Britten-fest...the aftermath

[Mary Chambers]

Why do I dislike St Nicolas so much, I suppose I just find the melodic material so trite, those repeated passages of " Nicholas was sent in answer to prayer.."

In fact I dont really like any of the "Community Music " very much

It's intended to be easy. On Britten's own recording the choirs are very amateur indeed, and as far as I remember the passage you mention is sung by young children. It's when it's performed by professional-sounding choirs that it sounds slightly wrong - to me, anyway.

I quite like St Nicolas, though it's very dependent on having a tenor with strong communicative skills - I once heard a totally accurate but totally deadly performance of the title part (no-one anyone will have heard of). I don't think, though, that it comes anywhere near Noye's Fludde in inspiration or quality. That, as Charles Mackerras said, is an absolute masterpiece.

[Stephen Whitaker]

St Nick does have some felicitous moments, such as the entry of the pickled boys which can be spine-tingling in performance.
I love being able to belt out the hymns too, which can be great fun when the congregation really joins in.

[Mary Chambers]

St Nick does have some felicitous moments, such as the entry of the pickled boys which can be spine-tingling in performance.
I love being able to belt out the hymns too, which can be great fun when the congregation really joins in.

Agreed! Those are the great moments, "against the rules of art" as E.M. Forster said of the first performance.

[ardcarp]

such as the entry of the pickled boys which can be spine-tingling in performance

...and I would add the 'Nicholas was born in answer to prayer' sequence where the first few 'God be Glorified' exsultations are sung by a treble but the final one by the tenor...St Nic's voice has broken!

[Bryn]

In the 'aftermath' I have been searching through old CD-Rs of Britten recordings and have come across one of the earliest transfers to CD-R I made. The discs are of Lutoslawski's 3rd Symphony and Piano Concerto, plus Britten's War Requiem. The burn date on the discs is 31 March 1998. The transfer must have been done in a hurry as I did not record the details of the performers or indeed the date(s) of the broadcasts. So, just wondering if any of the true Britten aficionados out there might have some sort of record of performances which took place on, or in the period leading up to 31 March 1998? My usual practice has been to retain the introductory and closing announcements of radio broadcasts I record, but on this occasion, presumably for reasons of space, I omitted such identifiers.

[ardcarp]

Off topic, but a rather grand lady I used to know had a Steinway grand which I have to confess I coveted. Soon after she died, I had a phone call from a solicitor acting as executor saying she had made a bequest to me. The Steinway! I thought. But no. It was a box of reel-to-reel tapes on which her late husband had made hundreds of recordings (speaker to microphone!) of The Third Programme. They are gathering dust in the attic. I don't have the means to listen to them even if I had the inclination; but can't quite bring myself to chuck them out.

[Mary Chambers]

It was a box of reel-to-reel tapes on which her late husband had made hundreds of recordings (speaker to microphone!) of The Third Programme. They are gathering dust in the attic. I don't have the means to listen to them even if I had the inclination; but can't quite bring myself to chuck them out.

I wonder if they go back far enough to have the missing Britten/Ferrier/Pears Abraham and Isaac? (I have no idea when reel-to-reel tapes were invented.)

[ardcarp]

I wonder if they go back far enough to have the missing Britten/Ferrier/Pears Abraham and Isaac? (I have no idea when reel-to-reel tapes were invented.)

Reel to reel tape-recorders became available to the public (I think) in the 50s. We had an old Grundig. I seem to remember the Vox (which stood vertically not horizontally) being popular in recording studios. The sound quality was better than cassettes as the (wider) tape ran at a higher speed past the heads. I dare say it's all old hat nowadays.

As far as searching for the lost Pears/Ferrier recording of A&I, I think I would need a few extra lifetimes. The recordings of my 'legacy' were probably all made in Third Programme days, and I imagine the sound-quality would be appalling as they were (I gather) made by sticking a microphone near an old valve radio speaker. Maybe it's a project for some archive when I've shuffled off the mortal coil.

[MrGongGong]

I do know someone who has been working for the BP foundation on the audio archive and digitising lots of similar stuff so if any of you have any things (and the quality really isn't an issue ) send me a PM and I can pass on the email address. It would be a shame for things to be lost.

[Ferretfancy]

Although domestic tape recorders like the Grundig were available by the mid 1950s the BBC continued to record on acetate discs until the early 1960s, overlapping the introduction of tape.
There were of course professional tape machines such as the BTR1 and later BTR2, but the problem in the early days was tape reliability, and there was quite a battle with EMI and other manufacturers in an effort to improve the quality of oxide coatings etc.

That being the case, it may well be that those early Britten performances are still lurking in the archive, possibly on 16'' acetate discs, somebody needs to do some sleuthing.

[Serial_Apologist]

I do know someone who has been working for the BP foundation on the audio archive and digitising lots of similar stuff so if any of you have any things (and the quality really isn't an issue ) send me a PM and I can pass on the email address. It would be a shame for things to be lost.

I have reel-to-reels that would interest them maybe. I'll pm you.

[Anna]

no i have found my antipathy intensified

Me too, I am afraid.
But, it's my loss - if I do not get him. Overdosing just meant I switched off R3 and had R4 on most of the weekend.
Plenty more composers that I do, get and happy to listen to them. Maybe, one day, I'll get Britten, but, to the honest, I couldn't care less that I don't.

[hmvman]

Although domestic tape recorders like the Grundig were available by the mid 1950s the BBC continued to record on acetate discs until the early 1960s, overlapping the introduction of tape.
There were of course professional tape machines such as the BTR1 and later BTR2, but the problem in the early days was tape reliability, and there was quite a battle with EMI and other manufacturers in an effort to improve the quality of oxide coatings etc.

That being the case, it may well be that those early Britten performances are still lurking in the archive, possibly on 16'' acetate discs, somebody needs to do some sleuthing.

I think that programmes were transcribed onto 33.3rpm LP records for distribution overseas, but I don't know when that started. I wonder if it's possible that early Britten performances are lurking on such discs somewhere in the World. A fascinating thought anyway!

[Rue Dubac]

Sadly, I do not get the music either - Dudley Moore had it about right. Also turned off by all the fraffly posh accents saying how marvellous it/he was. Shallow, I know.

[Mary Chambers]

Also turned off by all the fraffly posh accents saying how marvellous it/he was. Shallow, I know.

Very shallow.