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Track(s) taken from SIGCD317

Canticle I 'My beloved is mine and I am his', Op 40

First line:
Ev'n like two little bank divided brooks
composer
1947; for the memorial service for Dick Sheppard
author of text
A Divine Rapture, quoting from The Song of Songs

Ben Johnson (tenor), James Baillieu (piano)
Recording details: April 2012
Maida Vale Studio 2, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Tony Sellors
Engineered by Simon Hancock
Release date: February 2013
Total duration: 8 minutes 4 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Graham Johnson (piano)
Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Roger Vignoles (piano)
John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Iain Burnside (piano)

Reviews

'The supporting performers are well chosen. Abraham and lsaac opens with Johnson and countertenor Christopher Ainslie, judiciously placed by the technicians, making a hauntingly other-worldly effect as the voice of God. Benedict Nelson blends well with the two of them in Canticle IV. The recording keeps James Baillieu's tellingly characterised accompaniments to the fore, as it does solo horn and harp, both excellent. Recordings with Peter Pears remain the benchmark, as ever.  … this new release from Signum Classics is a contender well worth hearing' (Gramophone)

'One of the more interesting of the tide of Britten centenary tributes, The Canticles features the five vocal settings composed at various points between 1947 and 1974, in which the ostensible religious themes disguise more secular interests—the barely veiled homoeroticism of Francis Quarles' seventeenth-century adoration of Christ in 'Canticle I', the allegorical linking of Blitz and Crucifixion in the Edith Sitwell powem used for 'Canticle III' etc. Set to piano parts occasionally reflecting the influence of the French Romantics, the most intriguing realisations are those on which tenor Ben Johnson is joined by other voices—with baritone and countertenor as the three Magi in 'Canticle IV', and most sublimely, paired with countertenor for the Abraham and Isaac story of 'Canticle II'' (The Independent)

'There's nothing precious or pained about Ben Johnson's tenor in his admirable recording of the five Canticles. The tone is sturdy, open and direct' (The Times)

Britten’s five Canticles were composed across a period of some twenty-five years and each is concerned, to a varying extent, with religious themes. Their extended, multi-sectional form derives from the dramatic songs and Divine Hymns of Purcell, many realizations of which Britten had made before writing his first Canticle, 'My beloved is mine', in September 1947. It is a setting of a text by Francis Quarles, characteristic of much mystical poetry since The Song of Songs in its quasi-erotic imagery, which is beautifully caught in Britten’s cantata-like setting – a sequence of barcarolle, recitative, scherzo and lento coda. Writing in 1952, Peter Pears was of the opinion that Canticle I was ‘Britten’s finest piece of vocal music to date’ and it still compares well with almost anything he wrote later. Much of its quality derives from the expressive and sometimes highly melismatic freedom of vocal writing.

from notes by John Evans © 1986

Le premier Cantique, My beloved is mine fut écrit en 1947 pour un concert à la mémoire de Dick Sheppard, ancien curé de St Martin-in-the-Fields et fondateur de la Peace Pledge Union, cause chère au compositeur. Britten venait de travailler à des exécutions des «Divine Hymns» de Purcell, et il est naturel qu’il ait eu l’idée de composer une pièce analogue à la mémoire de son ami. Le Cantique, pour voix aiguë et piano, a pour texte «A Divine Rapture», poème de Francis Quarles (1592–1644), dont l’inspiration est une citation du Cantique des Cantiques. Britten omet l’une des strophes originales, et regroupe les six autres (1+2, 3, 4, 5+6) de façon à former un arrangement en quatre mouvements consistant en une barcarolle contrapuntique, un récitatif, un scherzo canonique rapide, et un finale essentiellement en accords. Le texte exprime l’amour divin en utilisant la métaphore de l’amour physique, et chaque strophe s’achève sur une version du refrain «I my best beloved’s am, / So he is mine» («Je suis mon bien-aimé, / Et il est à moi»).

extrait des notes rédigées par Michael Short © 1992
Français: Elisabeth Rhodes

Das I. Canticle My beloved is mine, wurde 1947 zum Gedenkkonzert für Dick Sheppard komponiert, dem ehemaligen Vikar von St Martin-in-the-Fields und Gründer der Peace Pledge Union, einer Bewegung, für die der Komponist selbst eintrat. Britten hatte kurz zuvor Aufführungen von Purcells Divine Hymns vorbereitet, und die Idee, ein ähnliches Stück zum Andenken an seinen Freund zu komponieren, bietet sich als natürliche Konsequenz daraus an. Das Canticle ist für hohe Stimme und Klavier vertont, und als Text hat der Komponist das Gedicht „A Divine Rapture“ von Francis Quarles (1592–1644) ausgewählt, das selbst von einem Zitat aus dem Hohelied Salomos inspiriert wurde. Britten ließ eine der Originalstrophen aus und ordnete die übrigen sechs nach dem Schema 1+2, 3, 4, 5+6 so an, daß eine viersätzige Komposition aus kontrapunktischer Barkarole, Rezitativ, schnellem kanonischem Scherzo und hauptsächlich akkordischem Finale gebildet wurde. Der Text spricht von göttlicher Liebe, ausgedrückt durch die Metapher fleischlicher Liebe, und jede Strophe endet mit einer Variante des Refrains „I my best beloved’s am, / So he is mine“ („So bin ich dem Geliebten eigen, / Und so ist er mein“).

aus dem Begleittext von Michael Short © 1992
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

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