Around Britten in 80 songs

Introducing Around Britten in 80 songs – a feature of Good Morning Britten designed to introduce the composer to a new audience.

The idea is to choose a person with little to no prior experience of Britten, and whose day to day musical listening is likely to be predominantly pop music. That person is given a Britten song and asked to listen to it – once without text, once with text, then again a couple of days after the initial hearing, and then again a couple of days after that. The listener will record their observations and thoughts, arriving at an opinion of the song they have been given. They may then wish to request another piece.

The chosen songs will initially be tailored towards the recipient, as I will hopefully know a bit about their tastes and what they might like, but given that the songs will range from folk and cabaret through to the Purcell realizations and some of the difficult late settings, reactions are sure to be varied!

Initially I am providing songs to those I know, covering an age range between 8 and 80. But if you – yes you, the reader! – would like to get involved, or you know someone you think would like this feature, the place to get in touch is goodmorningbritten@gmail.com