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2 Piano
2 Lullabies • View Recordings
2 pianos
Jun 22, 1988 • Peter Frankl, Tamás Vásáry • Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh Festival
1936
Introduction and Rondo alla burlesca, opus 23, number 1 • View Recordings
2 pianos		1940
Mazurka elegiaca, opus 23, number 2 • View Recordings
2 pianos		1941
Art song
Clerk, The
Epitaph
What's on your mind?
Tenor, piano
Beware! • View Recordings
voice, piano
  1. O that I ne'er been married (Burns)
  2. Beware (Longfellow)
  3. The Clerk (Asquith)
1922-1926
Birds, The • View Recordings
Mezzo/Baritone, piano		1929 rev. 1934
Tit for Tat • View Recordings
voice, piano (Walter de la Mare)
Jun 23, 1969 • John Shirley-Quirk, Benjamin Britten • Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
  1. A song of enchantment
  2. Autumn
  3. Silver
  4. Vigil
  5. Tit for tat
1931 (1968)
Ship of Rio
voice, piano		1932 (1963)
Poison tree, A • View Recordings
Baritone, piano (William Blake)
Nov 22, 1986 • Henry Herford, Ian Brown • Wigmore Hall
1935
When you're feeling like expressing your affection • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden?)
Jun 15, 1992 • Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown • Blythburgh Church
1935/6
Cabaret Songs • View Recordings
High voice, piano (W. H. Auden)
  1. O tell me the truth about love
  2. Funeral Blues
  3. Johnny
  4. Calypso
1937
Night covers up the rigid land • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden)
Nov 22, 1985 • Patricia Rozario, Graham Johnson • Wigmore Hall, London
1937
Not even summer yet • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (Peter Burra)
1937 • Nell Moody, Gordon Thorne
1937
On this Island, opus 11 • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden)
Nov 19, 1937 • Sophie Wyss, Benjamin Britten • BBC Radio
  1. Let the florid music praise
  2. Now the leaves are falling fast
  3. Seascape: Look, stranger
  4. Nocturne: Now through night's caressing grip
  5. As it is plenty
1937
Sun Shines Down, The
Tenor, piano		1937
To lie flat on the back with the knees flexed • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden)
Apr 23, 1985 • Neil Mackie, John Blakely (Sophie Wyss may have performed the song earlier)
1937
Fish in the Unruffled Lakes • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden)		1938
Red Cockatoo, The • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (Arthur Waley after the Chinese of Po Chü-i)
Jun 17, 1991 • Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown • Snape Maltings
1938
7 Sonnets of Michelangelo, opus 22 • View Recordings
Tenor, piano
Sep, 1942 • private performance and recording made in the U.S. in 1941
  1. Si come nella penna (XVI)
  2. A che più debb'io mai l'intensa voglia (XXXI)
  3. Veggio co' bei vostri occhi (XXX)
  4. Tu sa' ch'io so, signior mie (LV)
  5. Rendete agli occhi miei (XXXVIII)
  6. S'un casto amor (XXXII)
  7. Spirto ben nato (XXIV)
1940
Underneath the Abject Willow
Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden)		1941
Cradle song for Eleanor • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (Louis MacNeice)
Jun 15, 1992 • Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown • Blythburgh Church
1942
Dirge for Wolfram ("If thou wilt ease thy heart") • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (Thomas Lovell Beddoes)
Jun 15, 1992 • Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown • Blythburgh Church
1942
Song, on the water ("Wild with passion") • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (Thomas Lovell Beddoes)
Jun 15, 1992 • Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown • Blythburgh Church
1942
Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Bernard, The • View Recordings
male voices, piano		1943
Birthday song for Erwin • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (Ronald Duncan)
Nov 22, 1988 • Christopher Hobkirk, Rosalind Jones • RCM
1945
Holy Sonnets of John Donne, The, opus 35 • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano
Nov 22, 1945 • Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten • Wigmore Hall, London
  1. Oh my blacke Soule
  2. Batter my heart
  3. O might those sighes and teares
  4. Oh, to vex me
  5. What if this present
  6. Since she whom I loved
  7. At the round earth's imagined corneres
  8. Thou hast made me
  9. Death, be not proud
1945
Charm of Lullabies, A, opus 41 • View Recordings
Mezzo, piano
?Jan 03, 1945 • • The Hague
1947
Children and Sir Nameless, The • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano		1953
If it's ever spring again • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano		1953
Winter Words, opus 52 • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano
Oct 08, 1953 • • Harewood House, Leeds
  1. At day-close in November
  2. Midnight on the Great Western
  3. Wagtail and baby
  4. The little old table
  5. The choirmaster's burial
  6. Proud songsters
  7. At the railway station, Upway
  8. Before life and after
1953
6 Hölderlin-Fragmente, opus 61 • View Recordings
voice, piano
Nov 20, 1958 • Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten
1958
Um Mitternacht • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Jun 15, 1992 • Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown • Blythburgh Church
1959/60
Poet's Echo, opus 76 • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (Pushkin)
Dec 02, 1965 • Galina Vishnevskaya, Mstislav Rostropovich • Moscow
1965
Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, opus 74 • View Recordings
Baritone, piano
Jun 24, 1965 • Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Benjamin Britten • Aldeburgh
  1. London
  2. The Chimney-sweeper
  3. A Poison Tree
  4. The Tyger
  5. The Fly
  6. Ah, Sun-flower! Weary of time
  7. Every night and every morn
1965
Who are these Children?, opus 84 • View Recordings
Tenor, piano (William Soutar)
May 04, 1971 • Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten • National Gallery, Edinburgh
1969
Ballet
Prince of the Pagodas, The, opus 57 • View Recordings
Ballet
Jan 01, 1957 • Benjamin Britten conducting • Covent Garden
1956
Brass
Russian Funeral • View Recordings
brass and percussion		1936
Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury
3 trumpets
Jun 10, 1959 • • Bury St Edmunds
1959
Cello
Suite number 1, opus 72 • View Recordings
cello		1965
Suite number 2, opus 80 • View Recordings
cello		1967
Suite number 3, opus 87 • View Recordings
cello		1971
Tema "Sacher" • View Recordings
May 02, 1976 • Mstislav Rostropovich • Tonhalle, Zürich
1976
Chamber
Movement • View Recordings
wind sextet
Jun 11, 1993 • Haffner Wind Ensemble • Aldeburgh Parish Church, Aldeburgh Festival
1930
String quartet in D1931
Phantasy, opus 2
oboe quartet		1932
Alla marcia • View Recordings
String quartet		1933
2 Insect Pieces • View Recordings
oboe and piano
Mar 07, 1979 • Janet Craxton, Margot Wright • Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, Memorial Concert for Sylvia Spencer
1935
Suite, opus 6
violin and piano		1935
3 Divertimenti • View Recordings
String quartet
Feb 25, 1936 • Stratton Quartet • Wigmore Hall, London (RCM Patrons' Fund Concert).
1936
Temporal Variations • View Recordings
oboe and piano
Dec 15, 1936 • Natalie Caine, Adolph Hallis • Wigmore Hall, London
1936
String quartet number 1 in D major, opus 25 • View Recordings1941
String quartet number 2 in C major, opus 36 • View Recordings1945
Lachrymae, reflections on a song of Dowland, opus 48 • View Recordings
viola and piano		1950
6 Metamorphoses after Ovid, opus 49 • View Recordings
oboe		1951
Morris Dance from Gloriana
2 descant recorders		1953
Alpine Suite
recorder trio		1955
Scherzo
recorder quartet		1955
Sonata, opus 65
cello and piano		1961
Gemini Variations, opus 73 • View Recordings
flute, violin, piano four hands [2 - 4 players]		1965
String quartet number 3, opus 94 • View Recordings1975
Choral
Hymn to the Virgin • View Recordings
unacc. voices
Jan 05, 1931 • Lowestoft Musical Society • St. John's Church, Lowestoft
1930 rev. 1934
Christ's Nativity (The King's Birthday) • View Recordings
Jun 14, 1991 • Britten Singers, Stephen Wilkinson • Aldeburgh
1931
3 Two-Part Songs • View Recordings
boys/female voices
?Dec 12, 1932 • Macnaghten-Lemare Concert • Ballet Club (Mercury) Theatre
1932
2 Two-Part Songs
SATB, piano		1933
Boy was Born, A, opus 3 • View Recordings
boys' voices, male voices, female voices (with organ ad lib)
Feb 23, 1934 • • BBC Radio
  1. Theme
  2. Variation I: Lullay, Jesu
  3. Variation II: Herod
  4. Variation III: Jesu, As Thou Art
  5. Variation IV: The Three Kings
  6. Variation V: In The Bleak Mid-Winter
  7. Variation VI: Noel!
1933 rev. 1955
Jubilate Deo in E-flat major • View Recordings
SATB, organ (Psalm 100)		1934
May
unison voices, piano		1934
Te Deum in C major • View Recordings
Treble, SATB, org/str, harp/piano		1934
Friday Afternoons, opus 7 • View Recordings
children's voices, piano		1935
Pacifist March
unison voices, accompaniment (Ronald Duncan)		1937
Advance Democracy • View Recordings
SSAATTBB (Randall Swingler)		1938
A.M.D.G. • View Recordings
SATB (Gerald Manley Hopkins)
Aug 21, 1984 • London Sinfonietta Voices, Terry Edwards • Purcell Room, London
  1. Prayer I
  2. Rose Mystica
  3. God's Grandeur
  4. Prayer II
  5. O Deus, ego amo te
  6. The Soldier
  7. Heaven-Haven
1939
Ballad of Heroes, The, opus 14 • View Recordings
Tenor/Soprano, chorus, orchestra (W. H. Auden, Randall Swingler)
Apr 05, 1939 • Walter Widdop, chorus and orchestra conducted by Constant Lambert • Queen's Hall, London
  1. Funeral march
  2. Scherzo: Dance of death
  3. Recitative and Chorale
1939
Ceremony of Carols, A, opus 28 • View Recordings
Treble voices, harp
Dec 05, 1942 • • Norwich
  1. Procession
  2. Wolcum Yole!
  3. There is no rose
  4. That yongě child
  5. Balulalow
  6. As dew in Aprille
  7. This little Babe
  8. Interlude
  9. In freezing winter night
  10. Spring Carol
  11. Deo Gracias
  12. Recessional
1942
Hymn to St. Cecilia, opus 27 • View Recordings
SSATB
Nov 22, 1942 • • London
1942
Rejoice in the Lamb, opus 30 • View Recordings
Treble, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, SATB, organ
Sep 21, 1943 • Choir of St. Matthew's, Benjamin Britten • Northampton
1943
Deus in adjutorm meum • View Recordings1945
Festival Te Deum, opus 32 • View Recordings
SATB, organ
Apr 24, 1945 • • Swindon
1945
Old Joe has Gone Fishing
SATB and piano		1945
Song of the Fishermen from Peter Grimes
SATB and piano		1945
St. Nicolas, opus 42 • View Recordings
Tenor, SA, 4 Tr, SATB, strings, piano 4 hands, percussion, organ
Jun 05, 1948 • • Aldeburgh
1948
Spring Symphony, opus 44 • View Recordings
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, boys voices, mixed voices, orchestra
Jul 01, 1949 • • Holland Festival, Amsterdam
1949
Wedding Anthem, opus 46 • View Recordings
Soprano, Tenor, SATB, organ (Ronald Duncan)
Sep 29, 1949 • • St. Mark's for the wedding of Lord Harewood and Marion Stein
1949
5 Flower Songs, opus 47 • View Recordings
SATB
Apr 03, 1950 • • Dartington
  1. To Daffodils
  2. The succession of the four sweet months
  3. Marsh flowers
  4. The evening primrose
  5. Ballad of green broom
1950
Choral Dances from Gloriana • View Recordings
unacc chorus		1953
Hymn to St. Peter, opus 56a • View Recordings
Treble, SATB, organ		1955
Antiphon, opus 56b • View Recordings
SATB, organ		1956
Cantata academica, opus 62 • View Recordings
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, chorus, orchestra
Jul 01, 1959 • 500th Anniversary of the University of Basel
1959
Missa brevis, opus 63 • View Recordings
boys' voices, organ
Jul 22, 1959 • Westminster Cathedral Choir, George Malcolm
1959
Fancie • View Recordings
unison voices, piano		1961
Jubilate Deo in C major • View Recordings
SATB and organ		1961
War Requiem, opus 66 • View Recordings
Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, boys' voices, mixed voices, orchestra, chamber orchestra, organ (Missa pro defunctis, Wilfred Owen)
May 30, 1962 • Heather Harper, Peter Pears, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Melos Ensemble, City of Birmingham Orchestra, Benjamin Britten and Meredith Davies • St. Michael's Cathedral, Coventry
1961
Hymn to St. Columba • View Recordings
SATB, organ		1962
Psalm CL, opus 67 • View Recordings
children's chorus 2 voices, instruments		1962
Cantata misericordium, opus 69 • View Recordings
Tenor, Baritone, small chorus, string quartet, string orchestra, piano, harp, timpani		1963
Voices for Today, opus 75
boys' voices, double chorus, organ ad lib
Oct 24, 1965 • London Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Choristers of Westminster Abbey,Ralph Downes, Istvan Kertesz, Douglas Guest • London [Schola Cantorum, Farmingdale Boys' Choir, Hugh Ross, Arpad Darazs
1965
Golden Vanity, opus 78 • View Recordings
boys' voices, piano (Colin Graham after old English ballad)
Jun 03, 1967 • Vienna Boys' Choir • Aldeburgh
1966
Building of the House, The, opus 79 • View Recordings
SATB/organ/brass and orchestra		1967
Oxen, The • View Recordings
female chorus 2 voices, piano (Thomas Hardy)		1967
Children's Crusade, opus 82 • View Recordings
children's voices, percussion, 2 pianos, organ (Berthold Brecht / Hans Keller)
May 19, 1969 • Wandsworth School Boys' Choir, Russell Burgess • St. Paul's Cathedral
1968
Welcome Ode, opus 95
young people's voices, orchestra
Jul 11, 1977 • Suffolk Schools' Choir and Orchestra, Keith Shaw • Corn Exchange, Ipswich
1976
Praise we great men • View Recordings
SATB, SATB, orchestra
Aug 11, 1985 • Marie McLaughlin, Heather Harper, Philip Langridge, Richard Jackson, Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich • Snape Maltings
1976
(completed by
Colin Matthews
1985)
Concert aria
3 Arias from Peter Grimes
tenor, soprano and piano or orchestra		1945
3 Arias from The Rape of Lucretia
alto, tenor, mezzosoprano and piano or orchestra		1947
Bottom's Dream from A Midsummer Night's Dream
bass baritone and piano or orchestra		1960
Concerto
Double concerto • View Recordings
violin and viola (compl. Colin Matthews)
Jun 15, 1997 • Katherine Hunka, Philip Dukes, Britten-Pears Orchestra, Kent Nagano • Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh Festival
1932
Original 3rd Movement of Piano concerto • View Recordings1938
Piano concerto, opus 13 • View Recordings
  1. Toccata
  2. Waltz
  3. Impromptu
  4. March
1938
Violin concerto, opus 15 • View Recordings
  1. Moderato con moto
  2. Vivace
  3. Passacaglia: Andante lento
1939
Young Apollo, opus 16 • View Recordings
piano and strings		1939
Diversions, opus 21 • View Recordings
piano left hand and orchestra		1940
Cello Symphony, opus 68 • View Recordings
cello and orchestra		1963
Symphony, opus 68 • View Recordings
cello and orchestra
Mar 12, 1964 • Mstislav Rostropovich, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Benjamin Britten • Great Hall, Moscow Conservatory
1963 rev. 1964
Film
King's Stamp, The1935
Night Mail • View Recordings1936
Folksong
Folksong arrangements volume 1 • View Recordings
voice, piano (The British Isles)
  1. The Salley Gardens
  2. Little Sir William
  3. The Bonny Earl o' Moray
  4. O can ye sew cushions?
  5. The Trees they grow so high
  6. The Ash Grove
  7. Oliver Cromwell
1943
Folksong arrangements volume 2 • View Recordings
voice, piano (France)
  1. La Noël passée
  2. Voici le printemps
  3. La Fileuse
  4. Le roi s'en va-t'en chasse
  5. La belle est au jardin d'amour
  6. Il est quelqu'un sur terre
  7. Eho! Eho!
  8. Quand j'etais chez mon père
1946
Folksong arrangements volume 3 • View Recordings
voice, piano (The British Isles)
  1. The Plough Boy
  2. There's none to soothe
  3. Sweet Polly Oliver
  4. The Miller of Dee
  5. The foggy, foggy dew
  6. O Waly, Waly
  7. Come you not from Newcastle?
1947
Folksong arrangements volume 4 • View Recordings
voice, piano (Moore's Irish Melodies)
  1. Avenging and bright
  2. Sail on, sail on
  3. How sweet the answer
  4. The Minstrel Boy
  5. At the mid hour of night
  6. Rich and Rare
  7. Dear Harp of my Country!
  8. Oft in the stilly night
  9. The Last Rose of Summer
  10. O the sight entrancing
1960
Folksong arrangements volume 5 • View Recordings
voice, piano (The British Isles)
  1. The brisk young widow
  2. Sally in our Alley
  3. The Lincolnshire poacher
  4. Early One Morning
  5. Ca' the yowes
1961
Folksong arrangements volume 6 • View Recordings
voice, guitar (England)
  1. I will give my love an apple
  2. Sailor-Boy
  3. Master Kilby
  4. The Soldier and the Sailor
  5. Bonny at Morn
  6. The Shooting of his Dear
1961
King Herod and the Cock • View Recordings
Jun 16, 1962 • London Boy Singers, Benjamin Britten • Aldeburgh Parish Church, Aldeburgh Festival
1962
8 Folksong Arrangements • View Recordings
voice, harp
  1. Lord! I married me a wife
  2. She's like the Swallow
  3. Lemady
  4. Bonny at morn
  5. I was lonely and forlorn
  6. David of the White Rock
  7. The False Knight upon the road
  8. Bird Scarer's Song
1976
Guitar
Nocturnal after John Dowland, opus 70
guitar		1963
Harp
Suite, opus 83 • View Recordings
harp		1969
Incidental
Pageant of Empire
Punch Revue, The
  1. Tell me the truth about love
  2. Old friends are best
  3. Waltz
They Walk Alone
Easter 1916
Incidental music (Montagu Slater)		1935
Johnson over Jordan • View Recordings
Incidental music (J. B. Priestley)
Feb 22, 1939 • • New Theatre, London
1935
Timon of Athens
Incidental music		1935
Agamemnon
Incidental music (trans. Louis MacNeice)		1936
Stay Down Miner
Incidental music (Montagu Slater)		1936
Ascent of F6, The
Incidental music (W. H. Auden/Christopher Isherwood)		1937
On the Frontier
Incidental music (W. H. Auden/Christopher Isherwood)		1938
This Way to the Tomb • View Recordings
Incidental music (Ronald Duncan)
Oct 11, 1945 • Pilgrim Players • Mercury Theatre, London
  1. Evening; Morning; Night
1945
Opera
Paul Bunyan, opus 17 • View More Information
W. H. Auden
May 05, 1941 • Columbia Theatre Associates, New York Schola Cantorum, Hugh Ross • New York
1941 (1974)
Peter Grimes, opus 33 • View More Information
Montagu Slater after George Crabbe's The Bourough
Jun 07, 1945 • Reginald Goodall • Sadler's Wells Opera
1945
Rape of Lucretia, The, opus 37 • View More Information
Ronald Duncan after André Obey's play Le viol de Lucrèce
Jul 12, 1946 • Ernest Ansermet • Glyndebourne
1946 rev. 1947
Albert Herring, opus 39 • View More Information
Eric Crozier after Guy de Maupassant's short story Le rosier de Madame Husson
Jun 20, 1947 • Benjamin Britten • Glyndebourne
1947
Beggar's Opera (after John Gay), opus 43 • View More Information
Ballad Opera
May 24, 1948 • Benjamin Britten • Arts Theatre, Cambridge
1948
Little Sweep, The, opus 45 • View More Information
Eric Crozier
?Jun 14, 1949 • English Opera Group Orchestra, Norman Del Mar • Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
1949
Billy Budd, opus 50 • View More Information
E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier after Hermann Melville's short story
Dec 01, 1951 • Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Benjamin Britten • Covent Garden (2 act version first broadcast 13 November 1961)
1951 rev. 1960
Gloriana, opus 53 • View More Information
William Plomer
Jun 08, 1953 • John Pritchard • Covent Garden
1953
Turn of the Screw, The, opus 54 • View More Information
Myfanwy Piper after Henry James
Sep 14, 1954 • English Opera Group Orchestra, Benjamin Britten • Teatro La Fenice
1954
Noye's Fludde, opus 59 • View More Information
Jun 18, 1958 • English Opera Group Players, Charles Mackerras • Orford Church, Aldeburgh
1957
Midsummer Night's Dream, A, opus 64 • View More Information
Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears after William Shakespeare
Jun 11, 1960 • Benjamin Britten • Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
1960
Owen Wingrave, opus 85 • View More Information
Myfanwy Piper based on the short story by Henry James
May 16, 1971 • Boys of the Wandsworth School Choir, English Chamber Orchestra, Benjamin Britten • BBC2 Television
1970
Death in Venice, opus 88 • View More Information
Myfanwy Piper based on the novella by Thomas Mann
Jun 16, 1973 • English Opera Group, English Chamber Orchestra, Steuart Bedford • Snape Maltings
1973
Orchestral
2 portraits • View Recordings
string orchestra
broadcastDec 05, 1995 • Michael Gerrard, Northern Sinfonia, Martyn Brabbin • BBC Radio 3
1930
Sinfonietta, opus 1 • View Recordings
chamber orchestra
  1. Poco presto ed agitato
  2. Andante lento
  3. Tarantella: presto vivace
1932
Simple Symphony, opus 4 • View Recordings
strings
  1. Boisterous Bourée
  2. Playful Pizzicato
  3. Sentimental Sarabande
  4. Frolicsome Finale
1934
Soirées musicales (after Rossini), opus 9
  1. March
  2. Canzonetta
  3. Tirolese
  4. Bolero
  5. Tarantella
1936
King Arthur: Suite for orchestra (arr. Paul Hindmarsh) • View Recordings
Oct 21, 1995 • Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, Lutz Köhler • Snape Maltings Concert Hall
  1. Overture (Fanfare, Introduction, The Lady of the Lake, Wedding March)
  2. Scherzo (Doom, Wild Dance, Death Music)
  3. Variations (Galahad, Graal Music)
  4. Finale (Battle)
1937
Mont Juic (after Catalan dances), opus 121937
Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge, opus 10 • View Recordings
strings
  1. Introduction and theme
  2. Adagio
  3. March
  4. Romance
  5. Aria Italiana
  6. Bouree Classique
  7. Wiener Walzer
  8. Moto Perpetuo
  9. Funeral March
  10. Chant
  11. Fugue and Finale
1937
Canadian Carnival (Kermesse canadienne), opus 19 • View Recordings1939
Sinfonia da Requiem, opus 20 • View Recordings
  1. Lacrimosa
  2. Dies irae
  3. Requiem aeternam
1940
Matinées musicales (after Rossini), opus 24
  1. March
  2. Nocturne
  3. Waltz
  4. Pantomime
  5. Moto Perpetuo (Solfeggi e Gorgheggi)
1941
Occasional overture (published as An American overture in 1985), opus 38 • View Recordings1941
Scottish Ballad, opus 26 • View Recordings
2 pianos and orchestra		1941
Prelude and fugue, opus 29 • View Recordings
18-part string orchestra		1943
Chorale on an Old French Carol • View Recordings
SATB
Dec 24, 1944 • BBC Singers, Leslie Woodgate • BBC Radio
1944
4 Sea Interludes (from Peter Grimes), opus 33a • View Recordings
Jun 13, 1945 • London Philharmonic Orchestra, Benjamin Britten • Cheltenham Town Hall, Cheltenham Festival.
  1. Dawn
  2. Sunday Morning
  3. Moonlight
  4. Storm
1945
Passacaglia (from Peter Grimes), opus 33b • View Recordings
Aug 29, 1945 • BBC Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Boult • Royal Albert Hall, London
1945
Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Henry Purcell (The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra), opus 34 • View Recordings1946
Men of Goodwill
Dec 25, 1947 • London Symphony Orchestra, Walter Goehr • BBC Home Service
1947
Symphonic Suite 'Gloriana', opus 53a • View Recordings
tenor (or oboe), orchestra
Sep 23, 1954 • Peter Pears, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Schwarz • Town Hall, Birmingham
1954
Pas de six from The Prince of the Pagodas, opus 57a1956
Suite on English Folk Tunes "A Time There Was", opus 90 • View Recordings
chamber orchestra		1974
Lachrymae, opus 48a • View Recordings
viola and strings
May 03, 1977 • Rainer Moog, Westphalian Symphony Orchestra, Karl Anton Rickenbacher • Recklinghausen, Germany
1976 (arr.)
Organ
Prelude and Fugue on a Theme of Vittoria • View Recordings
organ		1946
Piano
5 Waltzes (Walztes) • View Recordings
Piano
Feb 10, 1971 • Antony Peebles • BBC Radio 3
1925
3 Character Pieces • View Recordings
Piano
Jul 28, 1989 • Sarah Briggs • St Mary's Centre, Chester Summer Music Festival
1930
12 variations on a theme • View Recordings
Piano
Jun 22, 1986 • Murray Perahia • Snape Maltings Concert Hall
1931
Holiday Diary, opus 5 • View Recordings
Piano		1934
Moderato and Nocturne from Sonatina romantica • View Recordings
Piano
Jun 16, 1983 • George Benjamin • Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh, Aldeburgh Festival
1940
Night Piece (Notturno) • View Recordings
Piano		1963
Radio
Company of Heaven, The
Radio Cantata (texts selected by R Ellis Roberts)
Sep 29, 1937 • Felix Aylmer, Ian Dawson, Stewart Rome, Sophie Wyss • BBC Radio
1937
Hadrian's Wall
W. H. Auden		1937
King Arthur
D. G. Bridson		1937
World of the Spirit, The • View Recordings
Radio
broadcast ?Jun 13, 1938 •
1938
Sword in the Stone, The • View Recordings
after T. H. White		1939
American in England, An
Radio		1942
Rescue, The (The Rescue of Penelope) • View Recordings
Edward Sackville-West based on Homer's Odyssey		1943
Dark Tower, The
Louis MacNeice
Jan 21, 1946 •
1946
Viola
Elegy • View Recordings
viola
Jun 22, 1984 • Nobuko Imai • Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh Festival
1930
Vocal
Hopkins settings (withdrawn), opus 17
4 Chansons Françaises • View Recordings
High voice, orchestra (Hugo and Verlaine)
Jun 10, 1980 • Heather Harper, English Chamber Orchestra, Steuart Bedford • Snape Maltings (Broadcast 30 March 1980
  1. Nuits de Juin
  2. Sagesse
  3. L'enfance
  4. Chanson d'Automne
1928
Wealden Trio, A • View Recordings
SSA (Ford Madox Ford)
Jun 19, 1968 • Ambrosian Singers, Philip Ledger • Aldeburgh
1929 (1967)
Sycamore Tree, The • View Recordings
SATB
Jun 19, 1968 • Ambrosian Singers, Philip Ledger • Aldeburgh
1930 (1967)
Mother comfort • View Recordings
2 voices, piano (Montagu Slater)		1930s
Sweet was the Song the Virgin Sung • View Recordings
SSAA
Jul 15, 1966 • Purcell Singers, Imogen Holst • Aldeburgh
1931 (1966)
2 Ballads
2 voices and piano
Dec 15, 1936 • Sophie Wyss, Betty Bannerman, Adolph Hallis • Wigmore Hall
1936
Our Hunting Fathers, opus 8 • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, orchestra (W. H. Auden)
Sep 01, 1936 • Sophie Wyss, Benjamin Britten conducting • Norwich
  1. Prologue
  2. Rats Away!
  3. Messalina
  4. Dance of Death (Hawking for the Partridge)
  5. Epilogue and Funeral March
1936
Underneath the Abject Willow • View Recordings
Soprano, Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden)		1936(?)
Illuminations, Les, opus 18 • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, strings (Arthur Rimbaud)
Jan 30, 1940 • Sophie Wyss, Boyd Neel String Orchestra • Aeolian Hall, London
  1. Fanfare
  2. Villes
  3. Phrase
  4. Antique
  5. Royauté
  6. Marine
  7. Interlude
  8. Being beauteous
  9. Parade
  10. Départ
1939
Now sleeps the crimson petal
Tenor, horn and strings		1943
Serenade, opus 31 • View Recordings
Tenor, horn and strings
Oct 15, 1943 • Peter Pears, Dennis Brain, conducted by Walter Goehr • Wigmore Hall, London
  1. Prologue
  2. Pastoral
  3. Nocturne
  4. Elegy
  5. Dirge
  6. Hymn
  7. Sonnet
  8. Epilogue
1943
Shepherd's carol, A • View Recordings
SATB (W. H. Auden)		1944
Canticle I "My beloved is mine", opus 40 • View Recordings
Soprano/Tenor, piano (Francis Quarles)		1947
Canticle II "Abraham and Isaac", opus 51 • View Recordings
Alto, Tenor, piano (15th century Chester Miracle Play)
1952 • Katleen Ferrier, Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten • Aldeburgh
1952
Canticle III "Still Falls the Rain", opus 55 • View Recordings
Tenor, horn, piano (Edith Sitwell)
Jan 28, 1955 • Peter Pears, Dennis Brain, Benjamin Britten • London
1954
Heart of the Matter, The
Narrator, tenor, horn, piano		1956
Songs from the Chinese, opus 58
Soprano/Tenor, guitar
Jun 17, 1958 • Peter Pears, Julian Bream • Aldeburgh
1957
Nocturne, opus 60 • View Recordings
Tenor, 7 obbligato instruments, string orchestra
Oct 16, 1958 • Peter Pears, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Schwarz • Leeds Festival, Town Hall, Leeds
  1. On a poet's lips I slept
  2. Below the thunders of the upper deep
  3. Encinctured with a twine of leaves
  4. Midnight's bell goes ting, ting, ting...
  5. But that night when on my bed I lay
  6. She sleeps on soft, last breaths
  7. What is more gentle that a wind in summer?
  8. When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see
1958
Curlew River, opus 71 • View Recordings
Church parable (William Plomer after Japanese Noh-play Sumidagawa)
Jun 12, 1964 • English Opera Group • Orford Church, Aldeburgh
1964
Burning Fiery Furnace, The, opus 77 • View Recordings
Church parable (William Plomer from the Book of Daniel)
Jun 09, 1966 • English Opera Group • Orford Church, Aldeburgh
1966
Prodigal Son, The, opus 81 • View Recordings
Church parable (William Plomer from the New Testament)
Jun 10, 1968 • English Opera Group • Orford Church, Aldeburgh
1968
Canticle IV "The Journey of the Magi", opus 86 • View Recordings
Countertenor, Tenor, Baritone, piano (T. S. Eliot)
Jun 26, 1971 • James Bowman, Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk, Benjamin Britten • Snape Maltings
1971
Canticle V "The Death of Narcissus", opus 89 • View Recordings
Tenor, harp (T. S. Eliot)
Jan 18, 1975 • Peter Pears, Osian Ellis • Schloss Elmau, Bavaria
1974
Birthday Hansel, A, opus 92 • View Recordings
High voice, harp (Robert Burns)
Jan 09, 1976 • Peter Pears, Osian Ellis • Schloss Elmau, Bavaria
1975
Phaedra, opus 93 • View Recordings
Mezzo, strings, percussion, 'cello, harpsichord (Robert Lowell after Racine's Phèdre)
Jun 16, 1976 • Janet Baker, English Chamber Orchestra, Steuart Bedford • Snape Maltings
  1. In May, in brilliant Athens
  2. Oh Gods of wrath
  3. My time's too short, your highness
1975
Sacred and Profane, opus 91 • View Recordings
5 voices
Sep 14, 1975 • Wilbye Consort of Voices, Peter Pears • Snape Maltings
  1. St. Godric's Hymn
  2. I mon waxe wod
  3. Lenten is come
  4. The long night
  5. Yif ic of luve can
  6. Carol
  7. Ye that passen by
  8. A death
1975
 
These documents could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.
Feel free to send any corrections or comments to Scott Eric Smith