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Track(s) taken from CDA66825

A Hymn to the Virgin

First line:
Of one that is so fair and bright
composer
9 July 1930
author of text
c1300

Holst Singers, Stephen Layton (conductor)
Recording details: October 1995
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Antony Howell
Release date: November 1995
Total duration: 3 minutes 17 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Polyphony, Stephen Layton (conductor)
Westminster Cathedral Choir, David Hill (conductor)
The Cambridge Singers, John Rutter (conductor)
Jesus College Choir Cambridge, Mark Williams (conductor)
The Rodolfus Choir, Ralph Allwood (conductor)
St John's College Choir Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha (conductor), William Buttery (treble), Daniel Brown (countertenor), Gopal Kambo (tenor), Piers Kennedy (bass)

Reviews

‘Their commitment to what they are singing rings out with every note. A Boy was Born is imbued with more ravishing feeling than I would have thought possible’ (Organists' Review)

«Remarquable! Les Holst Singers se révèlent être de remarquables interprètes de leur cher répertoire national. Cette anthologie atteste du niveau vocal et musical de ce choeur (et donc de leur chef Stephen Layton)» (Diapason, France)

'Interpretaciones tan refrescantes como escrupulosas' (CD Compact, Spain)
The earliest version of Benjamin Britten’s A Hymn to the Virgin was composed on 9 July 1930, while the composer was still a schoolboy. The text, which dates from about 1300, was taken from Quiller-Couch’s The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250–1900, which Britten had received as a school prize, and the anthem was apparently composed while he was confined to bed in the school sanatorium. Denied manuscript paper during his illness, Britten wrote the original on writing paper. A Hymn to the Virgin was revised before the first performance in 1931, in which Britten’s mother sang alto solo; later, in 1934, it was transposed down a semitone for publication. Britten divides his singers into two groups: the main body of the choir sings mostly in English while a smaller group (either a semi-chorus or a solo quartet, according to the composer) interjects shorter phrases in Latin. The first two stanzas are set to similar music; in the third stanza Britten initially abandons the call-and-response pattern of the opening pages, though antiphony is restored towards the end. To modern eyes and ears, the Hymn appears to be in A minor; however, individual lines and cadences, with their recurrent references to the Phrygian mode, suggest pre-tonal practices. Britten retained a soft spot for this youthful work, and it was one of two pieces performed at his funeral on 7 December 1976.

from notes by Martin Ennis © 2018

Durant ses années d’écolier, Britten écrivit une quantité considérable de musique dont une bonne part s’illustre par sa nature ambitieuse et son éclectisme stylistique saisissant. D’une plus grande simplicité dans la retenue de ses émotions, le célèbre A Hymn to the Virgin pour double chœur vit le jour le 9 juillet 1930, alors que Britten, âgé de seize ans seulement, faisait un séjour forcé à l’infirmerie de Gresham’s School, un pensionnat de Holt, une ville côtière du Norfolk. (Ce devait être sa dernière année de scolarité générale puisque deux mois plus tard, il entrait au Royal College of Music de Londres pour étudier la composition et le piano.) En 1934, il jugea la pièce digne d’être publiée, mais la transposa au demi-ton inférieur pour en faciliter l’exécution vocale et amenda quelques marches harmoniques.

extrait des notes rédigées par Mervyn Cooke © 2001
Français: Isabelle Battioni

Britten hat schon während seiner Ausbildung eine beachtliche Menge Musik geschrieben, darunter vieles, was ehrgeizig und in auffällig eklektischem Stil gehalten war. Wesentlich schlichter in seiner bescheidenen Eindringlichkeit ist seine bekannte A Hymn to the Virgin für Doppelchor, komponiert am 9. Juli 1930 während eines Zwangsaufenthalts im Krankenzimmer der Musikschule Gresham’s School in Holt. Britten war damals erst sechzehn Jahre alt. (Es war sein letztes Schuljahr; zwei Monate später begann er am Royal College of Music Komposition und Klavier zu studieren.) Im Jahr 1934 befand er das Stück der Veröffentlichung wert, transponierte es jedoch vorher einen Halbton abwärts, so daß es bequemer zu singen war, und berichtigte einige der harmonischen Fortschreitungen.

aus dem Begleittext von Mervyn Cooke © 2001
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

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