Britten premières

[french frank]

Has this topic been mentioned yet?

"Music written by Benjamin Britten for radio broadcasts during World War II is to be performed in public for the first time, 70 years after it was composed."

[verismissimo]

It has now!

[Mary Chambers]

I sometimes wonder how grateful Britten would be for the digging up of every single piece he has ever written, starting in infancy.

[ahinton]

I sometimes wonder how grateful Britten would be for the digging up of every single piece he has ever written, starting in infancy.

Interesting though - perhaps you should address it to Colin Matthews!...

[french frank]

I sometimes wonder how grateful Britten would be for the digging up of every single piece he has ever written, starting in infancy.

What about Mozart, then? How about the 12 Days of Britten, broadcasting every note he wrote?

[Roehre]

I sometimes wonder how grateful Britten would be for the digging up of every single piece he has ever written, starting in infancy.

Good question, not only applying to Britten either.
Brahms took the precaution to destroy every piece/sketch which he didn't want to be seen/heard (most likely inspired by the experience of what in his lifetime started to happen with the Beethoven sketches).

[Mary Chambers]

Like Mozart's, and indeed everybody's, it's of variable quality. Would even I listen to 12 days of Britten? The answer is.....yes, probably! Would I get tired of it? Don't know. It is very varied. I've heard most of it, anyway.

In general I don't think broadcasting the complete works of any composer is a good idea.

[Ferretfancy]

Like Mozart's, and indeed everybody's, it's of variable quality. Would even I listen to 12 days of Britten? The answer is.....yes, probably! Would I get tired of it? Don't know. It is very varied. I've heard most of it, anyway.

In general I don't think broadcasting the complete works of any composer is a good idea.

Mary, I presume that they will feature items he wrote for radio drama. A have a few pieces in this vein, like Johnson Over Jordan, the King Arthur Suite or the ballet Plymouth Town, but I confess I only listened to them when I first bought them and haven't returned to them since. For me they have the same status as some of the lesser pieces of RVW or Sibelius.