A Choral Timeline: Benjamin Britten (1913 - 76) |
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 LISTEN: Maiden in the Morlaye (Carol from Sacred and Profane) (1974-5)
Arguably the pre-eminent musical figure in both pre and post-war Britain, it's difficult to over-rate Britten's influence on the music of this country.
He revived English opera with Peter Grimes in 1945, made major contributions to all the main musical genres, and - almost uniquely - concentrated in particular on making music more accessible to children with works such as The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Noyes Fludde and The Little Sweep.
His choral works were pioneered by the BBC from the beginnings of his career - the BBC Chorus (fore-runner of today's BBC Singers) giving the broadcast premiere of Britten's mould-breaking choral variations A Boy was Born in 1934. Sacred and Profane is one of the Britten's last works (composed the year before his death), and its sophisticated harmonies and refined writing make it difficult for any but the best singers or choirs to perform. In it, Britten set out to create a typically mediaeval contrast between the sacred and secular. The work is written for five voices (Britten originally intended that these should be solo singers), and comprises eight mediaeval lyrics - kept in their original language to offer more of a 'display piece' for the performers.
Maiden in the Morlaye is a slightly irreverent and ironic parody, where a pastoral scene of a maiden lying on a moor is told in deliberately unsurprising harmonies and rhythms. It is clear from this movement that Britten took a great deal of delight in the reshaping of simple tunes.
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