Elgar & Ian Bostridge sings Britten

In 1942, Benjamin Britten met the virtuoso horn player Dennis Brain, who served in the Royal Air Force Music Services. Brain convinced Britten to write a new work for him. This did not result in a horn concerto, however, but in the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. A prologue and an epilogue for solo horn surround six songs that were sung at the premiere by Britten's partner, Peter Pears. These songs are based on texts by six English poets, including William Blake and John Keats, and revolve around the theme of the night. Or in Britten's words: "the lengthening shadow, the distant bugle at sunset, the Baroque panoply of the starry sky, the heavy angels of sleep; but also the cloak of evil – the worm in the heart of the rose, the sense of sin in the heart of man".

One evening, as he returned home, the British composer Edward Elgar indulged in some improvisation at the piano. As one of the melodies particularly pleased his wife, Elgar decided to work on it in more detail. What started as a joke became a monumental composition that is now among the most performed pieces of the 19th century. The Enigma Variations consist of a theme (the enigma) and fourteen variations, each dedicated by the composer to one of his friends. For this exercise, Elgar imagined how they would react and put it all into music. The first variation is dedicated to his wife, and the last to himself.

Created with the support of the Belgian Tax Shelter through Casa Kafka Pictures.