poems about the Spring season. The poems range from those of an unknown in
the 13th century to Melton, Nashe and W. H. Auden among others. For
soprano, contralto, tenor, orchestra and chorus. His Op 44. From Wikipedia notes:
The Spring Symphony is Benjamin Britten's Opus 44. It is dedicated to Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was premiered in Amsterdam during the July 1949 Holland Festival, when the composer was 35, and is one of his most promising works. The Spring Symphony is a choral symphony, written for soprano, alto and tenor soloists, mixed chorus, boys' choir (often performed by a children's choir instead) and orchestra. Britten sets a varied number of poets' words, chiefly from the 16th and 17th century such as Edmund Spenser, John Clare and George Peele. A notable exception is 'Out on the lawn I lie in bed' by his friend W. H. Auden.
In the composer's own words, the work represents 'the progress of Winter to Spring and the reawakening of the earth and life which that means'.
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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