Britten: Nocturne

**richardfinegold** · 17-11-23, 12:54

Not sure I know this work and I will seek it out

having just searched Apple, is this the same work as Nocurnal, after Dowland, Op. 70?

**Pulcinella** · 17-11-23, 14:13

Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post

Not sure I know this work and I will seek it out

having just searched Apple, is this the same work as Nocurnal, after Dowland, Op. 70?

No: this is a different work, Opus 60.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturne_(Britten)

Happy hunting/listening.

**Rolmill** · 17-11-23, 14:55

I have John Mark Ainsley (1996, with the Britten Sinfonia/Nicholas Cleobury) on EMI Eminence, presumably nla as not on Pulcinella's list - beautifully sung and well coupled (fine performances of the Serenade and Les Illuminations).

Actually I have also just found it on a BBC Music Magazine CD, sung by Andrew Kennedy with BBCNOW/Bostock, but I don't recall ever listening to it

. Interesting couplings (Plymouth Town and Grace Williams' Ballads for Orchestra).

**Pulcinella** · 17-11-23, 14:59

Originally posted by Rolmill View Post

I have John Mark Ainsley (1996, with the Britten Sinfonia/Nicholas Cleobury) on EMI Eminence, presumably nla as not on Pulcinella's list - beautifully sung and well coupled (fine performances of the Serenade and Les Illuminations).

Actually I have also just found it on a BBC Music Magazine CD, sung by Andrew Kennedy with BBCNOW/Bostock, but I don't recall ever listening to it

. Interesting couplings (Plymouth Town and Grace Williams' Ballads for Orchestra).

I have both those in my collection.
Maybe I'll add a 'No longer available but possibly streamable' section, as there's also Mark Padmore with the Britten Sinfonia under Jacqueline Shave (though it didn't get very good reviews).

**hmvman** · 17-11-23, 20:18

Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post

Not sure I know this work and I will seek it out

having just searched Apple, is this the same work as Nocurnal, after Dowland, Op. 70?

It's a sort of sequel to the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. Whereas the Serenade has the theme of night, the Nocturne's theme is sleep.

**Sir Velo** · 17-11-23, 21:27

Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post

Not sure I know this work and I will seek it out

You're in for a treat. Britten brings out all the nightmarish terror that lurks at the heart of these superb poems.in some of his best music. In fact, if you can find a CD with the Serenade, Les Illuminations and Nocturne you will basically have the best of Britten's works for solo voice and orchestra.

I see I've got the Pears and Langridge versions but will be tempted, thanks to Pulci's digging, to some comparative listening of the Pregardien, Bostridge and Staples versions on Qobuz.

**Nick Armstrong** · 17-11-23, 22:24

Originally posted by hmvman View Post

It's a sort of sequel to the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. Whereas the Serenade has the theme of night, the Nocturne's theme is sleep.

I vividly remember this being one of the most mysterious among my parents’ LP collection:

As I got into music during my teens, I couldn’t make head or tail of it (despite having caught the Shostakovich bug).

I must say I’ve always found it less accessible than Serenade - maybe this excellent thread is an opportunity to try again…

**hmvman** · 17-11-23, 23:34

Originally posted by Nick Armstrong View Post

As I got into music during my teens, I couldn’t make head or tail of it (despite having caught the Shostakovich bug).

I must say I’ve always found it less accessible than Serenade - maybe this excellent thread is an opportunity to try again…

Yes, I think 'less accessible' is a good way of putting it. I loved the Serenade from the first time I heard it (from a recording prior to attending a live performance). I think my first encounter with the Nocturne was through that Tear/Marriner recording and, yes, I found it really weird at first, compared with the Serenade. With further listening, over quite a few years now, I've found that the Nocturne's music haunts me more than that of the Serenade and I think I now rate the later work higher. I think you may find that repeated listening will pay dividends.

I've only ever heard one live performance of the Nocturne and that was our local amateur orchestra here in York. It was a very good performance as I recall with an excellent soloist declaiming from a church pulpit! I guess performances are expensive because of the solo instrumentalists required.

**Rolmill** · 17-11-23, 23:57

Originally posted by Sir Velo View Post

In fact, if you can find a CD with the Serenade, Les Illuminations and Nocturne you will basically have the best of Britten's works for solo voice and orchestra.

See post #4, the John Mark Ainsley CD has precisely this combination and is very well sung (and accompanied) - sadly nla, but if you see a copy I would recommend snapping it up.

**Barbirollians** · 18-11-23, 00:47

Originally posted by Rolmill View Post

See post #4, the John Mark Ainsley CD has precisely this combination and is very well sung (and accompanied) - sadly nla, but if you see a copy I would recommend snapping it up.

Seconded

**Pulcinella** · 18-11-23, 06:47

Originally posted by Barbirollians View Post

Seconded

Almost thirded: the proviso being that if, like me, you prefer Les Illuminations sung by a soprano (as in the original performance), then the Harper/Tear/Tear combination is the one to go for:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Illuminations-Serenade-tenor-op-31-Nocturne/dp/B000E5L84I/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2NQMWPF2YHN7L&keywords=Britten+ill uminations+harper&qid=1700286147&s=music&sprefix=b ritten+illuminations+harper%2Cpopular%2C52&sr=1-1

Of course, if you're streaming, you can readily mix and match at will.

PS: The JMA version was reissued on CfP, and copies are still available here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Mark-Ainsley-sings-Britten/dp/B000069DPK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OKMSC0XKHCBN&keywords=Britten+ainsley+cleobury&qid=1700288375&s=music&sprefix=britten+ainsley+cleobury%2Cpopular%2C54&sr=1-1

**Sir Velo** · 18-11-23, 08:19

Having extended my acquaintance with recordings of this work, I would have to say that the Staples, while good,suffers from unclear diction. In this work, as with all of Britten, clarity of enunciation is paramount. For this reason, I would unhesitatingly recommend the Bostridge/Berlin/Rattle version, particularly for listeners new to this work. Not only is Bostridge crystal clear, allowing us to savour the poetry, but he is supported by miraculous accompaniment from the Berliners, with the winds particularly praiseworthy. Bostridge's somewhat histronic approach (described as "demented" by Qobuz's reviewer!) won't meet with approval from everyone, but the combination of vocal and orchestral excellence is highly attractive.

**Pulcinella** · 18-11-23, 09:21

Like other contributors to this thread, I'm not as familiar with the Nocturne as with Les Illuminations or the Serenade, so I intend doing some homework with the score and the section on the work in Peter Evans' book The Music of Benjamin Britten.

A big difference/contrast with the other cycles is that it is a continuous work: indeed the BBC MM and Nimbus (Hadley) versions give it only one index point on their respective CDs.

Evans makes much of the jarring clash between the tonic C and a D flat major third that appears.
But it gets even more interesting than that: the vocal line at 'Nurslings of immortality' in the first section 'passes through various tonal fields, touching on every pitch of the chromatic set except A natural, a note promptly thrown into relief as the open-string irritant against the B flat minor of 'The Kraken''.

Lots to explore, then!

**Belgrove** · 18-11-23, 10:49

Thanks for compiling the list Pulci, a few there I’m tempted to explore further. Like hmvman, I find the Nocturne more interesting than the Serenade, not least in being through composed rather than a collection. That rocking motif, a lullaby, threads through the entire work, connecting the verse settings. The obligato structure shows off Britten’s considerable skills as an orchestrator to fine effect. It’s contemporaneous with the Midsummer Night’s Dream, and has a similar feel to it. The final sonnet setting is magnificent, making transparent the elliptical verse. It’s Britten and Pears for me, but both Tear versions and Landridge/Bedford are very fine. I’m a bit allergic to Bostridge (like many are to Pears).

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