''Young Apollo'', Op. 16, is a music composition for piano, string quartet and string orchestra composed by

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 ...

. Commissioned by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, the work was completed in 1939, just after Britten's arrival in the United States. It carries as an epigraph the final lines of " Hyperion", an incomplete poem by

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

but the work was inspired by Wulff Scherchen, a young, German blond who was Britten's first love interest. The work premiered on 27 August 1939 on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's ''Melodic Strings'' with Britten as soloist and Alexander Chuhaldin conducting. Britten dedicated the work to Chuhaldin. The composer withdrew the work following a second performance on 20 December in New York, without explanation. It was not performed again until 1979 when it was revived at that year's Aldeburgh Festival, with Steuart Bedford conducting the English Chamber Orchestra and Michael Roll as soloist. ''Young Apollo'' first appeared on disc three years later, with Peter Donohoe as soloist, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

References

Chamber music compositions Compositions by Benjamin Britten Concertos by Benjamin Britten 1939 compositions {{Composition-stub