SPRING 2013

Andrew Lloyd

Webber,

Composer:

“I am delighted to be a

Friday Afternoons

Ambassador in support of

Aldeburgh Music’s

mission to get young

people across the country

singing. This is a

marvellous way to

celebrate Benjamin

Britten’s centenary and to

continue his wonderful

work in encouraging

children to make music.”

Looking for a challenge and want to

be part of something big? Keen to

bring singing back into the

classroom?... Get involved with The

Britten Stream.

The Britten Stream is a major project

devised and coordinated by Turner Sims

(Southampton’s leading concert venue) and

its Music Hub Partners in Hampshire,

Portsmouth and Southampton as part of the

national celebrations for Benjamin Britten’s

centenary. The Britten Stream is one of a

number of projects which make up Friday

Afternoons, a national initiative led by

Aldeburgh Music culminating on Britten’s

birthday 22 November 2013. The national

project has been endorsed by some of

music’s leading figures including Howard Goodall, Aled Jones and Andrew Lloyd

Webber, and this launch newsletter gives you information about Britten, the

project, local links and next steps.

WHO WAS BENJAMIN BRITTEN?

Born on 22 November 1913 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)

was a composer. Many composers in the last century wrote music that was very

complicated to listen to and required many highly-skilled musicians to play and

sing it. Benjamin Britten wrote music for everyone, he even said so himself. He

wanted his ‘music to be of use to people, to please them, to enhance their lives’.

People enjoy his music so much that he is now the most performed British

composer in the world. He wrote music of all kinds and travelled all around the

world performing it as a pianist and conductor. He was so famous that the BBC

devoted a whole programme to him for his 50th birthday and he was the first

musician in history to be made a Lord by the Queen. When he died he left

behind more than 1,000 pieces of extraordinary music and the fascinating story

of a journey from Suffolk schoolboy to great composer.

Benjamin Britten on Aldeburgh Beach

(1959) - photo by Hans Wild image

courtesy of www.britten100.org

Page 2

WHAT IS FRIDAY AFTERNOONS?

Friday Afternoons is a set of 12 songs composed by Benjamin Britten between 1933 and 1935. The

simple songs, with witty piano accompaniments, are dedicated to Britten’s schoolmaster brother, Robert,

and the boys of Clive House preparatory school,

Prestatyn – a school in which choir practice and

singing lessons regularly took place on a Friday

afternoon. Based on this song cycle, and forming part

of Aldeburgh Music’s Britten Centenary programme

and the worldwide Britten 100 celebrations, Aldeburgh

Music has conceived this year-long project to highlight

the composer’s legacy of work for young people and to

encourage more singing in schools. It culminates on

Friday 22 November 2013, when tens of thousands of

people from across the UK will join together to sing the

songs.

LOCAL LINKS...

Kevin Appleby, Concert Hall Manager at Turner Sims writes...

Benjamin Britten’s centenary is already big news. When it was launched in London last September 50

nationally renowned arts organisations issued press releases outlining their plans. Since then many

more in this country and worldwide have joined the list, all seeking to add their own take on the

celebrations. So why in the midst of all this global anniversary frenzy should we in southern England be

involved? For me, the key driver is not simply that we have an opportunity to explore Britten’s output and

reputation at a landmark moment. It is that we can remind ourselves of the associations which the

southern region has with the composer and his work. There are also many local links to the Friday

Afternoons/The Britten Stream project that can inspire classroom activity and complement the curriculum:

THE MARITIME CONNECTION...

In a city renowned for its maritime heritage Southampton has seen

many notable figures depart from its shores. Britten was one of them,

leaving the city by boat in April 1939 with tenor Peter Pears on their

voyage to America. This in itself though is not particularly noteworthy.

What makes the location symbolic is that composer Frank Bridge -

Britten’s first teacher and mentor (seen left with Britten in 1930) - came

to Southampton with his wife to see them off. On the quayside he

handed Britten his viola, a good luck parting gift from one of the most

influential people in the composer’s life. Poignantly teacher and pupil

were never to meet again as Bridge died in 1941, a year before Britten

returned.

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Rehearsing in Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh (1960)

Image courtesy of www.britten100.org

THE BRITTEN STREAM Page 3

THE TRANSPORT CONNECTION...

Britten wrote music to accompany many film

documentaries in the 1930s looking at aspects of

British working life. The most well-known are Night

Mail depicting the journey of a mail train from

London to Scotland, and Coal Face, looking at

working conditions in a Welsh coal mining

community. The Way to the Sea, produced in 1936,

is somewhat overlooked but offers the familiar

combination of Britten’s music and the words of

Anglo-American poet WH Auden in a depiction of

the electrification of the railway line between London

and Portsmouth. City and seaside are central to a

magically engaging film.

THE FRIDAY AFTERNOONS POETS CONNECTION...

Britten was renowned throughout his life as a skilful setter of words to music, whether in his solo songs,

operas, or choral music. The poets and authors he used were wide ranging and this is the case with Friday

Afternoons. Whilst several of the poems which Britten set are by unknown writers, three songs have

interesting local links to explore:

Song 2 (A tragic story) has words by English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-63). Best

known as the author of Vanity Fair, he attended school in Southampton and wrote part of another

novel Pendennis whilst staying at the Dolphin Hotel. The Dolphin, in Southampton’s High Street, still

exists and is the city’s oldest hotel. Its other literary connection is that Jane Austen held her 18th

birthday there in 1793. A little known fact about Thackeray is that he is British comedian Al Murray's

great-great-great-grandfather.

English playwright Nicholas Udall (1504-56), writer of Song 6 (I mun be married on Sunday), was born

in Hampshire (possibly Southampton) and educated at Winchester College. He has been hailed as

the ‘father of English comedy’ for his play Ralph Roister Doister, the first comedy to be written in the

English language which was written in around 1553.

English writer Izaak Walton (1593-1683), is author of Song 8 (Fishing Song). Buried in Winchester

Cathedral and with a window dedicated to him within

the building he is best known for his book on the art of

fishing The Compleat Angler. First published in 1853 it

describes how to catch and prepare a range of fish

and the best locations for angling and has become a

classic work for enthusiasts ever since. Describing the

charms of Hampshire Walton said, ‘it exceeds all

England for swift, shallow, clear, pleasant brooks, and

store of Trouts’.

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WHAT IS THE BRITTEN STREAM?

The Britten Stream is your local Friday Afternoons project led by Turner

Sims in partnership with its Music Hub partners. The Britten Stream will

see workshops and performances taking place locally in schools and

community centres. The project will culminate in a grand finale on 22

November 2013, including an event at Turner Sims that will be streamed

live. Further details will be announced on turnersims.co.uk in due course.

WHAT NEXT?

Now you know a little more about Benjamin Britten, Friday Afternoons

and the local links, you can find out more by exploring and registering on

the following websites:

BRITTEN 100 website (britten100.org)

FRIDAY AFTERNOONS website (fridayafternoonsmusic.co.uk)

On these websites you will find lesson plans, downloadable scores and

backing tracks, easy ensemble arrangements, biographical information, a

photo archive and interactive timeline, and much more. The resources

are available, free of charge, to aid the teaching of Friday Afternoons,

and to put the songs into context.

YOUR LOCAL CONTACTS…

Hampshire Music Hub: The Hampshire Music Hub will be in touch with

you shortly with more information on how you can get involved in this

exciting project celebrating 100 years of Britten. To register your interest

email: music.service@hants.gov.uk

Portsmouth Music Hub: To register your school's interest in being part

of this project, please email your contact details to

portsmouthmusichub@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or telephone 023 9237 5655

Southampton Music Hub: To register your school's interest in being part of this project, please email you contact details to music@southampton.gov.uk or telephone 023 8083 3648

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