This is Edward Gardner's sixth release on LPO Label, and the third that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the label in 2025. This Britten program was recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall (Sinfonia da Requiem and The Prince of the Pagodas) and Saffron Hall (Winter Words). A bold, early masterpiece written at just twenty-six and originally commissioned to commemorate Japan's 2600th imperial anniversary, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem was rejected for being too solemn, but emerged as his only major purely orchestral work and a powerful response to the growing threat of war. Winter Words Britten's poignant song cycle originally for tenor and piano, set to texts of 8 poems by Thomas Hardy is presented here in a new orchestration by Robin Holloway-a world premiere recording. The Prince of the Pagodas, Britten's ballet with Edward Gardner's distilled concert suite from The Prince of the Pagodas-another world premiere recording-fulfils Britten's unrealised ambition to arrange his full-length ballet into a dramatic orchestral suite.
1 Britten: Sinfonia Da Requiem, Op. 20 I. Lacrymosa
2 Britten: Sinfonia Da Requiem, Op. 20 II. Dies Irae
3 Britten: Sinfonia Da Requiem, Op. 20 III. Requiem Aeternam
4 Britten: Winter Words, Op. 52 (Orch. Robin Holloway) I. at Day-Close in November
5 Britten: Winter Words, Op. 52 (Orch. Robin Holloway) II. Midnight on the Great Western (Or the Journeying Boy)
6 Britten: Winter Words, Op. 52 (Orch. Robin Holloway) III. Wagtail and Baby (A Satire)
7 Britten: Winter Words, Op. 52 (Orch. Robin Holloway) IV. the Little Old Table
8 Britten: Winter Words, Op. 52 (Orch. Robin Holloway) V. the Choirmaster's Burial (Or the Tenor Man's Story)
9 Britten: Winter Words, Op. 52 (Orch. Robin Holloway) VI. Proud Songsters (Thrushes, Finches and Nightingales)
10 Britten: Winter Words, Op. 52 (Orch. Robin Holloway) VII. at the Railway Station, Upway (Or the Convict and Boy with the Violin)
11 Britten: Winter Words, Op. 52 (Orch. Robin Holloway) VIII. Before Life and After
12 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Prelude
13 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Act I: The Palace of the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom the Fool and the Dwarf
14 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Act I: The Palace of the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom Variation of Princess Belle Épine
15 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Act II, Scene 1: The Strange Journey of Belle Rose to the Pagoda Land Introduction
16 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Act II, Scene 1: The Strange Journey of Belle Rose to the Pagoda Land Waltz: Clouds, Stars and Moon
17 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Act II, Scene 1: The Strange Journey of Belle Rose to the Pagoda Land Belle Rose Borne in By the Frogs
18 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Act II, Scene 2: The Arrival and Adventures of Belle Rose in the Kingdom of the Pagodas the Pagodas
19 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Act II, Scene 2: The Arrival and Adventures of Belle Rose in the Kingdom of the Pagodas the Hunt
20 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Act III: The Palace of the Middle Kingdom Pas de Deux: Belle Rose and the Prince of the Pagodas
21 Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas Suite, Op. 57 Act III: The Palace of the Middle Kingdom Finale and Apotheosis
This is Edward Gardner's sixth release on LPO Label, and the third that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the label in 2025. This Britten program was recorded at London's Royal Festival Hall (Sinfonia da Requiem and The Prince of the Pagodas) and Saffron Hall (Winter Words). A bold, early masterpiece written at just twenty-six and originally commissioned to commemorate Japan's 2600th imperial anniversary, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem was rejected for being too solemn, but emerged as his only major purely orchestral work and a powerful response to the growing threat of war. Winter Words Britten's poignant song cycle originally for tenor and piano, set to texts of 8 poems by Thomas Hardy is presented here in a new orchestration by Robin Holloway-a world premiere recording. The Prince of the Pagodas, Britten's ballet with Edward Gardner's distilled concert suite from The Prince of the Pagodas-another world premiere recording-fulfils Britten's unrealised ambition to arrange his full-length ballet into a dramatic orchestral suite.
