royal College of Music in London but despite encouragement from Ireland Vaughan Williams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 andorchestra.Vocal Score.

In preparing for publication the 1935 orchestral version of Britten's Te Deum in C it became clear that there were a number of discrepancies between the manuscript and the original 193 vocal score. Some of these were minor:different articulation and dynamic markings something Britten was later very fussy about but perhaps left unchanged on proof because of his relative inexperience at this stage of his career with the processes of musicpublishing. Others were more important: wrong pedal notes for example which Britten failed to notice on proof and which have been perpetuated in performances and recordings for nearly seventy years. These have been corrected inthe new edition of the vocal score and in the orchestral score (Britten clearly used the published vocal score to prepare his orchestral version). The two versions have been made consistent in other details - rehearsal cues andbar numbers for example - since Britten intended choristers to use the vocal score to perform the orchestral version. This would have been an easy task for these is little discrepancy in essential details between versions (arare departure occurs in bars 53 to 56 where the works 'Lord God of Sabaoth' are unaccompanied in the orchestral version but doubled by Organ in the original). Sustained Organ chords are often filled out with arpeggiated stringwriting while the spacing of chords is frequently much wider in the string version with melodies transposed into different octaves. Although harmony in both versions is identical voice leading is sometimes altered in the latterto make it better suited to the idioms of the instruments concerned.So although in essence the two versions are the same the soundworld explored in each is quite distinct. Britten's orchestral version should neither beviewed as an occasional piece nor considered solely a liturgical work like many of his choral pieces from the 1930s and 1940s it is equally at home in church and concert hall.

Benjamin Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia with words by W.H.Auden for mixed choir a cappella (SSATB) with piano accompaniment for rehearsal only.

Old Joe has gone fishing-The famous round from Britten’s opera Peter Grimes Old Joe Has Gone Fishing is an exciting piece for SATB Choir with Piano Accompaniment. The text is written in both German and English.

This Venite found among Britten's unpublished works after his death was evidently composed at the same time as his Jubilate Deo in C major written in 1961 at the request of H.R.H. The Duke Of Edinburgh for St.George's Chapel Windsor.The Jubilate Deo itself was composed as a companion piece to the Te Deum in C major dating from 1934 which had been written for Maurice Vinden and the Choir of St. Mark's NorthAudley Street London. In the Venite the tempo indication at the start is editorial as are a few cautionary accidentals.

Britten's The World of the Spirit was written for BBC Radio in 1938 his second collaboration with R. Ellis Roberts. The wide-ranging texts from religious books poetry and newspaper articles about the FirstWorld War and Irish 'Troubles' are complemented by a rich variety of musical styles from the prodigious composer.The first performance of this concert version was given on 27th June 1998 in the Snape Maltings Concert Hallas part of the Aldeburgh Festival by Janice Watson (Soprano) Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Mezzo-Soprano) Timothy Robinson (Tenor) Neal Davies (Baritone) and David Evans (Speaker) with the Joyful Company of Singers and the City ofLondon Sinfonia conducted by Steuart Bedford.

Britten’s last completed work written for young people’s Chorus and Orchestra is in five short sections: March Roundel and Canon for Orchestra and Choir and Jig and Modulation for Orchestra alone. This Vocal Score edition features a Piano reduction of the original Orchestral score.

Par BRITTEN BENJAMIN. The lesser known of Britten's settings of Psalm 100. Jubilate Deo was intended as a companion piece to the Te Deum In C , and is an exuberant, joyful song. The piece remained unpublished until after Britten's death. Arranged for SATB Choir with Organ accompaniment. / Niveau : Assez Facile / Répertoire / Voix Mixtes

Par BRITTEN BENJAMIN. Anthem for unaccompanied SATB choir from Britten's dramatic cantata The Company of Heaven./ Répertoire / Voix Mixtes

Par BRITTEN BENJAMIN. Scored for SATB chorus and orchestra, The Building of the House was written for the inaugural concert of the new Maltings concert hall, Snape at the 20th Aldeburgh festival./ Répertoire / Conducteur