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Benjamin Britten: A Festival of Music | St. Thomas's Church, Toronto
Choral music and songs by Benjamin Britten

date: October 29, 1993

This concert, entirely of music by Britten, our “signature” composer, was commissioned by the Exultate Singers of Toronto.  It combined settings of sacred (some liturgical) and secular texts.  The expert choir performed some of the composer’s finest pieces for use in the Anglican church.  Our two vocal soloists provided the centrepiece of the programme, Britten’s Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, this being the nucleus of our future CD recording of the complete Canticles (which used the same two singers, along with baritone Brett Polegato).  Literary extracts ranged from an excerpt from an early review of Britten’s work in the Lowestoft Journal of January, 1931, to poetry by Wilfred Owen and Thomas Hardy, along with fascinating passages from Murray Schafer’s interview with the composer, conducted in the early 1960s.

Song Artist Composer Poet
A Hymn to the Virgin Exultate Chamber Singers; Tuttle, John, conductor Britten, Benjamin anon.
Evening Hymn (Three Divine Hymns) Taylor, Daniel, counter-tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Purcell, Henry, real. Britten, Benjamin Fuller, William
Hymn to St. Cecilia, Op.27 Exultate Chamber Singers; Tuttle, John, conductor Britten, Benjamin Auden, Wystan Hugh
Choral Dances (Gloriana, Op.53) Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Exultate Chamber Singers; Tuttle, John, conductor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Britten, Benjamin Plomer, William
Missa Brevis in D, Op.63 Exultate Chamber Singers; Tuttle, John, conductor; Ubukata, Bruce, organ Britten, Benjamin anon.
Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, Op.51 Taylor, Daniel, counter-tenor; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Britten, Benjamin Chester Miracle Play
INTERMISSION
The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard Exultate Chamber Singers; Tuttle, John, conductor; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Britten, Benjamin anon.
O Waly, Waly Taylor, Daniel, counter-tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Somerset folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin anon.
Mount Ephraim: Psalm-Tune Exultate Chamber Singers; Tuttle, John, conductor Milgrove, Benjamin Psalm 130
The Choirmaster’s Burial (or The Tenor Man’s Story), Op.52/5 (Winter Words) Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Britten, Benjamin Hardy, Thomas
Festival Te Deum, Op.32 Armstrong, Julia, soprano; Exultate Chamber Singers; Tuttle, John, conductor; Ubukata, Bruce, organ Britten, Benjamin anon.
The Twelve Apostles – ENCORE Taylor, Daniel, counter-tenor; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Exultate Chamber Singers; Tuttle, John, conductor; Ralls, Stephen, piano; Ubukata, Bruce, organ English folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin anon.