Benjamin Britten - Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings op. 31
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 เม.ย. 2024
- Benjamin Britten - Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings op. 31 (1943)
Robert Tear (Tenor)
Dale Clevenger (Horn)
Carlo Maria Giulini (cond.)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Deutsche Grammophon
1. Prologue [0:00]
(solo horn)
2. Pastoral [1:31]
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;
Mole hills 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 [4:54]
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:
Blow, bugle; 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 [8:17]
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 [13:19]
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 Whinny‑muir thou com’st at last;
And Christe receive thy saule.
If ever thou gavest hosen and shoon,
Every nighte and alle,
Sit thee down and put them on;
And Christe receive thy saule.
If hosen 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 Whinny‑muir 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 gavest 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.
Anonymous (15th century)
6. Hymn [16:40]
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 [18:46]
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 [22:36]
(solo horn - off stage)
The horn's melody for the Hymn is why I play the horn. AWESOME!
There is a ballet based on the Elegy (The Sick Rose) called Rose Malade that shows a rose invaded by the obsessed worm and rose dies at the end leaving a grieving worm, it's to music of 5th symphony of Mahler. I love poetry so tomorrow will read all the poems as it it's getting late. Thank you for posting them.
Robert Tear! Increíble! ❤️
Hands down, the most effective and beautiful recording I have heard of this brilliant composition. Robert Tears’s sensitivity creates a masterpiece. Conducting is perfection, as is the horn.
I totally agree -- utterly exquisite.
The finest recording of this composition!
My favorite, Peter Pears since half a century ago. Big speakers were vogue. Lovely. Perfect tempos. Nuances in the string orchestra. Horn just right. Thanks for posting the lyrics too.
Absolutely wonderful. Really touched my heart, beautiful poetry too. Thank you for this treat!
+God Sloth : So glad to hear it.
An absolutely wonderful performance. I have the Decca Recording of the composer and Peter Pears too. Altogether one of my favourite works.
The finest recording of this masterpiece.
Superb ... absolutely superb.
Absoluut de mooiste uitvoering!
find it on the Poetry Archive website
sorry reply intended for Mike Karren
THIS GIVES ME THE HORN...
Ml.
If you liked this, you will also like Dame Janet Baker's recordings of Britten, Mahler, and especially of Edward Elgars 'Sea Pictures' directed by Sir John Barbirolli.
Where can I purchase a CD of this recording. Please, please, please.......someone know the answer!!!
Is this the piece Britten wrote for Peter Pears when he first met him? Emily Bronte's poems? Obviously not, poets are listed...does anyone have that piece, it's called "A Thousand Gleaming Fires"
find it on the Poetry Archive website
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)
...And who is the horn player ?
reuvenal It's Dale Clevenger -- at his best.
See the video description for more information (including the lyrics).
Tnx!
+Fernando Abranches Clevenger was absolutely stunning in his day.
Britten's one true masterpiece, in my opinion. In the final Keats setting he achieves true profundity, as opposed to his usual mere consummate craftsmanship, and the recap of the horn solo at the end is truly moving. This is a very good performance, but I will always be partial to the Pears/Goossens recording as capturing best the true essence of this work.
The War Requiem is his towering masterpiece followed closely by Peter Grimes. This is wonderful but. …No. not his masterpiece
@@jamessmith5433 The War Requiem is his most ambitious score, next to his operas, but I've always found it pretentious and overinflated, and the solo vocal writing intolerable at best. I used to enjoy Peter Grimes, but I find it wears thin over time, as with most of Britten's music generally, as technique is generally elevated above true depth and substance. But in my opinion the Serenade, alone among his works, remains a gem for the long haul.
Tear has the voice for this but either the conductor or engineers made a mess of the dynamics between the horn and the rest.
Try Langridge with Bedford.
I have always loved Peter Pears singing thismore than any other tenor until hearing Robert Tear sing it. Only trouble for my ears came from the horn accompaniment which was often too loud or booming. The sound engineers were too enthusiastic here.
The tenor and horn are meant to be dueting and dancing around together. Two males, no one leading.
He played Bb (14th harmonic) instead of the the A natural (13th harmonic) on 12th measure. That A natural should sound very close to the middle frequency between Ab and A (or aprox 59 cents flat comparing to the tempered A)
Notice the difference comparing to the video with title
"Ian Bostridge: The complete "Serenade Op. 31" (Britten) "
I listened to the horn intro in the Bostridge, which I haven't heard before, then in the Pears/Brain, which I've owned for many years; latter was first performance of this I ever heard, around 40 years ago, and I thought at first Brain had gone off in his playing, though I knew his reputation. Then I heard another, like recording, read liner notes more carefully, and understood. As for the high note you refer to, it seems here closer to a full half-tone higher, compared to the preceding note, than it does in the Pears recording, which I'm familiar with. Yet oddly, I didn't pick up on the discrepancy in this recording; in fact, listening to both in succession just now, this one seemed more "right"--maybe just because, not having listened to this work in a long time my well-tempered brain just expects in a general way that the intro will sound "weird."
This is both traditional and the harmonic intended, or at least preferred, by Britten himself according to Dennis Brain (for whom the part was written). For a somewhat more thorough discussion: www.undergraduatelibrary.org/system/files/489i.pdf
@@HornFool Nuts! I just discovered this work while looking at the wikipedia entry for "Harmonic seventh". The score for the intro horn part is shown with a midi file of it. So, I immediately went to youtube to hear a live recording and found this. Then I noticed the horn player played the 14th harmonic as opposed to the 13th. So I scroll a bit to see if anyone else noticed and wham! There's an entire paper on it! Thanks for the link! Interesting read :D
I l-o-v-e this note and how it's played here!