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The Heart of the Matter – November 20, 2003 | Guelph University, Guelph, ON
The vocal music of Benjamin Britten (1913-76)
date: November 20, 2003
This was the second performance of a concert developed to mark the 90th anniversary of the birth (on St. Cecilia’s Day, November 22, 1913) of our signature composer, Benjamin Britten. It, and our other three concerts, were part of the Ontario-wide festival “Benjamin Britten: A Celebration” under the artistic directorship of Nicholas Goldschmidt. The choice of music spanned almost the whole of the composer’s career in vocal music, from the earliest song available to us (1922) to the final song-cycle of 1969. The title of the programme came from its centrepiece, the sequence of music for tenor, horn, piano and narrator compiled in 1956 (and revised by Sir Peter Pears in 1983). To the second Canticle, Still falls the rain, Britten added three more settings of Dame Edith Sitwell’s poetry. A further four extracts from her poetry were read (originally by Dame Edith herself) between the songs. On this occasion, the reader was the Aldeburgh Connection’s Honorary Patron, Christopher Newton.
| Song | Artist | Composer | Poet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beware! | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth |
| The Birds | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Belloc, Hilaire |
| Underneath the abject willow (Two Ballads) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Auden, Wystan Hugh |
| Dink’s Song | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | American folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin | anon. |
| Now the leaves are falling fast, Op.11/2 (On This Island) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Auden, Wystan Hugh |
| Nocturne, Op.11/4 (On This Island) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Auden, Wystan Hugh |
| As it is, plenty, Op.11/5 (On This Island) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Auden, Wystan Hugh |
| Lullaby for a Retired Colonel | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | n/a |
| Prologue: Where are the seeds of the Universal Fire (The Heart of the Matter) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Wevers, Scott, horn; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Sitwell, Dame Edith |
| Song: We are the darkness (The Heart of the Matter) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Sitwell, Dame Edith |
| Canticle III: Still falls the rain, Op.55 | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Wevers, Scott, horn; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Sitwell, Dame Edith |
| Epilogue: So, out of the dark, see our great Spring begins (The Heart of the Matter) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Sitwell, Dame Edith |
| L’Enfance (Quatre Chansons françaises) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hugo, Victor |
| Wagtail and Baby (A Satire), Op.52/3 (Winter Words) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hardy, Thomas |
| Bed-time, Op.84/5 (Who are these children?) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Soutar, William |
| Who are these children? Op.84/9 (Who are these children?) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Soutar, William |
| Supper, Op.84/10 (Who are these children?) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Soutar, William |
| The Children, Op.84/11 (Who are these children?) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Soutar, William |
| The Auld Aik, Op.84/12 (Who are these children?) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Soutar, William |
| Nocturne, Op.31/3 (Serenade) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Wevers, Scott, horn; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Tennyson, Alfred, Lord |
| 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 |
| Alleluia – ENCORE | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Wevers, Scott, horn; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Purcell, Henry, real. Britten, Benjamin | anon. |