There are elements of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in these melodies. Auden wrote the libretto for The Rake's Progress, Britten and Auden worked together in the late 30s on 'The Night Mail', which has similar rhythms, so maybe no surprise. I read somewhere that Britten was quite sniffy about The Rake's Progress, 'I like everything about it apart from the music', suggesting there he thought there was a hint of plagiarism about it, but Britten had a fairly fragile ego by all accounts. The Royal Family, in their part, were less than happy with Gloriana. Both this sequence and the Rake's Progress are both beautiful to my ear, thank you for this lovely version.
This is very fine singing of difficult music. When the opera was premiered in coronation year 1953 it was a flop. Britten's 'Peter Grimes' had revived British opera in 1945 as WW2 was ending and his 'Billy Budd' was clearly a masterpiece, albeit on a difficult and sensitive subject. The assumption that 'Gloriana' would be somehow celebratory of the new queen's official coronation was misplaced as the storyline was about the late life of Elizabeth l, based on 'Elizabeth and Essex' by Lytton Strachey, interspersed with sensitive and dangerous affairs of state, including a rebellion in 1601 involving her favorite courtier the Earl of Essex. Although the queen hesitated in signing the warrant of execution for treason she had no choice because the monarch must obey the law. Britten and librettist William Plomer inserted references to several threats to the throne from abroad and showed how the queen coped with court intrigues and visiting different parts of England to be seen by the people. Critics saw this as overcrowding the action but in recent years the opera is being seen as the large scale masterpiece it undoubtedly is. The late Queen Elizabeth ll came to admire and enjoy the sensitive portrayal of duty and what is in the heart of a monarch, also becoming patron of the Aldeburgh Festival established by Britten in Suffolk, England.
Time and Concord-my favorite! So rich and expressive. Bravo! ❤️
Lovely. We are singing these at our next concert March 16th in Beaconsfield. I last sang them in 1967 as a student!
Hace unos 30 años canté las tres primeras partes, que hermosos recuerdos... Peace and happiness... Gracias!!!!
Britten himself would be pleased with the musicality displayed here.
Love this recording of Gloriana, my favorite
There are elements of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in these melodies. Auden wrote the libretto for The Rake's Progress, Britten and Auden worked together in the late 30s on 'The Night Mail', which has similar rhythms, so maybe no surprise.
I read somewhere that Britten was quite sniffy about The Rake's Progress, 'I like everything about it apart from the music', suggesting there he thought there was a hint of plagiarism about it, but Britten had a fairly fragile ego by all accounts.
The Royal Family, in their part, were less than happy with Gloriana.
Both this sequence and the Rake's Progress are both beautiful to my ear, thank you for this lovely version.
This is very fine singing of difficult music. When the opera was premiered in coronation year 1953 it was a flop. Britten's 'Peter Grimes' had revived British opera in 1945 as WW2 was ending and his 'Billy Budd' was clearly a masterpiece, albeit on a difficult and sensitive subject.
The assumption that 'Gloriana' would be somehow celebratory of the new queen's official coronation was misplaced as the storyline was about the late life of Elizabeth l, based on 'Elizabeth and Essex' by Lytton Strachey, interspersed with sensitive and dangerous affairs of state, including a rebellion in 1601 involving her favorite courtier the Earl of Essex. Although the queen hesitated in signing the warrant of execution for treason she had no choice because the monarch must obey the law.
Britten and librettist William Plomer inserted references to several threats to the throne from abroad and showed how the queen coped with court intrigues and visiting different parts of England to be seen by the people. Critics saw this as overcrowding the action but in recent years the opera is being seen as the large scale masterpiece it undoubtedly is.
The late Queen Elizabeth ll came to admire and enjoy the sensitive portrayal of duty and what is in the heart of a monarch, also becoming patron of the Aldeburgh Festival established by Britten in Suffolk, England.