The Spring Symphony is a

choral symphony A choral symphony is a musical composition for orchestra, choir, and sometimes solo vocalists that, in its internal workings and overall musical architecture, adheres broadly to symphonic musical form. The term "choral symphony" in this conte ...

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, his

Opus ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning " work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicati ...

44. It is dedicated to

Serge Koussevitzky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling " Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevi ...

and the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1 ...

. It was premiered in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, on Thursday 14 July 1949 (not 9 July which is quoted by many sources) as part of the

Holland Festival The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and archit ...

, when the composer was 35. At the premiere the tenor soloist was

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 ...

, the soprano Jo Vincent and the contralto

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the c ...

. The conductor was Eduard van Beinum. A recording of the performance survives and was first issued by Decca in August 1994. In October 1950, the Spring Symphony was performed at the

Leeds Triennial Musical Festival The Leeds Festival, officially known as the ''Leeds Triennial Musical Festival'', was a classical music festival which took place between 1858 and 1985 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History The first festival celebrated the opening of ...

with a choir of 100 boys. The Spring Symphony is written for soprano, alto and

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ' ...

ists, mixed

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, boys' choir (often performed by a children's choir instead) and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. Britten sets several poets' words, chiefly from the 16th and 17th century such as Edmund Spenser,

John Clare John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...

and

George Peele George Peele (baptised 25 July 1556 – buried 9 November 1596) was an English translator, poet, and dramatist, who is most noted for his supposed but not universally accepted collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play ''Titus Andronicus ...

. A notable exception is 'Out on the lawn I lie in bed' by his friend W. H. Auden. In the composer's own words, the work represents 'the progress of Winter to Spring and the reawakening of the earth and life which that means'.

Structure

The Spring Symphony is made up of four parts, which correspond to the movements of a conventional symphony: '' Allegro'' with slow introduction, slow movement, ''

scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often ...

'', and finale. Part I begins with the dark and mysterious ''Shine Out'', a poem to the sun. Several more songs follow, including ''The Driving Boy'', which is a piece that features the boys' choir, at times whistling, and

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thou ...

. The second part has several solos and quiet choruses and references to the month of May. The third part looks forward to May and then to summer. The Finale, ''London, to Thee I do Present'', comes to a climax when the entire chorus joins in a wordless, full-throated

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

representing the May revellers fortified by

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...

and

ale Ale is a type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to bal ...

(borne out by some rather unexpected

modulation In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the '' carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informat ...

s). The climax of the movement is the moment when the children's voices, accompanied by

unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or pe ...

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

s, re-enter the scene and sing the 13th century

round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the numbe ...

'' Sumer is icumen in''. The simple tune, sung in time over the unyielding waltz of the rest of the ensemble, finally achieves dominance. Eventually the celebrations subside, and the Maylord then offers a final blessing with the proclamation: "And so, my friends, I cease." The large orchestra includes triple

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

, two harps, and a large

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

section. Each song has its distinctive scoring, ranging from just first and second

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s accompanying the tenor (''Waters Above!'') to full orchestra in the first and last songs. The last movement adds the call of a cow-horn, specifying a G, C, and F.

Songs in the Spring Symphony

The songs (and authors) in the Spring Symphony are as follows:

Part 1

# Introduction: ''Shine Out'' (Anonymous) (mixed chorus) # ''The Merry Cuckoo'' ( Edmund Spenser) (tenor solo) # ''Spring, the Sweet Spring'' (

Thomas Nashe Thomas Nashe (baptised November 1567 – c. 1601; also Nash) was an Elizabethan playwright, poet, satirist and a significant pamphleteer. He is known for his novel '' The Unfortunate Traveller'', his pamphlets including ''Pierce Penniless,' ...

) (soprano, alto and tenor soli, mixed chorus) # ''The Driving Boy'' (

) (soprano solo and boys' choir) # ''The Morning Star'' (

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and polit ...

) (mixed chorus)

Part 2

''Welcome, Maids of Honour'' ( Robert Herrick) (alto solo) # ''Waters Above!'' ( Henry Vaughan) (tenor solo) # ''Out on the lawn I Lie in bed'' ( W. H. Auden) (alto solo and mixed chorus)

Part 3

''When will my May Come?'' (

Richard Barnfield Richard Barnfield (baptized 29 June 1574 – 1620) was an English poet. His obscure though close relationship with William Shakespeare has long made him interesting to scholars. It has been suggested that he was the "rival poet" mentioned in ...

) (tenor solo) # ''Fair and Fair'' (

) (soprano and tenor soli) # ''Sound the Flute!'' (

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

) (male chorus, female chorus and boys' choir)

Part 4

Finale: ''London, to Thee I do Present'' (Anon, closing words from ''

The Knight of the Burning Pestle ''The Knight of the Burning Pestle'' is a play in five acts by Francis Beaumont, first performed at Blackfriars Theatre in 1607 and published in a quarto in 1613. It is the earliest whole parody (or pastiche) play in English. The play is a sa ...

'' by

Francis Beaumont Francis Beaumont ( ; 1584 – 6 March 1616) was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher. Beaumont's life Beaumont was the son of Sir Francis Beaumont of Grace Dieu, near Thrin ...

) (soprano, alto and tenor soli, mixed chorus and boys' choir)

References

{{Authority control Compositions by Benjamin Britten Britten Spring Spring Symphony 1949 compositions