Britten Auden, Hymn to St Cecilia This is also exquisite to be heard again in a reflective moment. According to Wikipedia it almost didn`t exist, Britten began setting Hymn to St. Cecilia in the United States, certainly in June 1941 when a performance by the newly formed Elizabethan Singers was projected to take place in New York sometime later that year.[2] In 1942 (the midst of World War II) Britten and Pears decided to return home to England. Unfortunately, the customs inspectors confiscated all of Brittens manuscripts, fearing they could be some type of code. Britten re-wrote the manuscript while aboard the MS Axel Johnson, and finished it 2 April 1942. It was written at the same time as A Ceremony of Carols, which shares the same affect. St Cecilia is the patron saint of music Dryden wrote a poem in her honour here:poetryfoundation.org/poem/173449 youtube/watch?v=MGyB7_2RnS4 Full text here: octarium.org/programs/ode-to-music-08.html Hear Dryden`s poem read here: youtube/watch?v=jihpFOclPt0
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 20:39:04 +0000