I first became interested in Britten’s music when I was at college. It was the sound world that attracted me, although at first I found it difficult to follow the structure without an obvious tune. With perseverance, and occasionally following a score, the music soon fell into place and the effort was very worthwhile. There are tunes aplenty, but not necessarily as easy to latch on to as, say, Tchaikovsky or Elgar. But then again who managed to get the hang of a late Beethoven string quartet on the first few listening?
He is a very interesting, and in some respects, rather unpleasant composer. Tales of the "court" of Britten are legendary; you had to fit in or were banished, and woe betides anyone who alluded to the number of young boys who littered his works. Much of his music was written from the heart as a response to his feeling of being an outsider because of his homosexuality and attraction to boys; or as Hans Keller once called him, "an intellectual paedophile". His works can be of extraordinary power and tenderness juxtaposed. His settings of words are sensitive to the text and bring an extra element as opposed to mere embellishment. Just think of Blake's The Sick Rose from the Serenade for Tenor Horn, an Strings, his handling of Owen's tender and angry poetry in the mighty War Requiem, Hardy's A Time there Was from Winter Words; the list in endless. At the time it helped if one could like or accept the very individual character of Peter Pear's voice. Fortunately there are now performers like Mark Padmore and Ian Bostridge who can provide a valid alternative.
His cello suites and string quartets are, perhaps, tougher nuts to crack. Once in, however, they are immensely rewarding with passages of great tenderness and beauty which I never tire of hearing.
So, The War Requiem a dirge? I really can't understand anyone thinking this unless they turn off before the opening movement is finished. If ones interest is piqued by his music it really is worth getting to grips with, but as with so much music if one wants all its secrets to be revealed on immediately then don't bother. There is world of wonderful pop music for that.
A few suggestions to get a flavour for this most individual of composers:
Spring Symphony, sample the last movement!
Sinfonia da Requiem. Violence and yearning with sarcastic excitement in the middle movement; great sound quality on Britten's own version.
The War Requiem. Best skip the beginning and sample the Dies Irae to see why this is not a dirge, at least not all of it!
Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings. Try the Blake setting with its searing insight into the text.
Lachrymae. For those with a taste for darker colours and a love of the viola.
Harp Suite. A delight from start to finish, especially with dedicatee Osian Ellis doing the plucking.
Winter Words. By turns witty, melancholic and profound.
Billy Budd. You really do feel as if you are on the boat with, and for sheer genius try the bit where Vere goes off stage to tell Budd of his fate in powerful orchestral chords; a panoply of emotions artfully expressed.
Peter Grimes. Arguably the easiest of his operas.
Death in Venice. Forget the film, this is a worthy transfer of Mann's mulitfaceted novella to another medium. Some of the versions on DVD have been pretty dire, especially the one with Robert Tear, which turns a poignant story into little more than a homosexual romp. Whilst the subject seems obvious it is more about the source of an artists inspiration, its acceptability and its frailty. Probably best to get the hang of his other works before approaching this late, dark and disturbing opera.
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