can be played by a string quartet as well as a string orchestra. Britten
says it incorporates themes he composed as a child of 11 or 12. He
orchestrated the work, when he was 19, for chamber ensemble.
(From wikipedia):The Simple Symphony, Op.4 is a work for string orchestra by Benjamin Britten. It was written as a piece for string orchestra and received its first performance in (1934) in Norwich, with Britten conducting an amateur orchestra.
The piece is dedicated to Audrey Alston (Mrs Lincolne Sutton), Britten's viola teacher during his childhood. The piece is based on eight themes which Britten wrote during his childhood (two per movement) and for which he had a particular fondness. He completed his final draft of this piece at age twenty.
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh, OM CH (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. Showing prodigious talent from an early age – he composed his Quatre Chansons françaises for soprano and orchestra at the age of fourteen – he first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945 he leapt to international fame, and for the next fifteen years he devoted much of his compositional attention to writing operas, several of which now appear regularly on international stages. Britten's interests as a composer were wide-ranging; he produced important music in such varied genres as orchestral, choral, solo vocal (much of it written for the tenor Peter Pears), chamber and instrumental, as well as film music. He also took a great interest in writing music for children and amateur performers, and was considered a fine pianist and conductor.
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