''A Birthday Hansel'', Op. 92, is a

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

for 'high voice' and harp composed by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

and set to texts by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

. The last song cycle that Britten wrote, it was composed in honour of the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...

's 75th birthday, at the request of her daughter,

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. (The Queen Mother was patron of the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

.) Composed in March 1975, the piece was given its debut performance in January 1976 by Britten's life partner

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...

and harpist

Osian Ellis Osian Gwynn Ellis (8 February 1928 – 5 January 2021) was a Welsh harpist, composer and teacher. He was principal harpist of the London Symphony Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble and a Professor of harp at the Royal Academ ...

. It was the last piece which Britten wrote for Pears, and one of his very last works. In recognition of the Queen Mother's Scottish ancestry, Britten chose seven poems by Burns, sung in the Scots language, and performed without a break. 'Hansel' is a Scots word meaning welcome gift or present. At Britten's request,

Colin Matthews Colin Matthews, OBE (born 13 February 1946) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Noted for his large-scale orchestral compositions, Matthews is also a prolific arranger of other composer's music, including works by Berlioz, ...

arranged four of the songs for voice and piano; these were published separately as ''Four Burns Songs'' in 1978.

Songs

The songs are: # "Birthday Song" # "My Early Walk" # "Wee Willie Gray" # "My Hoggie" # "Afton Water" # "The Winter" # "Leezie Lindsay" A complete performance takes about 18 minutes. Musicologist Peter Evans has analysed the cycle. It is through-composed, with the harp supplying transitions from the mood of one poem to the next. As befits a birthday gift, it does not attempt to point out morals nor to invite deep reflection. The songs do not explicitly utilise Scottish musical forms, but are flavoured by echoes of them. Although the texts are all by a single poet, the cycle does not have a sense of the cumulative illumination of the poet's creative character as is found in other such cycles by Britten. It is "delightful but undemanding".

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birthday Hansel, A Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Compositions for harp Song cycles by Benjamin Britten Adaptations of works by Robert Burns 1975 compositions Classical song cycles in English