A Boy was Born
| A Boy Was Born | |
|---|---|
| Choral variations for unaccompanied voices | |
| by Benjamin Britten | |
| Catalogue | Op. 3 |
| Text | Ten texts, mostly from the 15th and 16th century |
| Composed |
|
| Dedication | "To my Father" |
| Performed | 23 February 1934 |
| Vocal |
|
A Boy Was Born (published as A Boy was Born), Op. 3, is a choral composition by Benjamin Britten. The Choral variations for men's, women's and boys' voices, unaccompanied (organ ad lib) was originally composed from 1932 to 1933. It was first performed on 23 February 1934 as a BBC broadcast. Britten revised the work in 1955. The composer set different texts related to Christmas to music as theme and variations, scored for an a cappella choir with boys' voices.
Britten composed A Boy Was Born at age 19 as a student at the Royal College of Music. He wrote it between 25 November 1932 and 11 May 1933. His last project at the college, it is his first major vocal work and his first mature work on religious themes. He dedicated it to his father.
A Boy Was Born is in the form of a musical theme and six variations setting ten different texts dating mostly from the 15th century, with one by Christina Rossetti from the 19th century, so forming the first of his "poetic anthology" works. Variation structures particularly appealed to Britten: even before composing A Boy Was Born, he had started a set of variations for string orchestra which he was later to complete as the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge. Later he was to compose a set of variations for his Piano Concerto, and his opera The Turn of the Screw is extensively based on the variation principle.
A Boy Was Born was first performed on 23 February 1934 in a BBC radio concert of contemporary music. Leslie Woodgate conducted the Wireless Chorus and choirboys of St Mark's, North Audley Street, London. Sir Edward Elgar died the same day.
...
Wikipedia