Britten: Spring Symphony, Sinfonia da Requiem, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle, Elizabeth Watts, Alice Coote

SKU: LSO0830

Barcode: 0822231183020

11.00 £11.00
  • Genre: Classical
  • Label: LSO Live
  • Released Date: 19th April 2024
  • Buying Format:
    SACD

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Sir Simon Rattle leads us on an unexpected journey through this diverse collection of masterpieces. Celebrating the work of Benjamin Britten, this album combines three of the composer’s enduringly popular, yet vastly distinctive works. Written shortly after the outbreak of World War II, Sinfonia da Requiem meditates in part on the political populism which had, for the second time in just a few decades, plunged the world into an existential crisis. In this piece, Britten’s rich, yearning harmonies reveal a sombre and dramatic warning of the cost of conflict. From the darkness of war, we move towards the light with Britten’s choral Spring Symphony. With its mysterious reimagining of traditional English folk song and verse, the work depicts the gradual reawakening of the natural world when winter ebbs away, and spring begins to triumph. Britten let his imagination catch fire in The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. This brilliantly original showpiece is one of the composer’s bestknown pieces and draws the album to a close.

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Track Listings

Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20

I. Lacrymosa. Andante ben misurato

II. Dies irae. Allegro con fuoco – Alla marcia

III. Requiem aeternam. Andante molto tranquillo

Spring Symphony, Op. 44

Part I. Introduction. Shine out (chorus)

Part I. The Merry Cuckoo (tenor)

Part I. Spring, the Sweet Spring (soprano, alto, tenor, chorus)

Part I. The Driving Boy (soprano, children’s chorus)

Part I. The Morning Star (chorus)

Part II. Welcome, Maids of Honour (alto)

Part II. Waters above (tenor)

Part II. Out on the Lawn I lie in Bed (alto, chorus)

Part III. When will my May come (tenor)

Part III. Fair and Fair (soprano, tenor)

Part III. Sound the Flute (chorus, children’s chorus)

Part IV. Finale. London, to Thee I do Present (soprano, alto, tenor, chorus, children’s chorus)

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34

I. Theme. Allegro maestoso e largamente

II. Variations A-D, Woodwinds. Presto – Lento – Moderato – Allegro alla marcia

III. Variations E-H, Strings. Brillante, alla polacca – Meno mosso – Cominciando lento ma poco a poco accelerando

IV. Variation I, Harp. Maestoso

V. Variations J-L, Brass. L’istesso tempo – Vivace – Allegro pomposo

VI. Variation M, Percussion. Moderato

VII. Fugue. Allegro molto - Animato

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