Britten's "Serenade"
Awhile back I bought a remaindered copy of a CD containing music by Benjamin Britten, in particular his "Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings", performed by Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor, Michael Thompson, horn, and Bryden Thomson directing the strings of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.* It's fantastic.
I think I've mentioned before that I frequently am of two minds about Britten: I would like to like him a lot better than I do. I like his approach to composition, the things he wrote–all manner of reasons, but sometimes it seems that actually listening to some of his works is just not as satisfying as I'd like. I'm not sure why that is, but perhaps it is sometimes due to lackluster performance that don't love the music as they should. Of course, the problem could be with Britten himself, but I hate to think so.
Besides, it's not always the case. When I went with Bill to see "Peter Grimes" at the Metropolitan Opera (New York), I loved it and I was happy to find something by Britten I could admire without reservation.
As a piece of music, both for the listener and the performer, this "Serenade" is tough to love. The tenor part is frequently written in a very high register, making it difficult to sound pretty. Of course, "pretty" isn't really the desired effect, either, but I can imagine that a lot of tenors don't feel comfortable sounding less than beautiful. Then, the combination of solo horn and strings is remarkably transparent and exposed which, in musician speak, means something like "life's a bitch because there's no place to hide and they can hear every note!" Play something like a Brahms symphony and there's lots of room for hiding seams and technical shortcomings, but something like this serenade makes every note count, and does it in a musical idiom that's angular and modern but demands an awkward lyricism from the performers. Quite a challenge.
The first recording I ever heard of the work was performed by Peter Pears, tenor, and Dennis Brain# horn, with Britten conducting the orchestra. For years this was the definitive recording and the sentimental favorite, since Britten wrote it for these performers. I found it interesting, lots of the music was gorgeous and haunting, but I didn't really care for the entire piece all that much.
I like it now. The performance on this recording is just perfect and the music is performed with the conviction that it's interesting music worth performing, a priceless quality.
I'm relieved.
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* A Chandos recording (CHAN 7112), containing "Les Illuminations", op. 18; "Quatre chansons francais", and the "Serenade for tenor, horn and strings". Felicity Lott, soprano, sings the first two pieces quite admirably.
# I think, but sometimes I think it might have been Barry Tuckwell, although we know that the piece was indeed written at Brain's request. Give me a break: it's been some 30 years since I've heard it.