Benjamin Britten – Sacred and Profane and Other Choral Music

Remarkable presence on this album are the poems by Gerald Manley Hopkins, which, according to the booklet, were never performed during Britten’s lifetime. No satisfactory explanation is given, but my guess is Britten may have had doubts whether he had done justice to one of England’s most original minds. Not because of the music he composed, but because of the literature selected: for those who don't know him, be assured Hopkins wrote greater poetry than the pretty, innocent verses Britten chose to set to music. I would not hesitate to write out in full masterworks like “Carrion Comfort” or “Glory Be to God for Dappled Things” here if this section had not been about classical music….

Anyway, A.M.D.G. stimulated me to look for an old, dust-covered pocket in one of my bookcases - where is it, where is it? Hopkins?!
Pffff…fortunately, there’s the internet.

Performers: Polyphony, Stephen Layton

Tracks

Five Flower Songs

1. To Daffodils (R. Herrick)
2. The Succession of the Four sweet Months (R. Herrick)
3. Marsh Flowers (G. Crabbe)
4. The Evening Primrose (J. Clare)
5. Ballad of Green Broom (anonymous)

A.M.D.G.

6. Prayer I
7. Rose Mystica
8. God’s Grandeur
9. Prayer II
10. O Deus, ego amo te
11. The Soldier
12. Heaven-Haven
13. A Hymn to the Virgin

Choral Dances from Gloriana

14. Time
15. Concord
16. Time and Concord
17. Country Girls
18. Rustics and Fishermen
19. Final Dance of Homage

20. Chorale after an Old French Carol

Sacred and Profane

21. St. Godric’s Hymn
22. I Mon Waxe Wod
23. Lenten is Come
24. The Long Night
25. Yif Ic of Luve Can
26. Carol
27. Ye that Pasen by
28. A Death