WHO WAS BENJAMIN BRITTEN?

SPRING 2013

Looking for a challenge and want to be part of something big? Keen to bring singing back into the classroom?... Get involved with The Britten Stream. The Britten Stream is a major project devised and coordinated by Turner Sims (Southampton’s leading concert venue) and its Music Hub Partners in Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton as part of the national celebrations for Benjamin Britten’s centenary. The Britten Stream is one of a number of projects which make up Friday Afternoons, a national initiative led by Benjamin Britten on Aldeburgh Beach Aldeburgh Music culminating on Britten’s (1959) - photo by Hans Wild image birthday 22 November 2013. The national courtesy of www.britten100.org project has been endorsed by some of music’s leading figures including Howard Goodall, Aled Jones and Andrew Lloyd Webber, and this launch newsletter gives you information about Britten, the project, local links and next steps.

WHO WAS BENJAMIN BRITTEN? Born on 22 November 1913 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976) was a composer. Many composers in the last century wrote music that was very complicated to listen to and required many highly-skilled musicians to play and sing it. Benjamin Britten wrote music for everyone, he even said so himself. He wanted his ‘music to be of use to people, to please them, to enhance their lives’. People enjoy his music so much that he is now the most performed British composer in the world. He wrote music of all kinds and travelled all around the world performing it as a pianist and conductor. He was so famous that the BBC devoted a whole programme to him for his 50th birthday and he was the first musician in history to be made a Lord by the Queen. When he died he left behind more than 1,000 pieces of extraordinary music and the fascinating story of a journey from Suffolk schoolboy to great composer.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Composer: “I am delighted to be a Friday Afternoons Ambassador in support of Aldeburgh Music’s mission to get young people across the country singing. This is a marvellous way to celebrate Benjamin Britten’s centenary and to continue his wonderful work in encouraging children to make music.”

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WHAT IS FRIDAY AFTERNOONS? Friday Afternoons is a set of 12 songs composed by Benjamin Britten between 1933 and 1935. The simple songs, with witty piano accompaniments, are dedicated to Britten’s schoolmaster brother, Robert, and the boys of Clive House preparatory school, Prestatyn – a school in which choir practice and singing lessons regularly took place on a Friday afternoon. Based on this song cycle, and forming part of Aldeburgh Music’s Britten Centenary programme and the worldwide Britten 100 celebrations, Aldeburgh Music has conceived this year-long project to highlight the composer’s legacy of work for young people and to encourage more singing in schools. It culminates on Friday 22 November 2013, when tens of thousands of people from across the UK will join together to sing the songs. Rehearsing in Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh (1960)

LOCAL LINKS...

Image courtesy of www.britten100.org

Kevin Appleby, Concert Hall Manager at Turner Sims writes... Benjamin Britten’s centenary is already big news. When it was launched in London last September 50 nationally renowned arts organisations issued press releases outlining their plans. Since then many more in this country and worldwide have joined the list, all seeking to add their own take on the celebrations. So why in the midst of all this global anniversary frenzy should we in southern England be involved? For me, the key driver is not simply that we have an opportunity to explore Britten’s output and reputation at a landmark moment. It is that we can remind ourselves of the associations which the southern region has with the composer and his work. There are also many local links to the Friday Afternoons/The Britten Stream project that can inspire classroom activity and complement the curriculum: Image courtesy of www.britten100.org

THE MARITIME CONNECTION... In a city renowned for its maritime heritage Southampton has seen many notable figures depart from its shores. Britten was one of them, leaving the city by boat in April 1939 with tenor Peter Pears on their voyage to America. This in itself though is not particularly noteworthy. What makes the location symbolic is that composer Frank Bridge Britten’s first teacher and mentor (seen left with Britten in 1930) - came to Southampton with his wife to see them off. On the quayside he handed Britten his viola, a good luck parting gift from one of the most influential people in the composer’s life. Poignantly teacher and pupil were never to meet again as Bridge died in 1941, a year before Britten returned.

THE BRITTEN STREAM

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THE TRANSPORT CONNECTION... Britten wrote music to accompany many film documentaries in the 1930s looking at aspects of British working life. The most well-known are Night Mail depicting the journey of a mail train from London to Scotland, and Coal Face, looking at working conditions in a Welsh coal mining community. The Way to the Sea, produced in 1936, is somewhat overlooked but offers the familiar combination of Britten’s music and the words of Anglo-American poet WH Auden in a depiction of the electrification of the railway line between London and Portsmouth. City and seaside are central to a magically engaging film.

THE FRIDAY AFTERNOONS POETS CONNECTION... Britten was renowned throughout his life as a skilful setter of words to music, whether in his solo songs, operas, or choral music. The poets and authors he used were wide ranging and this is the case with Friday Afternoons. Whilst several of the poems which Britten set are by unknown writers, three songs have interesting local links to explore: Song 2 (A tragic story) has words by English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-63). Best known as the author of Vanity Fair, he attended school in Southampton and wrote part of another novel Pendennis whilst staying at the Dolphin Hotel. The Dolphin, in Southampton’s High Street, still exists and is the city’s oldest hotel. Its other literary connection is that Jane Austen held her 18th birthday there in 1793. A little known fact about Thackeray is that he is British comedian Al Murray's great-great-great-grandfather.

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English playwright Nicholas Udall (1504-56), writer of Song 6 (I mun be married on Sunday), was born in Hampshire (possibly Southampton) and educated at Winchester College. He has been hailed as the ‘father of English comedy’ for his play Ralph Roister Doister, the first comedy to be written in the English language which was written in around 1553.

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English writer Izaak Walton (1593-1683), is author of Song 8 (Fishing Song). Buried in Winchester Cathedral and with a window dedicated to him within the building he is best known for his book on the art of fishing The Compleat Angler. First published in 1853 it describes how to catch and prepare a range of fish and the best locations for angling and has become a classic work for enthusiasts ever since. Describing the charms of Hampshire Walton said, ‘it exceeds all England for swift, shallow, clear, pleasant brooks, and store of Trouts’. Image courtesy of www.britten100.org

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WHAT IS THE BRITTEN STREAM? The Britten Stream is your local Friday Afternoons project led by Turner Sims in partnership with its Music Hub partners. The Britten Stream will see workshops and performances taking place locally in schools and community centres. The project will culminate in a grand finale on 22 November 2013, including an event at Turner Sims that will be streamed live. Further details will be announced on turnersims.co.uk in due course.

WHAT NEXT? Now you know a little more about Benjamin Britten, Friday Afternoons and the local links, you can find out more by exploring and registering on the following websites: BRITTEN 100 website (britten100.org) FRIDAY AFTERNOONS website (fridayafternoonsmusic.co.uk) On these websites you will find lesson plans, downloadable scores and backing tracks, easy ensemble arrangements, biographical information, a photo archive and interactive timeline, and much more. The resources are available, free of charge, to aid the teaching of Friday Afternoons, and to put the songs into context.

YOUR LOCAL CONTACTS… Hampshire Music Hub: The Hampshire Music Hub will be in touch with you shortly with more information on how you can get involved in this exciting project celebrating 100 years of Britten. To register your interest email: [email protected]

Portsmouth Music Hub: To register your school's interest in being part of this project, please email your contact details to [email protected] or telephone 023 9237 5655

Southampton Music Hub: To register your school's interest in being part of this project, please email you contact details to [email protected] or telephone 023 8083 3648

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