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Sinfonietta,op.

1(1932)BenjaminBritten(19131976)

TheSinfoniettawasBrittensfirstpublishedwork,writteninjustunderthreeweeksinthe
summerof1932,whilsthewasstillastudentattheRoyalCollegeofMusic.Scoredforwind
quintetandstringquintet(orsmallstringorchestra),theworkisremarkablyassuredand
pointsdirectlytosomeofthemorematureworksofBrittensearlyperiod(FrankBridge
Variationsetc).ThechoiceofensembleseemstosuggestalinktotheSchoenbergFirst
ChamberSymphony(1906),whichBrittenwascertainlyawareofatthetime.Itwasperhaps
becauseofthisthatmanyofBrittensRCMprofessorsdeemedtheworkunsuitablefor
performance(theRCMandtheSecondVienneseSchooldidnotmixintheheadydaysofthe
1930s).Despitethis,itwouldbeBrittensonlyworkfromhisstudentdaystobeperformed
atthecollege,eventhoughthepremierehadtakenplacesometwomonthsearlierata
MacnaghtenLemareconcert(anenterprisingavenuefornewBritishworksperformedata
smalltheatreinNottingHillGate).

ForalltheperceivedinfluenceofSchoenberg(istheopeninghornsolodirectlyrelatedto
theChamberSymphony?)theoverridingfeeling,especiallyinthesecondmovement,is
restrainedpastoralism.TitledVariations,thesecondmovementwouldbeoneofthefew
occasionswhereBrittenwouldfollowonfromhismusicalforebearers;(doesoneheara
LarkAscendingatonepoint?)thoughthisispossiblynosurpriseinaworkdedicatedtohis
teacher,FrankBridge.PerhapsunsurprisinglyBrittensapproachtoformintheSinfoniettais
veryoriginal,verymature.Intheopeningmovementtheopeningbars(possiblyjustthe
openingclarinetmelody)presentthethemesthatwillprovidematerialforthewholework.
Wecanviewtheopeningmovementasinsonataform,butwithaseconddevelopment
replacingtheconventionalrecapitulationaBrittenfavouritefromthe1930s(andfrom
othertimes,StringQuartetNo.2etc).Carryingontheformalinnovationsandthematic
economy,thesecondmovementsthemeforthevariationsistakenfromthesecondsubject
fromthefirstmovement(firstfoundinthefluteatfig.6).

Itisperhapsthethirdmovement,Tarantellawhichcanbevisiblyseenandheardtobethe
mostBrittenishwithitschoiceofdanceform,thoughpossiblynotworncomfortably,
linkingitdirectlytotheVariationsonaThemeofFrankBridge(1937).Again,theformal
schemeisunusual,withmanyofthethemesfromthepreviousmovementsreturning,toa
formofsummation.TheopeninghornsoloreturnstoheraldamovetoatonalcentreofD,
thefirstsubjectreturnstoformthebackgroundtothepizzicatofugatosection.

SinfoniettaisundeniablyBenjaminBritten,thoughperhapsoneofthefinalworksbythe
boycomposer.Althoughforwardlooking,itprobablyhasmoreincommonwiththeSimple
SymphonythentheFrankBridgeVariationsorLesIlluminations.Howeverthereisplentyto
admireinthiswork,ifnotfortheremarkablyconfidentinstrumentalwritingandhandlingor
formalschemes;thenfortherhapsodicbeautyofthesecondmovement.

PhillipA.Cooke(2005)

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