''Mont Juic'', suite of Catalan dances for orchestra (), was written jointly by

Lennox Berkeley Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley CBE (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer. Biography Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James ...

and

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 ...

in 1937. Named for

Montjuïc Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Montjuïc or Montjuich, meaning "Jewish Mountain" in medieval Latin and Catalan, is a broad, shallow hill in Barcelona with a rich history. It was the birthplace of the city, and its st ...

, it was published as Berkeley's Op. 9 and Britten's Op. 12.

Background

Berkeley and Britten both attended the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) Festival in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain in 1936. Berkeley had been living abroad for some years and had never previously met Britten.Peter Dickinson ed., ''Lennox Berkeley and Friends: Writings, Letters and Interviews''
p. 158. They soon became close friends. Another friend of Berkeley's, Peter Burra, was also present, and he also became a friend of Britten's.Neil Powell, ''Benjamin Britten: A Life for Music''
p. 112. At the Festival, Britten accompanied the violinist Antonio Brosa in the first performance of his Suite for violin and piano, Op. 6.Classics Online
. Retrieved 14 July 2013 The highlight of the Festival, which Britten, Berkeley and Burra all attended, was the posthumous world premiere of

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

, "To the memory of an angel", which was performed on Sunday 19 April, with the soloist Louis Krasner, under the conductor Hermann Scherchen. The next day, the trio visited

, the hill that dominates the Barcelona landscape. On the Wednesday, 22 April, they attended a Festival of Folk Dance on the Exposition Grounds on Montjuïc, where they heard various Catalan folk tunes. Later that day Berkeley and Britten jotted down some of the melodies in a Barcelona café. The following year, back in England, they decided to jointly write an orchestral suite based on some of the dance melodies they had heard on Montjuïc. They named it simply ''Mont Juic'', and dedicated it "In memory of Peter Burra", who was killed in an aircraft crash in April 1937. The work was written between 6 April and 12 December 1937.''Benjamin Britten: A Guide to the Orchestral Works''
Retrieved 14 July 2013

Instrumentation

The instrumentation consists of: two flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets in B-flat, alto saxophone (ad lib.), tenor saxophone (ad lib.), two bassoons (one doubling double bassoon), four horns, two trumpets in B-flat, three trombones, tuba, timpani, glockenspiel, xylophone, cymbals, bass drum, tenor drum, side drum, triangle, tambourine, tam-tam, harp, and strings.

Movements

The suite has four movements: # Andante maestoso # Allegro grazioso # Lament: Andante moderato ("Barcelona, July 1936") # Allegro molto The two composers chose not to reveal who had written which parts of the music. The manuscript Benjamin Britten submitted to the publisher was written entirely in his hand. In 1980, however, Lennox Berkeley revealed to Peter Dickinson that he had written the first two pieces and Britten the latter two, although they collaborated on the orchestration, the form and other details.Chester Novello
Retrieved 14 July 2013

Homage to Catalonia

By the time the work was written, the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

had broken out, and the third movement Lament (in C minor) was written as a tribute to the region of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

.Classical Archives
Retrieved 14 July 2013 It includes a solo alto saxophone and is based on the Sardana. It is subtitled "Barcelona, July 1936", a clear reference to the Civil War that had broken out on 18 July.

First performance

The first performance of the work was in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio broadcast on 8 January 1938, by the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

under Joseph Lewis. After the performance, Berkeley wrote to Britten, saying ''I must say that I thought your two pieces more effective than mine''. Berkeley also told his son

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

how impressed he was by Britten's " Mozartean dexterity in getting instantly every nuance and decoration down on paper in such a way that, back in England it came bouncing off the page full of life and expression".John Bridcut, ''Essential Britten: A Pocket Guide for the Britten Centenary''
''Mont Juic'' has since had many performances and a number of recordings.

References

External links

Listing for the premiere performance
in the BBC's

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

magazine. {{Portal bar, Classical music, Music Collaborations in classical music 1937 compositions Compositions by Lennox Berkeley Compositions by Benjamin Britten Compositions for symphony orchestra Music of Catalonia