Grace Williams in Broadcasting House - February, the 1930's
from Letter from Grace Williams to Benjamin Britten [Feb 1933], pages 161-2:
Dear Benjamin, Now that truly is a remarkable work [Britten's A Boy Was Born] in many ways. I like best the IIIrd ['Jesu, as Thou art our Saviour'], and the 'bleak mid-winter' [variation 5] i.e. as music; it's older than the rest. Of course all that skill bowls one over right through - but I can't help feeling that some of it - (about a third of it) - again solely as music - isn't up to the standards of the rest. But hang it all what youth of 19 … more >>
Lewis Foreman, Letter from Grace Williams to Benjamin Britten [Feb 1933]. In From Parry to Britten: British Music in Letters, 1900 - 1945 (London, 1987), p. 161-2. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1414583675921 accessed: 3 December, 2024
Listeners
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A Boy Was Born
written by Benjamin Britten |
Experience Information
Date/Time | February, the 1930's |
Medium | broadcast, live |
Listening Environment | indoors |
Notes
Foreman provides contextual evidence about the work after the letter, which may be of some interest. Foreman suggests the letter was written Feb 1933, however the first performance of the work was 23rd Feb 1934 as part of a BBC broadcast.