The Canticles constitute a series of five musical works by composer Benjamin Britten. The pieces were written at various points in his career, with three of them written as memorials. Instrumentation differs on each piece, and several are based on non-sacred texts. A review in Opera Today notes, "Britten didn't draw upon the Scriptures for the texts of his canticles, which resemble cantatas more than church hymns in scale and structure, but an intense religious spirit pervades them all."[1] Musicologist Peter Evans notes the works contain a "mood of spiritual elevation intense enough to demand realization in an ambitious musical structure".[2]

Canticles

References

  1. Anderson, David (March 8, 2005). "Britten: Canticles I–V, The Heart of the Matter". Opera Today
  2. Evans, Peter (1996). The Music of Benjamin Britten, p. 402. Clarendon Press, ISBN 978-0-19-816590-3
  3. Ford, Boris (1996). Benjamin Britten's Poets: The Poetry He Set to Music. Carcanet, ISBN 978-1-85754-022-2
  4. Seymour, Claire (2007). The Operas of Benjamin Britten: Expression and Evasion. Boydell Press, ISBN 978-1-84383-314-7
  5. Johnson, Graham; Odam, George (2003). Britten, Voice, & Piano: Lectures on the Vocal Music of Benjamin Britten. Ashgate, ISBN 978-0-7546-3872-8
  6. Craggs, Stewart R. (2002). Benjamin Britten: A Bio-bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-313-29531-7
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