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The ''Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings'', Op. 31, is a
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarel ...
written in 1943 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 ...
for
tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...
, solo horn and a
string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first ...
. Composed during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
at the request of the horn player
Dennis Brain Dennis Brain (17 May 19211 September 1957) was a British horn player. From a musical family – his father and grandfather were horn players – he attended the Royal Academy of Music in London. During the Second World War he served in the Ro ...
, it is a setting of a selection of six poems by English poets on the subject of night, including both its calm and its sinister aspects. The poets Britten chose to set for the Serenade range from an anonymous 15th-century writer to poets from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Britten's partner – the tenor
Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...
– and Brain were the soloists at the first performance. They later recorded the work, which has received subsequent recordings by tenors, horn players, orchestras and conductors from Britain, continental Europe, America and Australia.


Background and first performance

Britten and his partner,
Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...
, returned to Britain in April 1942 after three years in the United States. A few weeks later Britten was commissioned by the BBC to write incidental music for a documentary series on life in England to be broadcast to the US. The score was played by the RAF Orchestra, in which Dennis Brain was first horn. Britten was struck by Brain's skill and needed little persuasion to write a concert piece for him.Britten, Benjamin. "Dennis Brain (1921–1957)", ''Tempo'' , Winter 1957–58, pp. 5–6 Brain may have been expecting a concerto, but instead Britten chose to compose a song-cycle with the horn and the singer as equal partners. Early in 1943 he caught measles so severely that he was in hospital for several weeks, and then convalesced at his country house in Suffolk. There, while also working on his opera ''
Peter Grimes ''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fiction ...
'', he composed most of the Serenade. In April 1943 he wrote to a friend, "I've practically completed a new work (6 Nocturnes) for Peter and a lovely young horn player Dennis Brain, & Strings ... It is not important stuff, but quite pleasant, I think". The Serenade contains Britten's first settings of English poems since '' On This Island'' in 1937.Hinds and Baker, p. 8 In selecting them Britten had advice from Edward Sackville-West, to whom he dedicated the work. Sackville-West wrote of the Serenade: Britten acknowledged the help Brain had given him with the horn part: The first performance was given at the
Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...
in London on 15 October 1943 with Pears and Brain as soloists, and
Walter Goehr Walter Goehr (; 28 May 19034 December 1960) was a German composer and conductor. Biography Goehr was born in Berlin, where he studied with Arnold Schoenberg and embarked on a conducting career, before being forced as a Jew to seek employment outsi ...
conducting his eponymous string orchestra. It was well received: ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...
'' called it "one of the most remarkable, and on any estimation most successful, of modern English compositions. … Britten's imagination seems to be most readily kindled by words, which strike an equivalent musical image out of him with the utmost spontaneity". ''
The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...
'' thought it a "very likeable and uncommon piece", but was inclined to Britten's own view of the importance of the work, and thought the solo horn prologue and epilogue "unnecessary". Britten was pleased by the reception of the piece: he wrote to an American friend, "We had a lovely show, with wonderful enthusiasm and lovely notices".


Content

The settings are framed by a horn prologue and epilogue; Britten had employed a framing device in his 1942 ''
A Ceremony of Carols ''A Ceremony of Carols,'' Op. 28, is an extended choral composition for Christmas by Benjamin Britten scored for three-part treble chorus, solo voices, and harp. The text, structured in eleven movements, is taken from ''The English Galaxy of Shor ...
'', and did so again in the prologue and epilogue to '' Billy Budd''. In the Serenade both prologue and epilogue are performed by the horn alone, and in these movements Britten instructs the player to use only the horn's natural
harmonics A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the '' fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', ...
; this lends these short movements a distinctive character, as some harmonics sound sharp or flat to an audience accustomed to the western chromatic scale. The epilogue is to sound from afar, and to this end the final song does not include a part for the horn to allow the player to move off-stage.Hinds and Baker, p. 13


Movements

The Serenade has eight movements: # "Prologue" (horn solo) # "Pastoral", a setting of "The Evening Quatrains" by
Charles Cotton Charles Cotton (28 April 1630 – 16 February 1687) was an English poet and writer, best known for translating the work of Michel de Montaigne from the French, for his contributions to '' The Compleat Angler'', and for the influential '' The C ...
(1630–1687) # "Nocturne", a setting of "Blow,
bugle The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, normally having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure. History The bugle developed from early musical or communication ...
, blow" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) # "Elegy", a setting of " The Sick Rose" by
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
(1757–1827) # "Dirge", a setting of the anonymous " Lyke-Wake Dirge" (15th century) # "Hymn", a setting of "Hymn to
Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) ...
" by
Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for ...
(1572–1637) # "Sonnet", a setting of "To Sleep" 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 ...
(1795–1821) # "Epilogue" (horn solo; reprise of Prologue, played offstage)


Lyrics

The words or
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer ...
to each movement are:


1. Prologue

:(solo horn)


2. Pastoral

The day’s grown old; the fainting sun Has but a little way to run, And yet his steeds, with all his skill, Scarce lug the chariot down the hill. The shadows now so long do grow, That brambles like tall cedars show; Molehills seem mountains, and the ant Appears a monstrous elephant. A very little, little flock Shades thrice the ground that it would stock; Whilst the small stripling following them Appears a mighty Polypheme. And now on benches all are sat, In the cool air to sit and chat, Till Phoebus, dipping in the West, Shall lead the world the way to rest. :::::Charles Cotton (1630–1687)


3. Nocturne

The splendour falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story: The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory: Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Bugle blow; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O hark, O hear, how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going! O sweet and far from cliff and scar The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: Bugle, blow; answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying. O love, they die in yon rich sky, They faint on hill or field or river: Our echoes roll from soul to soul, And grow for ever and for ever. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying; And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying. :::::Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)


4. Elegy

O Rose, thou art sick; The invisible worm That flies in the night, In the howling storm, Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy; And his dark, secret love Does thy life destroy. :::::William Blake (1757–1827)


5. Dirge

This ae nighte, this ae nighte, Every nighte and alle, Fire and fleet and candle‑lighte, And Christe receive thy saule. When thou from hence away art past, Every nighte and alle, To Whinnymuir thou com'st at last; And Christe receive thy saule. If ever thou gav'st hos'n and shoon, Every nighte and alle, Sit thee down and put them on; And Christe receive thy saule. If hos'n and shoon thou ne'er gav'st nane Every nighte and alle, The whinnes sall prick thee to the bare bane; And Christe receive thy saule. From Whinnymuir when thou may'st pass, Every nighte and alle, To Brig o' Dread thou com'st at last; And Christe receive thy saule. From Brig o' Dread when thou may'st pass, Every nighte and alle, To Purgatory fire thou com'st at last; And Christe receive thy saule. If ever thou gav'st meat or drink, Every nighte and alle, The fire sall never make thee shrink; And Christe receive thy saule. If meat or drink thou ne'er gav'st nane, Every nighte and alle, The fire will burn thee to the bare bane; And Christe receive thy saule. This ae nighte, this ae nighte, Every nighte and alle, Fire and fleet and candle‑lighte, And Christe receive thy saule. :::::Lyke Wake Dirge, Anonymous (15th century)


6. Hymn

Queen and huntress, chaste and fair, Now the sun is laid to sleep, Seated in thy silver chair, State in wonted manner keep: Hesperus entreats thy light, Goddess excellently bright. Earth, let not thy envious shade Dare itself to interpose; Cynthia's shining orb was made Heav'n to clear when day did close: Bless us then with wishèd sight, Goddess excellently bright. Lay thy bow of pearl apart, And thy crystal shining quiver; Give unto the flying hart Space to breathe, how short so-ever: Thou that mak'st a day of night, Goddess excellently bright. :::::Ben Jonson (1572–1637)


7. Sonnet

O soft embalmer of the still midnight, Shutting with careful fingers and benign Our gloom‑pleas'd eyes, embower'd from the light, Enshaded in forgetfulness divine: O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close In midst of this thine hymn my willing eyes, Or wait the “Amen” ere thy poppy throws Around my bed its lulling charities. Then save me, or the passèd day will shine Upon my pillow, breeding many woes, Save me from curious Conscience, that still lords Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole; Turn the key deftly in the oilèd wards, And seal the hushèd Casket of my Soul. :::::John Keats (1795–1821)


8. Epilogue

:(solo horn – off stage)


Recordings

In 2020 ''
Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
'' published a survey of recordings of the Serenade. These are the recordings mentioned:Lewis, Geraint
"The Gramophone Collection: Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings"
Gramophone, October 2020, pp. 94–97


References and sources


References


Sources


Books

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Web

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External links



{{Authority control Song cycles by Benjamin Britten Compositions for horn
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 ...
1943 compositions Compositions for string orchestra Classical song cycles in English Adaptations of works by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Musical settings of poems by William Blake Adaptations of works by Ben Jonson