Britten's "A.M.D.G." (Ad majorem Dei gloriam), a setting of seven Gerard Manley Hopkins poems, was composed in August 1939 during his two-year residence in the USA.
Performer Biography
The RIAS Chamber Choir, founded nearly seventy years ago, is considered one of the ten best choirs in the world by Gramophone magazine.
Composition History
Britten dedicated the pencil sketch of "A.M.D.G." to tenor Peter Pears, with whom he had recently fallen in love, but the work was not performed during Britten's lifetime due to the outbreak of war.
Composer Biography
Benjamin Britten's earliest work on this album, "A Hymn to the Virgin" (1930), was written when he was sixteen and recovering from a fever.
Composition History
The "Five Flower Songs" (1950) were written by Britten as a 25th wedding anniversary gift for his friends Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst, who were patrons of the arts and botanists.
Composition History
Britten completed his a cappella masterpiece, "Hymn to St. Cecilia," in April 1942, using a text specifically written for him by W. H. Auden.
Composition History
The "Choral Dances from Gloriana" (1953) were originally part of Britten's opera about Queen Elizabeth I, but were published as a separate set of concert miniatures.
You might also enjoy...
Three Shakespeare Songs: II. The cloud-capp'd towers
John Rutter: Visions
Britten: The Choral Edition, Vol. 3
Vaughan Williams: Bushes and Briars
Britten: A.M.D.G, Hymn to St Cecilia, A Boy Was Born & A Shepherd's Carol
Britten: Sacred & Profane; A.M.D.G; 5 Flower Songs; Choral Dances from Gloriana etc.
Sacred and Profane
Delius and Ireland Partsongs
Britten: Christ's Nativity; A Boy Was Born & Other Choral Works
Fen And Meadow: Britten Choral Works III
Delius & Bax: Choral Music
Sacred and Profane: English choral music from Britten, Sandström, Elgar
