Sinfonietta (Britten)
Benjamin Britten's Sinfonietta was composed in 1932, while he was a student at the Royal College of Music, and first performed in 1933. It was published as his Op. 1 and dedicated to his teacher Frank Bridge.
Instrumentation
It was originally written for five winds and five strings: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, two violins, viola, cello and double bass. In 1936, Britten revised the score for the larger forces of a chamber orchestra.
Movements
A typical performance takes about 15 minutes. The movements are headed:
- Poco presto ed agitato
- Variations, andante lento
- Tarantella
The first movement is in sonata form. The music writer Erwin Stein has suggested that the whole work is modelled on the Chamber Symphony No. 1 of 1906 by Arnold Schoenberg.[1][2][3]
In 1937, before Britten departed for America, his friend W. H. Auden inscribed his poem "It's Farewell to the Drawing-room's Civilised Cry" on the fly-leaf of a miniature score of the Sinfonietta. Britten was touched by the gesture.[4]
References
- Notes
- ↑ Carpenter 1992, p. 43, 74
- ↑ Evans 1979, p. 15-21
- ↑ Lamoreaux 2005
- ↑ Carpenter 1992, p. 90
- Sources
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