Benjamin Britten in London - 9 December, 1931, 08:15 PM

from Journeying boy : the diaries of the young Benjamin Britten 1928-1938, page 92:

Go to B.B.C. concert (area ticket) at 8.15. Henry Wood. Haydn symphony (at usual break-neck speed & with usual battalion of strings) - Bach concerto E maj (Thibaud) - disgraceful performance - bad technically (rhythm out of control & intonation bad) & interpretively (impossible portamento). Thibaud was better in Chausson's long & sentimental Poem with orchestra. Delius' Song of High Hills - amazingly beautiful - incredibly long & monotonous even for Delius - but what marvellous sounds, he creates! Chorus (National) helped admirably in these.
cite as

John Evans (ed.), Journeying boy : the diaries of the young Benjamin Britten 1928-1938 (:London, 2009), p. 92. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1434287039336 accessed: 10 December, 2024

location of experience: London

Listeners

Benjamin Britten
Composer
1913-1976

Listening to

hide composers
Concerto in E Major
written by Bach
performed by Jacques Thibaud, Henry Wood
Poem with Orchestra
written by Ernest Chausson
performed by Jacques Thibaud, Henry Wood
Song of High Hills
written by Delius
performed by National Chorus, Henry Wood
Unspecified Haydn symphony
written by Joseph Haydn
performed by Henry Wood

Experience Information

Date/Time 9 December, 1931, 08:15 PM
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Originally submitted by gkw on Sun, 14 Jun 2015 14:03:59 +0100
Approved on Wed, 28 Sep 2016 11:20:47 +0100