the britten stream launch newsletter - hants
TRANSCRIPT
SPRING 2013
Andrew Lloyd
Webber,
Composer:
“I am delighted to be a
Friday Afternoons
Ambassador in support of
Aldeburgh Music’s
mission to get young
people across the country
singing. This is a
marvellous way to
celebrate Benjamin
Britten’s centenary and to
continue his wonderful
work in encouraging
children to make music.”
Looking for a challenge and want to
be part of something big? Keen to
bring singing back into the
classroom?... Get involved with The
Britten Stream.
The Britten Stream is a major project
devised and coordinated by Turner Sims
(Southampton’s leading concert venue) and
its Music Hub Partners in Hampshire,
Portsmouth and Southampton as part of the
national celebrations for Benjamin Britten’s
centenary. The Britten Stream is one of a
number of projects which make up Friday
Afternoons, a national initiative led by
Aldeburgh Music culminating on Britten’s
birthday 22 November 2013. The national
project has been endorsed by some of
music’s leading figures including Howard Goodall, Aled Jones and Andrew Lloyd
Webber, and this launch newsletter gives you information about Britten, the
project, local links and next steps.
WHO WAS BENJAMIN BRITTEN?
Born on 22 November 1913 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
was a composer. Many composers in the last century wrote music that was very
complicated to listen to and required many highly-skilled musicians to play and
sing it. Benjamin Britten wrote music for everyone, he even said so himself. He
wanted his ‘music to be of use to people, to please them, to enhance their lives’.
People enjoy his music so much that he is now the most performed British
composer in the world. He wrote music of all kinds and travelled all around the
world performing it as a pianist and conductor. He was so famous that the BBC
devoted a whole programme to him for his 50th birthday and he was the first
musician in history to be made a Lord by the Queen. When he died he left
behind more than 1,000 pieces of extraordinary music and the fascinating story
of a journey from Suffolk schoolboy to great composer.
Benjamin Britten on Aldeburgh Beach
(1959) - photo by Hans Wild image
courtesy of www.britten100.org
Page 2
WHAT IS FRIDAY AFTERNOONS?
Friday Afternoons is a set of 12 songs composed by Benjamin Britten between 1933 and 1935. The
simple songs, with witty piano accompaniments, are dedicated to Britten’s schoolmaster brother, Robert,
and the boys of Clive House preparatory school,
Prestatyn – a school in which choir practice and
singing lessons regularly took place on a Friday
afternoon. Based on this song cycle, and forming part
of Aldeburgh Music’s Britten Centenary programme
and the worldwide Britten 100 celebrations, Aldeburgh
Music has conceived this year-long project to highlight
the composer’s legacy of work for young people and to
encourage more singing in schools. It culminates on
Friday 22 November 2013, when tens of thousands of
people from across the UK will join together to sing the
songs.
LOCAL LINKS...
Kevin Appleby, Concert Hall Manager at Turner Sims writes...
Benjamin Britten’s centenary is already big news. When it was launched in London last September 50
nationally renowned arts organisations issued press releases outlining their plans. Since then many
more in this country and worldwide have joined the list, all seeking to add their own take on the
celebrations. So why in the midst of all this global anniversary frenzy should we in southern England be
involved? For me, the key driver is not simply that we have an opportunity to explore Britten’s output and
reputation at a landmark moment. It is that we can remind ourselves of the associations which the
southern region has with the composer and his work. There are also many local links to the Friday
Afternoons/The Britten Stream project that can inspire classroom activity and complement the curriculum:
THE MARITIME CONNECTION...
In a city renowned for its maritime heritage Southampton has seen
many notable figures depart from its shores. Britten was one of them,
leaving the city by boat in April 1939 with tenor Peter Pears on their
voyage to America. This in itself though is not particularly noteworthy.
What makes the location symbolic is that composer Frank Bridge -
Britten’s first teacher and mentor (seen left with Britten in 1930) - came
to Southampton with his wife to see them off. On the quayside he
handed Britten his viola, a good luck parting gift from one of the most
influential people in the composer’s life. Poignantly teacher and pupil
were never to meet again as Bridge died in 1941, a year before Britten
returned.
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Rehearsing in Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh (1960)
Image courtesy of www.britten100.org
THE BRITTEN STREAM Page 3
THE TRANSPORT CONNECTION...
Britten wrote music to accompany many film
documentaries in the 1930s looking at aspects of
British working life. The most well-known are Night
Mail depicting the journey of a mail train from
London to Scotland, and Coal Face, looking at
working conditions in a Welsh coal mining
community. The Way to the Sea, produced in 1936,
is somewhat overlooked but offers the familiar
combination of Britten’s music and the words of
Anglo-American poet WH Auden in a depiction of
the electrification of the railway line between London
and Portsmouth. City and seaside are central to a
magically engaging film.
THE FRIDAY AFTERNOONS POETS CONNECTION...
Britten was renowned throughout his life as a skilful setter of words to music, whether in his solo songs,
operas, or choral music. The poets and authors he used were wide ranging and this is the case with Friday
Afternoons. Whilst several of the poems which Britten set are by unknown writers, three songs have
interesting local links to explore:
Song 2 (A tragic story) has words by English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-63). Best
known as the author of Vanity Fair, he attended school in Southampton and wrote part of another
novel Pendennis whilst staying at the Dolphin Hotel. The Dolphin, in Southampton’s High Street, still
exists and is the city’s oldest hotel. Its other literary connection is that Jane Austen held her 18th
birthday there in 1793. A little known fact about Thackeray is that he is British comedian Al Murray's
great-great-great-grandfather.
English playwright Nicholas Udall (1504-56), writer of Song 6 (I mun be married on Sunday), was born
in Hampshire (possibly Southampton) and educated at Winchester College. He has been hailed as
the ‘father of English comedy’ for his play Ralph Roister Doister, the first comedy to be written in the
English language which was written in around 1553.
English writer Izaak Walton (1593-1683), is author of Song 8 (Fishing Song). Buried in Winchester
Cathedral and with a window dedicated to him within
the building he is best known for his book on the art of
fishing The Compleat Angler. First published in 1853 it
describes how to catch and prepare a range of fish
and the best locations for angling and has become a
classic work for enthusiasts ever since. Describing the
charms of Hampshire Walton said, ‘it exceeds all
England for swift, shallow, clear, pleasant brooks, and
store of Trouts’.
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WHAT IS THE BRITTEN STREAM?
The Britten Stream is your local Friday Afternoons project led by Turner
Sims in partnership with its Music Hub partners. The Britten Stream will
see workshops and performances taking place locally in schools and
community centres. The project will culminate in a grand finale on 22
November 2013, including an event at Turner Sims that will be streamed
live. Further details will be announced on turnersims.co.uk in due course.
WHAT NEXT?
Now you know a little more about Benjamin Britten, Friday Afternoons
and the local links, you can find out more by exploring and registering on
the following websites:
BRITTEN 100 website (britten100.org)
FRIDAY AFTERNOONS website (fridayafternoonsmusic.co.uk)
On these websites you will find lesson plans, downloadable scores and
backing tracks, easy ensemble arrangements, biographical information, a
photo archive and interactive timeline, and much more. The resources
are available, free of charge, to aid the teaching of Friday Afternoons,
and to put the songs into context.
YOUR LOCAL CONTACTS…
Hampshire Music Hub: The Hampshire Music Hub will be in touch with
you shortly with more information on how you can get involved in this
exciting project celebrating 100 years of Britten. To register your interest
email: [email protected]
Portsmouth Music Hub: To register your school's interest in being part
of this project, please email your contact details to
[email protected] or telephone 023 9237 5655
Southampton Music Hub: To register your school's interest in being part of this project, please email you contact details to [email protected] or telephone 023 8083 3648
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