Britten's Complete Works

Plus Discography

Stage works, Choral, Solo Vocal, Music for the Radio, Orchestral, Instrumental, Music for Film, Arrangements

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Stage Works

~ - Timon of Athens - Incidental music - 1935
f.p. 19 November 1935 - London, Westminster Theatre
~ - Easter 1916 - Incidental music (Montagu Slater) - 1935
f.p. 8 December 1935 - London, Phoenix
~ - Stay Down Miner - Incidental music (Montagu Slater) - 1936
f.p. 10 May 1936 - London, Westminster Theatre
~ - Agamemnon - Incidental music (trans. Louis MacNeice) - 1936
f.p. 1 November 1936 - London, Westminster Theatre
~ - The Ascent of F6 - Incidental music (W. H. Auden/Christopher Isherwood) - 1937
f.p. 26 February 1937 - London, Mercury Theatre
~ - On the Frontier - Incidental music (W. H. Auden/Christopher Isherwood) - 1938
f.p. 14 November 1938
~ - Johnson over Jordan - Incidental music (J. B. Priestley) - 1935
f.p. 22 February 1939 - New Theatre, London
17 - Paul Bunyan - Opera (W. H. Auden) - 1941 (1974)
f.p. 5 May 1941 - Helen Marshall (Tiny), Columbia Theatre Associates, New York Schola Cantorum, Hugh Ross - Columbia University, New York (Revised version: BBC - 1 February 1976, Aldeburgh - 14 June 1976)
33 - Peter Grimes - Opera (Montagu Slater after George Crabbe's The Borough. Letter XXII: Peter Grimes) - 1945
f.p. 7 June 1945 - Peter Pears, Joan Cross, Edith Coates, Owen Brannigan, Roderick Jones, Edmund Donlevy, Morgan Jones, Valetta Iacopi, Reginald Goodall - Sadler's Wells Opera, London
~ - This Way to the Tomb - Incidental music (Ronald Duncan) - 1945
f.p. 11 October 1945 - Pilgrim Players - Mercury Theatre, London
37 - The Rape of Lucretia - Opera (Ronald Duncan after André Obey's play Le viol de Lucrèce) - 1946 rev. 1947
f.p. 12 July 1946 - Kathleen Ferrier, Joan Cross, Peter Pears, Otakar Kraus, Owen Brannigan, Ernest Ansermet - Glyndebourne
39 - Albert Herring - Opera in 3 acts (Eric Crozier after Guy de Maupassant's short story Le rosier de Madame Husson) - 1947
f.p. 20 June 1947 - Peter Pears, Joan Cross, Frederick Sharp, Nancy Evans, Margaret Richie - Glyndebourne
43 - The Beggar's Opera (after John Gay) - Ballad Opera - 1948
f.p. 24 May 1948 - Benjamin Britten conducting - Arts Theatre, Cambridge
45 - The Little Sweep - Opera in 1 act (Eric Crozier) - 1949
f.p. 14 June 1949 - Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
50 - Billy Budd - Opera (E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier after Hermann Melville's short story) - 1951 rev. 1960
f.p. 1 December 1951 - Theodor Uppman, Peter Pears, Frederick Dalberg, Hervey Allen, Geraint Evans, Michael Langdon, Inia Te Wiata, Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Benjamin Britten - Covent Garden, London (2 act version first broadcast 13 November 1961 - BBC; f.p. 9 January 1964 - Covent Garden, London)
53 - Gloriana - Opera (William Plomer after Lytton Strachey's Elizabeth and Essex) - 1953
f.p. 8 June 1953 - Joan Cross, Peter Pears, Monica Sinclair, Jennifer Vyvyan, Geraint Evans, Frederick Dahlberg, Arnold Matters, Inia Te Wiata - Covent Garden, London
54 - The Turn of the Screw - Opera (Myfanwy Piper after Henry James) - 1954
f.p. 14 September 1954 - Peter Pears, Jennifer Vyvyan, Joan Cross, Arda Mandikian, Olive Dyer, David Hemmings - La Fenice, Venice
57 - The Prince of the Pagodas - Ballet (choreography by John Cranko) - 1956
f.p. 1 January 1957 - Benjamin Britten conducting - Covent Garden, London
59 - Noye's Fludde - Opera (Chester Miracle Play) - 1957
f.p. 18 June 1958 - Orford Church, Aldeburgh
64 - A Midsummer Night's Dream - Opera (Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears after William Shakespeare) - 1960
f.p. 11 June 1960 - Alfred Deller, Jennifer Vyvyan, Owen Brannigan, April Cantelo, Marjorie Thomas, Thomas Hemsley, George Moran, Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten - Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
71 - Curlew River - Church parable (William Plomer after Japanese Noh) - 1964
f.p. 12 June 1964 - English Opera Group - Orford Church, Aldeburgh
77 - The Burning Fiery Furnace - Church parable (William Plomer from the Book of Daniel) - 1966
f.p. 9 June 1966 - English Opera Group - Orford Church, Aldeburgh
81 - The Prodigal Son - Church parable (William Plomer from the New Testament) - 1968
f.p. 10 June 1968 - English Opera Group - Orford Church, Aldeburgh
85 - Owen Wingrave - Opera (Myfanwy Piper based on the short story by Henry James) - 1970
f.p. 16 May 1971 - Benjamin Luxon, John Shirley-Quirk, Janet Baker, Peter Pears, Jennifer Vyvyan, Nigel Douglas, Sylvia Fisher, Heather Harper, Boys of the Wandsworth School Choir, English Chamber Orchestra, Benjamin Britten - BBC television broadcast (10 May 1973 Covent Garden, London)
88 - Death in Venice - Opera (Myfanwy Piper based on the novella by Thomas Mann) - 1973
f.p. 16 June 1973 - Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk, James Bowman, English Opera Group, English Chamber Orchestra, Steuart Bedford - Snape Maltings

Choral Works

~ - A Hymn to the Virgin - unacc. - 1930 rev. 1934
f.p. 5 January 1931 - Lowestoft Musical Society - St. John's Church, Lowestoft
~ - Christ's Nativity (The King's Birthday) - SATB (Henry Vaughan, William Ballet, Christ Church, Robert Southwe) - 1931
f.p. 14 June 1991 - Britten Singers, Stephen Wilkinson - St. Edmund's Church
~ - Three Two-Part Songs - - 1932
f.p. 12 December 1932 - Macnaghten-Lemare Concert - Ballet Club (Mercury) Theatre
3 - A Boy was Born - boys' voices, male voices, female voices (with organ ad lib) - 1933 rev. 1955
f.p. 23 February 1934 - BBC broadcast
~ - Two Two-Part Songs - - 1933
~ - May - unison voices, piano - 1934
f.p. 24 June 1942 - BBC
~ - Te Deum - Treble, SATB, org/str, harp/piano - 1934
f.p. 27 January 1936 - London
~ - Jubilate Deo in E-flat - - 1934
7 - Friday Afternoons - children's voices, piano - 1935
f.p. 18 May 1949
~ - Pacifist March - unison voices, accompaniment (Ronald Duncan) - 1937
~ - Advance Democracy - SSAATTBB (Randall Swingler) - 1938
14 - Ballad of Heroes - Tenor/Soprano, chorus, orchestra (W. H. Auden, Randall Swingler) - 1939
f.p. 5 April 1939 - Walter Widdop, chorus and orchestra conducted by Constant Lambert - Queen's Hall, London
17 (withdrawn) - A.M.D.G. - SATB (Gerald Manley Hopkins) - 1939
f.p. 21 August 1984 - London Sinfonietta Voices, Terry Edwards - Purcell Room, London
27 - Hymn to St. Cecilia - SSATB - 1942
f.p. 22 November 1942 - London
28 - A Ceremony of Carols - Treble voices, harp - 1942
f.p. 5 December 1942 - Norwich
30 - Rejoice in the Lamb - Treble, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, SATB, organ - 1943
f.p. 21 September 1943 - Choir of St. Matthew's, Benjamin Britten - Northampton
~ - The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Bernard - male voices, piano - 1943
~ - A Shepherd's Carol - SATB (W. H. Auden) - 1944
~ - Chorale after an Old French Carol - SATB - 1944
f.p. 24 December 1944 - BBC Singers, Leslie Woodgate
32 - Festival Te Deum - SATB, organ - 1945
f.p. 24 April 1945 - Swindon
~ - Deus in adjutorum meum - - 1945
~ - Old Joe has Gone Fishing - SATB, piano - 1946(?)
~ - Song of the Fishermen - SATB, piano - 1946(?)
42 - St. Nicolas - Tenor, SA, 4 Tr, SATB, strings, piano 4 hands, percussion, organ - 1948
f.p. 5 June 1948 - Aldeburgh
44 - Spring Symphony - Soprano, Alto, Tenor, boys voices, mixed voices, orchestra - 1949
f.p. 1 July 1949 - (9 July 1949?) - Holland Festival, Amsterdam
46 - A Wedding Anthem "Amo Ergo Sum" - Soprano, Tenor, SATB, organ (Ronald Duncan) - 1949
f.p. 29 September 1949 - St. Mark's
47 - Five Flower Songs - SATB - 1950
f.p. 3 April 1950 - Dartington
~ - Choral Dances from Gloriana - unacc - 1951(?)
56a - Hymn to St. Peter - Treble, SATB, organ - 1955
56b - Antiphon - SATB, organ - 1956
62 - Cantata academica - Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, chorus, orchestra - 1959
f.p. 1 July 1959 - 500th Anniversary of the University of Basel, Basel
63 - Missa brevis - boys' voices, organ - 1959
f.p. 22 July 1959 - Westminster Cathedral Choir, George Malcolm - London
~ - Jubilate Deo in C - SATB, organ - 1961
~ - Fancie - unison voices, piano - 1961
66 - War Requiem - Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, boys' voices, mixed voices, orchestra, chamber orchestra, organ (Missa pro defunctis, Wilfred Owen) - 1961
f.p. 30 May 1962 - Heather Harper, Peter Pears, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Melos Ensemble, City of Birmingham Orchestra, Benjamin Britten and Meredith Davies - St. Michael's Cathedral, Coventry
67 - Psalm CL - children's chorus 2 voices, instruments - 1962
~ - A Hymn to St. Columba - SATB, organ - 1962
69 - Cantata misericordium - Tenor, Baritone, small chorus, string quartet, string orchestra, piano, harp, timpani - 1963
f.p. 1 September 1963 - Geneva
75 - Voices for Today - boys' voices, double chorus, organ ad lib - 1965
f.p. 24 October 1965 - London Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Choristers of Westminster Abbey, Ralph Downes, Istvan Kertesz, Douglas Guest - London - [Schola Cantorum, Farmingdale Boys' Choir, Hugh Ross, Arpad Darazs - New York] [French Radio Choir, Jacques Jouineau, Jean-Paul Kreder - Paris]
~ - Sweet was the Song the Virgin Sung - SSAA - 1931 (1966)
f.p. 15 July 1966 - Purcell Singers, Imogen Holst - Aldeburgh
78 - The Golden Vanity - boys' voices, piano (Colin Graham after old English ballad) - 1966
f.p. 3 June 1967 - Vienna Boys' Choir - Aldeburgh
~ - The Oxen - female chorus 2 voices, piano (Thomas Hardy) - 1967
~ - The Sycamore Tree - SATB - 1930 (1967)
f.p. 19 June 1968 - Ambrosian Singers, Philip Ledger - Aldeburgh
~ - A Wealden Trio - SSA (Ford Madox Ford) - 1929 (1967)
f.p. 19 June 1968 - Ambrosian Singers, Philip Ledger - Aldeburgh
82 - Children's Crusade - children's voices, percussion, 2 pianos, organ (Berthold Brecht / Hans Keller) - 1968
f.p. 19 May 1969 - Wandsworth School Boys' Choir, Russell Burgess - St. Paul's Cathedral, London
91 - Sacred and Profane - 5 voices - 1975
f.p. 14 September 1975 - Wilbye Consort of Voices, Peter Pears - Snape Maltings
95 - Welcome Ode - young people's voices, orchestra - 1976
f.p. 11 July 1977 - Suffolk Schools' Choir and Orchestra, Keith Shaw - Corn Exchange, Ipswich
~ - Praise we great men - SATB, SATB, orchestra (Edith Sitwell) - 1976 (completed by Colin Matthews 1985)
f.p. 11 August 1985 - Marie McLaughlin, Heather Harper, Philip Langridge, Richard Jackson, Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich - Snape Maltings

Solo Vocal

~ - Beware! - voice, piano (3 songs "O that I ne'er been married" (Burns), "Beware" (Longfellow), "The Clerk" (Asquith)) - 1922-1926
~ - Quatre Chansons Françaises - High voice, orchestra (Victor Hugo and Paul Verlaine) - 1928
f.p. 10 June 1980 - Heather Harper, English Chamber Orchestra, Steuart Bedford - Snape Maltings (Broadcast 30 March 1980 - BBC)
~ - The Birds - Mezzo/Baritone, piano - 1929 rev. 1934
~ - The Ship of Rio - voice, piano - 1932 (1963)
~ - A Poison Tree - Baritone, piano (William Blake) - 1935
f.p. 22 November 1986 - Henry Herford, Ian Brown - Wigmore Hall, London
~ - When you're feeling like expressing your affection - Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden?) - 1935/6
f.p. 15 June 1992 - Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown - Blythburgh Church
8 - Our Hunting Fathers - Soprano/Tenor, orchestra (W. H. Auden) - 1936
f.p. 1 September 1936 - Sophie Wyss, Benjamin Britten conducting - Norwich
~ - Underneath the Abject Willow - Soprano, Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden) - 1936(?)
11 - On this Island - Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden) - 1937
f.p. 19 November 1937 - Sophie Wyss, Benjamin Britten - BBC London
~ - Cabaret Songs - High voice, piano (W. H. Auden) - 1937
~ - Not even summer yet - Soprano/Tenor, piano (Peter Burra) - 1937
f.p. - Nell Moody, Gordon Thorne
~ - To lie flat on the back with knees flexed - Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden) - 1937
f.p. 23 April 1985 - Neil Mackie, John Blakely (Sophie Wyss may have performed the song earlier)
~ - Night covers up the rigid land - Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden) - 1937
f.p. 22 November 1985 - Patricia Rozario, Graham Johnson - Wigmore Hall, London
~ - Fish in the Unruffled Lakes - Soprano/Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden) - 1938
~ - The Red Cockatoo - Soprano/Tenor, piano (Arthur Waley after the Chinese of Po Chü-I) - 1938
f.p. 17 June 1991 - Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown - Snape Maltings
~ - A Cradle Song: Sleep, Beauty Bright - Soprano, Alto, piano (William Blake) - 1938
f.p. 23 July 1994 - Victoria Bell, Kathleen Roland, Julian West - Snape Maltings
18 - Les illuminations - Soprano/Tenor, strings (Arthur Rimbaud) - 1939
f.p. 30 January 1940 - Sophie Wyss, Boyd Neel String Orchestra - Aeolian Hall, London
22 - Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo - Tenor, piano - 1940
f.p. 23 September 1942 - London
~ - Underneath the Abject Willow - Tenor, piano (W. H. Auden) - 1941
~ - Song, on the water ("Wild with passion") - Soprano/Tenor, piano (Thomas Lovell Beddoes) - 1942
f.p. 15 June 1992 - Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown - Blythburgh Church
~ - Dirge for Wolfram ("If thou wilt ease thy heart") - Soprano/Tenor, piano (Thomas Lovell Beddoes) - 1942
f.p. 15 June 1992 - Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown - Blythburgh Church
~ - Cradle Song for Eleanor - Soprano/Tenor, piano (Louis MacNeice) - 1942
f.p. 15 June 1992 - Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown - Blythburgh Church
31 - Serenade - Tenor, horn and strings - 1943
f.p. 15 October 1943 - Peter Pears, Dennis Brain, conducted by Walter Goehr - Wigmore Hall, London
~ - Now sleeps the crimson petal - Tenor, horn and strings - 1943
~ - Three Arias from Peter Grimes - Tenor, Soprano, piano/orchestra - 1944(?)
35 - The Holy Sonnets of John Donne - Soprano/Tenor, piano - 1945
f.p. 22 November 1945 - Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten - Wigmore Hall, London
~ - Birthday Song for Erwin - Soprano/Tenor, piano (Ronald Duncan) - 1945
f.p. 22 November 1988 - Christopher Hobkirk, Rosalind Jones - Royal College Music
~ - Three Arias from The Rape of Lucretia - Alto, Tenor, Mezzo, piano/orchestra - 1946(?)
40 - Canticle I "My beloved is mine" - Soprano/Tenor, piano (Francis Quarles) - 1947
41 - A Charm of Lullabies - Mezzo, piano - 1947
f.p. 3 January 1945 - The Hague
51 - Canticle II "Abraham and Isaac" - Alto, Tenor, piano (15th century Chester Miracle Play) - 1952
f.p. - Katleen Ferrier, Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten - Aldeburgh
52 - Winter Words - Soprano/Tenor, piano - 1953
f.p. 8 October 1953 - Harewood House, Leeds
~ - If it's ever spring again - Soprano/Tenor, piano - 1953
~ - The children and Sir Nameless - Soprano/Tenor, piano - 1953
55 - Canticle III "Still Falls the Rain" - Tenor, horn, piano (Edith Sitwell) - 1954
f.p. 28 January 1955 - Peter Pears, Dennis Brain, Benjamin Britten - London
~ - The Heart of the Matter - Narrator, tenor, horn, piano - 1956
58 - Songs from the Chinese - Soprano/Tenor, guitar - 1957
f.p. 17 June 1958 - Peter Pears, Julian Bream - Aldeburgh
60 - Nocturne - Tenor, 7 obbligato instruments, string orchestra - 1958
f.p. 16 October 1958 - Peter Pears, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Schwarz - Leeds Festival, Town Hall, Leeds
61 - Sechs Hölderin-Fragmente - - 1958
f.p. 20 November 1958 - Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten - Schloss Wolfsgarten
~ - Bottom's Dream from A Midsummer Night's Dream - Bass - 1958
~ - Um Mitternacht - Soprano/Tenor, piano (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) - 1959/60
f.p. 15 June 1992 - Lucy Shelton, Ian Brown - Blythburgh Church
74 - Songs and Proverbs of William Blake - Baritone, piano - 1965
f.p. 24 June 1965 - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Benjamin Britten - Aldeburgh
76 - The Poet's Echo - Soprano/Tenor, piano (Pushkin) - 1965
f.p. 2 December 1965 - Galina Vishnevskaya, Mstislav Rostropovich - Moscow
~ - Tit for Tat - voice, piano (Walter de la Mare) - 1931 (1968)
f.p. 23 June 1969 - John Shirley-Quirk, Benjamin Britten - Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
84 - Who are these Children? - Tenor, piano (William Soutar) - 1969
f.p. 4 May 1971 - Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten - National Gallery, Edinburgh
86 - Canticle IV "The Journey of the Magi" - Countertenor, Tenor, Baritone, piano (T. S. Eliot) - 1971
f.p. 26 June 1971 - James Bowman, Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk, Benjamin Britten - Snape Maltings
89 - Canticle V "The Death of Narcissus" - Tenor, harp (T. S. Eliot) - 1974
f.p. 18 January 1975 - Peter Pears, Osian Ellis - Schloss Elmau, Bavaria
92 - A Birthday Hansel - High voice, harp (Robert Burns) - 1975
f.p. 9 January 1976 - Peter Pears, Osian Ellis - Schloss Elmau, Bavaria
93 - Phaedra - Mezzo, strings, percussion, 'cello, harpsichord (Robert Lowell after Racine's Phèdre) - 1975
f.p. 16 June 1976 - Janet Baker, English Chamber Orchestra, Steuart Bedford - Snape Maltings
~ - The Sun Shines Down - Tenor, piano - (?)
~ - What's on your mind? - Tenor, piano - (?)
~ - Mother Comfort - 2 voices and piano - (?)

Music for the Radio

~ - The Company of Heaven - Cantata - BBC (texts selected by R Ellis Roberts) - 1937
~ - King Arthur - BBC (D. G. Bridson) - 1937
~ - Hadrian's Wall - BBC (W. H. Auden) - 1937
~ - The World of the Spirit - BBC - 1938
f.p. 13 June 1938 - broadcast
~ - The Sword in the Stone - BBC (after T. H. White) - 1939
~ - An American in England - BBC - 1942
~ - The Rescue - BBC (Edward Sackville-West based on Homer's Odyssey) - 1943
~ - Poet's Christmas - BBC - 1944
~ - The Dark Tower - BBC (Louis MacNeice) - 1946

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Last Update Monday, April 29, 2002