A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten

本杰明·布里顿的《颂歌仪式》

Soul Music

社会与文化

2021-12-18

27 分钟
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In 1942, Benjamin Britten boarded the M.S. Axel Johnson, a Swedish cargo vessel, to make the journey home to England after three years in America. During the voyage, the ship stopped at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Britten came across a poetry anthology in a bookshop - The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems. In his cabin, he began work on setting some of these poems for voices and harp. Originally conceived as a series of unrelated songs, the piece developed into an extended choral composition for Christmas. There are some pieces of music we return to at special moments and, for many, Britten's A Ceremony of Carols is a beloved winter piece - "Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a performance of it" says harpist Sally Pryce, who recalls performing the piece in deepest winter, desperately trying to keep her fingers warm as she prepared to play the first harp notes. Music writer Gavin Plumley tells the story of Britten's wartime voyage home and reflects on Christmases past and present. Matt Peacock remembers a very special performance of the work bringing together professional musicians, choristers and people experiencing homelessness in an Oxford college chapel. Dr Imani Mosley reflects on how the piece has helped her create a winter ritual in sunny Florida and how its meaning has changed since losing her partner. Conductor and composer Graham Ross is Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge; he takes us deep into Britten's sound world and reflects on the genius of his approach to setting texts and the mastery of his writing for harp and voices. And Johanna Rehbaum remembers the joy of singing the work with the women of her choir, days before giving birth to her son. Produced in Bristol by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio
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  • My name's Sally Price, and I'm a harpist.

  • Britain's ceremony of carols, for me, really depicts Christmas.

  • Christmas is not Christmas without at least one performance of ceremony carols.

  • One of the first performances I had of this piece was with a small choir at Ham House, this 17th century house just next to the Thames near Richmond.

  • This is just before Christmas, and it's very dark outside, and it's very cold and foggy.

  • And I remember sitting just backstage, and you can see all the audience coming in through this huge door at the back of the hall.

  • And as the door opens, the mist and the fog comes rolling in as well.

  • I'm hiding behind the scenes in this freezing cold stairwell, desperately trying to keep my fingers warm, because if you have cold fingers, you can't move them.

  • And I remember coming on to my place by the harp, sat there all by myself, unable to feel my fingers, desperately trying to rub my fingers together.