English Music for Strings

Featuring

John Wilson
Sinfonia of London
Benjamin Britten
Frank Bridge
Lennox Berkeley
Arthur Bliss

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Composer Biography

Frank Bridge, a pacifist and Britten's first teacher, was deeply affected by the horrors of World War I, which influenced his compositions like Lament and his later Piano Sonata and cello concerto Oration.

Composition History

Frank Bridge's Lament was conceived as a memorial to Catherine Crompton, a child who perished with her family when the Cunard liner Lusitania was torpedoed in 1915.

Performer Biography

Sinfonia of London is a historic recording orchestra, relaunched in 2018 by British conductor John Wilson, and comprises principal players and leaders from orchestras worldwide.

Composition History

During the 1930s, Arthur Bliss, Benjamin Britten, and Lennox Berkeley contributed major works to the string orchestra repertoire, following in the footsteps of Elgar and Vaughan Williams.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Sir Arthur Bliss, after composing film scores, sought to create "pure" music for string orchestra because he loved its sound and its quieter palette appealed to him.

Composition History

Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge was commissioned on very short notice for the 1937 Salzburg Festival, with Britten completing the work in just four weeks.

Notable Performances

Arthur Bliss's Music for Strings premiered on August 11, 1935, at the Salzburg Festival, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Adrian Boult.