Composer: Benjamin Britten
Performer: Andrew Staples, Chris Parkes
Orchestra: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Daniel Harding
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Catalogue: HMM902267
Release: 2022
Size: 703 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18
01. I. Fanfare
02. II. Villes
03. III a. Phrase
04. III b. Antique
05. IV. Royauté
06. V. Marine
07. VI. Interlude
08. VII. Being Beauteous
09. VIII. Parade
10. IX. Départ
Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31
11. I. Prologue
12. II. Pastoral
13. III. Nocturne
14. IV. Elegy
15. V. Dirge
16. VI. Hymn
17. VII. Sonnet
18. VIII. Epilogue
Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60
19. I. On a poet’s lips I slept
20. II. Below the thunders of the upper deep
21. III. Encinctured with a twine of leaves
22. IV. Midnight’s bell goes ting, ting, ting
23. V. But that night when on my bed I lay
24. VI. She sleeps on soft, last breaths
25. VII. What is more gentle than a wind in summer?
26. VIII. When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see
In these three song cycles, Britten draws his inspiration from the peaks of European poetry (Shakespeare, Blake, Shelley, Keats, but also Rimbaud), the better to push back the boundaries of the genre. He multiplies the relationship between voices and instruments, moving from strings alone (Les Illuminations) to a string ensemble featuring obbligato wind instruments, harp and timpani (Nocturne), not forgetting the fascinating dialogue with the horn in the Serenade. A unique sound world is revealed here by artists at the top of their form!