British Composers — Program Notes from Argyle Arts

Britten & Shostakovich

Both showed a natural attraction to the theater and narrative music. Both showed a fascination with reinventing neglected baroque and classical forms. Both spent a lifetime walking the tightrope between innovation and tradition.

And each managed to achieve the great contradiction of becoming the iconic symbol of their national musical establishment while somehow remaining a rebel and social outcast

Chamber MusicChris MyersNovember 10, 202220th Century Music, Britten, British Composers, Russian Composers, Shostakovich, String Quartet, Cello

Britten, Dowland, and Purcell

In John Dowland, Britten found a kindred spirit who shared his love for the beauty of the English language and a rare gift for illuminating poetry with music. And in Henry Purcell, he discovered both a shared affinity for the theater and a sense of musical structure and style ideally matched to his own.

Chamber MusicChris MyersFebruary 19, 2022Classical Music, 20th Century Music, English Composers, British Composers, Chamber Music, Britten, Mozart, String Quartet, Purcell, Dowland, Voice, Viola, Piano, String QuintetComment

Mozart & Britten

From the beginning of Benjamin Britten’s career, it was apparent that there was a deep connection between the English composer and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Chamber MusicChris MyersOctober 16, 2019Classical Music, 20th Century Music, Britten, Mozart, String Quartet, English Composers, British Composers, Chamber Music

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Gone are the ponderous sonorities and heavy textures so prominent in Vaughan Williams’ earlier music. In their place, we find a work of majestic power and shimmering beauty.

Orchestral MusicChris MyersDecember 21, 2015Vaughan Williams, Fantasia, Thomas Tallis, Strings, 20th Century Music, English Composers, British Composers, Orchestral Music

Connect With the Heroes

The tragedies and triumphs of war have inspired composers to create some of their greatest work. In World War II, governments realized that artists could be more useful to the war effort in their trained discipline than as conscripted soldiers, and composers were encouraged to produce work supporting national morale and the education of the public.

William Walton: Crown Imperial

Though originally intended (as was everything else for the coronation) for Edward VIII, the royal family quickly embraced the piece, and it has become a standard anthem at royal occasions.

Orchestral MusicChris MyersSeptember 12, 2013Walton, Crown Imperial, March, English Composers, British Composers, 20th Century Music, Orchestral Music

Benjamin Britten: Canticle III: Still falls the Rain

An academic analysis of the work written to accompany a lecture-recital.

Chamber Music, Vocal MusicChris MyersJuly 10, 2012Britten, British Composers, English Composers, Sitwell, Voice, Piano, Horn, Chamber Music, Canticle, Still falls the Rain