Britten Centenary - A Springboard

Benjamin Britten
1913-1976
by Colin Matthews

Britten’s centenary feels less like a retrospective than a springboard into the future. While many familiar works will be played, there’s the opportunity to look at some of the music which, while hardly neglected, is heard less often than it should. Britten’s remarkable versatility means that his music works well in unfamiliar contexts and in unexpected company. Britten Sinfonia is an ideal partner, bringing together opera, dance, song, choral music and music for children, performed by an inspiring new generation of musicians.

Nothing in the Sinfonia’s programming can be taken for granted. The Serenade is one of Britten’s best-loved and frequently played pieces, but doesn’t very often find itself in the company of 12 pieces chosen to contrast with it and show it off. The wondrous invention of Our Hunting Fathers, written when the composer was only 22, will be heard in the context of the rarely heard but brilliant concertino Young Apollo and the beautiful Suite ‘A time there was...’ from his last years; with Tippett’s magisterial Corelli Fantasia at the centre (Britten and Tippett were close friends in the 1940s and 50s). Dance did not play a major role in Britten’s output (The Prince of the Pagodas apart) but choreographers have increasingly been drawn to his music, Richard Alston prominent among them.

Curlew River’s restrained exoticism is offset by the earthiness of Saint Nicolas: both works have religious themes, but Britten’s attitude to religion was never a conventional one. And he would, I think, have been a little surprised, but wholly approving, of the unconventional approach that this series demonstrates. As he would have thoroughly approved the commissioning of 6 major works to mark his centenary, a collaboration between the Britten-Pears Foundation and the Royal Philharmonic Society (whose bicentenary it is), represented here by Judith Weir’s new work.

25-29 Sept
Britten: Contempories and Influences
Wiltshire Music Centre / Roman River Festival

6, 7 and 9 Nov
Richard Alston Dance Company
Barbican (part of Barbican Britten)

8 Nov
Our Hunting Fathers
Barbican (part of Barbican Britten)

14-16 Nov
Curlew River
Barbican (part of Barbican Britten)

17, 22 & 24 Nov
Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings
Norwich / Cambridge (part of Cambridge Music Festival) / Barbican (part of Barbican Britten)

26 Nov & 7 Dec
St Nicolas
Birmingham / Barbican

For more information on Benjamin Britten's centenary celebrations visit the Britten 100 website

Colin Matthews is a renowned composer who worked with Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst. Find out more about Colin via his website

Meet Angela Hewitt

Acclaimed pianist, Angela Hewitt will be joining Britten Sinfonia in January 2013 for a tour featuring  works by Beethoven. Although currently touring abroad Angela found the time to answer a few questions about herself.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

I suppose my 2007-2008 Bach World Tour in which I performed Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier in something like 110 concerts on six continents in 26 countries.

When are you happiest?

When a performance, either by myself or by a friend, goes beyond the very good level to the somehow very special. You know when that happens, and it’s the best thing there is.

What is your greatest fear?

I don’t really have any huge fears except not learning my notes in time for a concert. Everything else pales in comparison.

What is your earliest musical memory?

There are many—I have no idea which came first—but playing the toy trumpet I got as a present when I was two is one of them. I also got a toy piano at that age.

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

I admire a lady in Canada who is 95 years old and who still walks up eight flights of stairs every day and does sit-ups.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

When I was performing as a ballerina in the Polonaise from Eugene Onegin and my petticoat fell off. It was at a grand ball, and my ballet teacher was sitting at one of the tables. I remember to this day the look she gave me.

What is your most treasured possession?

My Fazioli concert grand piano on which I make my recordings.

If you were an animal what would you be?

I would rather be a bird so that I could sing.

What is your most unappealing habit?

I practise all the time.

What is your favourite book?

I don’t have a favourite book, just as I don’t have only one favourite piece of music. There are many. I love the programme notes of my friend, the late Michael Steinberg, who wrote “The Concerto”, published by OUP. When I read it, besides always learning something, he is once more in my company.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Listening to Laura Pausini’s “Strani Amori” at full blast.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

It would be nice to have Bach, Couperin, Handel, Scarlatti and Rameau all together at the one table. The five great Baroque keyboard composers. I would expect them all to play, of course!

If you could go back in time, where would you go?

To Beethoven’s house to hear him improvise at the piano.

How do you relax away from the concert platform?

I have regular Swedish deep tissue massage.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Passing my driving test in London, driving on the left with gears. I cried when the examiner told me I had passed (I was 43 years old).

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

Talent is nothing without work and discipline.

In a nutshell, what is your philosophy?

I don’t think I have any philosophy. I just try to do my work well, keep going, be positive, love my friends, and eat healthily.

Angela performs with Britten Sinfonia at the Theatre Royal Norwich on Tuesday 8 January, West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge on Friday 11 January, Birmingham Town Hall on Sunday 13 January and London's Barbican Hall on Wednesday 16 January.

Clouds

With all the stormy weather we've been having recently I've been looking up at the sky quite a bit to see whether we're likely to have another downpour or I can leave the house without the umbrella. Not sure whether I've seen any Noctilucent clouds though. These are clouds that form in the highest regions of the earth's atmosphere which appear as sun-illumined silvery waves on the threshold of space. Apparently they are extremely rare and are still a mysery to science.

The reason I write about this is the new work Christian Mason has composed for the first of this seasons Britten Sinfonia At Lunch concerts is titled Noctilucent. Like the clouds Christian has said "the piece inhabits the upper regions of available pitch-space, with shimmering string harmonics, piccolo arabesques and bright piano octaves illuming the line which flows through the piece." Below is a picture that Christian asked to be in the programme but unfortunately we are unable to include it so thought I'd post it here.

I'm certainly looking forward to hearing the piece at its UK premiere in Cambridge on Tuesday 15 December. The piece will receive its world premiere a couple of days before in Krakow (13 Dec) and after Cambridge will be performed at London's Wigmore Hall (16 Dec), the Town Hall in Birmingham (17 Dec) and the Assembly House in Norwich (18 Dec). Click here to find out more about the programme and ways to purchase tickets.

Claire (Marketing Director)

Britten Sinfonia at Lunch in Birmingham

A new city for our Britten Sinfonia at Lunch series, to join Cambridge, London, Norwich and Krakow: Birmingham. The newly-refurbished Town Hall is the setting on Wednesday 21 November for the first of five concerts between now and March. Thomas Gould, Joy Farrell (clarinet) and Huw Watkins (piano) play works by Stravinsky, Watkins, Michael Zev Gordon and Bartok. Full details are on our Britten Sinfonia website, and ticket information is available from the Town Hall. The concert is at 13.00 and tickets are just £7.50 (£5 concessions).