Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. His operas are firmly established in the international repertoire, and more of them are played worldwide than those of any other composer born in the twentieth century.
He showed talent from an early age and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. The premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945 brought international fame. For the next fifteen years he devoted much of his energy to the stage, establishing himself as one of the leading twentieth-century figures in opera.
His interests as a composer were wide-ranging. He wrote important music for orchestra, chorus and solo voice (much of it for the tenor Peter Pears), as well as chamber, instrumental and film scores. He also took a lasting interest in music for children and amateur performers, and was himself a fine pianist and conductor.
Compositions by Benjamin Britten appear on
The 12 Days of Christmas
The Choir of Ormond College sings carols long held in affection around the world, and pairs them with newer works, accompanied by renowned Australian pianist Stephen McIntyre.
The Choir of Ormond College Live
A live retrospective for the Choir of Ormond College’s twenty-first year, gathering concert recordings from 1985 to 2000 under Douglas Lawrence, from Britten’s Festival Te Deum and Fauré’s Requiem to Bach, Palestrina, Poulenc and lively encores.
A Shropshire Lad
Baritone Blake Fischer and pianist Claire Cooper, winners of the 1998 Song Recital Award, present English and American folk, traditional and art songs by Butterworth, Copland, Finzi and Britten.
Arranger
A Classic Case of Love
Soprano Helen Noonan and guitarist Peter Constant present an intimate programme of love songs spanning centuries, from folk and early music to Schubert, Satie, Villa-Lobos and the twentieth-century stage and songbook.
Music from Heaven
The Choir of Ormond College, directed by Douglas Lawrence, in a highly acclaimed programme of unaccompanied sacred works by Allegri, Byrd, Poulenc, Britten, Barber and J.S. Bach.
Bach Byrd Britten
The Choir of Ormond College, directed by Douglas Lawrence, presents Bach, Byrd and Britten. Bach’s motet Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden and Byrd’s Mass for Four Voices stand beside Britten’s Five Flower Songs and A Ceremony of Carols.
The Choir of Ormond College Melbourne
Directed by Douglas Lawrence, who led chapel music at Ormond College, Melbourne, for more than twenty years, this recording presents the college choir in English church music of the sixteenth and twentieth centuries.
Ding Dong Merrily on High
A baker's dozen of well-loved traditional Christmas carols featuring children's and men's voices. Recorded in the magnificent acoustics of St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne.
Christmas Variations
Harpist Megan Reeve gathers Christmas music in theme and variation: familiar carols, a French Noël, Britten, Bach–Gounod, and an Australian lullaby, with flute on two tracks.
I Heard You Singing: Songs My Father Taught Me
Baritone Jonathan Morton's first solo album is a personal programme of English art song, drawn from cycles and favourites his father once sang around the family piano.
Music for Strings
String orchestra music from Wolf-Ferrari and Grieg to Britten, Grainger and living Australian voices. Gerald Gentry leads the Southern Cross Philharmonia, with Amir Farid at the piano in Grainger’s clog-dance romp.
Burns and Beyond
This recording, Burns and Beyond, gathers art songs for voice and modern piano drawn from Robert Burns, and includes Percy Grainger’s Three Scotch Folksongs, built on ancient Scottish tunes.
Christmas Joy and a Ceremony of Carols
The Melbourne Academy Boys Choir, directed by Andrew Blackburn, offers a Christmas programme of familiar carols and distinctive concert works by Kodály, Grüber, Britten and others.