The ''Festival Te Deum'', Op. 32, a sacred choral piece by the English composer

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, is a setting of the ''

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

'' from the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

''. It was composed in 1944 to celebrate the centenary of St Mark's Church, Swindon, and was first performed there in 1945.

History

The ''

'' is one of the standard

canticle A canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christianity, Christian song of praise with lyrics usually taken from biblical or holy texts. Canticles are used in Christian liturgy. Ca ...

s of Anglican Morning Prayer.

set it in 1934 (his ''

Te Deum in C The ''Te Deum in C'' is a sacred choral composition by Benjamin Britten, a setting of the Te Deum on the English text from the Book of Common Prayer. Britten wrote it in 1934 between 11 July and 17 September, scored for treble solo, four-part ch ...

''). He wrote the ''Festival Te Deum'', scored for treble solo, four-part choir (

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

) and

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, on 8–9 November 1944. It takes about five minutes to perform. The work was commissioned for the centenary of St Mark's Church, Swindon, an

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

church with a strong choral tradition. It was first performed there during a service on 24 April 1945 by the choir of St Mark's with choristers from three other Swindon churches (St John's, St Saviour's, and St Luke's). The soloist was Peter Titcombe, the organist was G.W. Curnow, and the conductor was J.J. Gale.

Music

Britten wrote the vocal parts for the abilities of a parish church choir, but a demanding organ part. The work begins with the choir singing in

unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

, imitating the "freedom of Gregorian chant". The chant sounds as if it is in free time, but is "carefully notated in a variety of time signatures". The organ provides a contrast with chords in regular time, embellished with "pseudo-Baroque ornaments". On the text "The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee", the voices begin imitation but return to unison. In the middle section the text "Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ" is exclaimed in fanfare-like motifs in the voices, matched by "short dramatic outbursts" on the organ. The work ends with a reprise of the organ chords and a treble soloist, joined by the choir, bringing it to a "gentle conclusion".

References

External links

*: a 1970 performance by Guildford Cathedral Choir, directed by

Barry Rose Barry Michael Rose OBE FRAM FRSCM HonFRCO (born 24 May 1934) is a choir trainer and organist. He is best known for founding the choir and the pattern of daily sung worship at the new Guildford Cathedral in 1961, as well as directing the music a ...

Festival Te Deum

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Authority control Compositions by Benjamin Britten

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

1944 compositions