works for orchestra with solo instrument(s)
Scottish Ballad, op. 26
13 mins
for two pianos and orchestra
July–27 October 1941
Written in 1941 for the piano-duet team of Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson, the Scottish Ballad is a free fantasy based on a number of Scottish tunes, including ‘Dundee’, ‘Turn Ye to Me’ and ‘Flowers of the Forest’. A lamenting funeral march is followed by a flamboyant Highland fling, in which Britten parodies ‘Scottish’ music in a display piece of great wit and vitality. B&H, 1946 (two-piano score); 1969 (full score, study score) Study score, two-piano score (with orchestral cues) on sale; full score, orchestral parts on rental ‘For Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson’ 2 fl (II=picc), 2 ob, 2 cl in Bf, 2 bn, dbn (ad lib.)—4 hn, 2 tpt in C, 3 trbn, tuba—timp, 2 perc (cymb, tamb, t-t, whip, sd, bd)—harp—str 28 November 1941, Music Hall, Cincinnati. Ethel Bartlett, Rae Robertson pfs, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Goossens cond
Movement for Clarinet and Orchestra
6 mins
1941–2
This is the surviving first movement of a 1941 commission from Benny Goodman for a Clarinet Concerto, a work that, for various reasons, was never completed. As with many of Britten’s works composed for a great soloist, this single movement, orchestrated by Colin Matthews, is a virtuosic showpiece, exploiting the sonorities and brilliance of the solo instrument amidst a colourful orchestral palette. FM Full score, solo part, orchestral parts on rental 2 fl, 2 ob, bass cl, 2 bn—4 hn, 2 tpt in C, 3 trbn—timp, perc (sd, susp cymb, glock)—harp—str 7 March 1990, Barbican Hall, London. Michael Collins cl, Britten–Pears Orchestra, Tamás Vásáry cond
LACHRYMAE, OP. 48, reflections on a song of john dowland, for viola and piano (completed 16 may 1950; revised june 1970)
Lachrymae, op. 48a
reflections on a song of john dowland, arranged for solo viola
15 mins 10
cd: track
and small string orchestra
February 1976
Originally written for violist William Primrose, Britten’s arrangement for string orchestra was completed in the last year of his life. The Dowland song on which it is based, Come, heavy sleep, appears only at the very end, rounding off a work of wistful, touching poignancy.
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