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BRITTEN
BERKELEY
Auden Songs
On This Island
Cabaret Songs
Five Poems
Fish in the Unruffled
Lakes

Della Jones, Mezzo-Soprano

Philip Langridge, Tenor
Steuart Bedford, Piano
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) • Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989)
Settings of Poems by W.H. Auden
Benjamin Britten’s post-war pre-eminence as an opera
composer has tended to overshadow the considerable
achievements of his earlier years. Between his official
Opus 1, the Sinfonietta of 1932, written when he was
nineteen, and the completion of Peter Grimes in 1945,
he was fluently and prolifically writing works in every
genre, many of which remain far too little known even
today. Among these are five major works involving
texts written or devised by the poet W.H.Auden: the
song cycles Our Hunting Fathers (1936) and On This
Island (1937), the choral and orchestral Ballad of
Heroes (1939), the operetta Paul Bunyan (completed in
1941), and the choral Hymn to St Cecilia (1942). In
addition, Britten set a number of other poems by Auden
during this period which remained unpublished during
his lifetime and which are included on this disc.
Britten and Auden first met in July 1935 when they
were both working for the GPO Film Unit, an
organization dedicated to the making of educational
documentary films. Auden became one of the major
influences on the young composer and while Britten
confessed to being somewhat intimidated by Auden’s
brilliant intellect, it was undoubtedly a partnership of
mutual admiration and respect. Their first collaboration
was for the film Coal Face in 1935, soon followed by
Night Mail in the following year. It was the success of
the latter in particular that encouraged the two men to
embark on projects of a more substantial nature and in
1936 Auden devised the text for one of Britten’s most
important early works, described by the composer as his
real Op.1, the orchestral song-cycle Our Hunting
Fathers. It was soon after the première of that work at
the 1936 Norfolk and Norwich Festival that Britten
acquired a copy of a newly published volume of
Auden’s poetry entitled Look, Stranger!, two poems
from which, Underneath the abject willow and Night
covers up the rigid land, were dedicated to him. He set
the first of these in November 1936 as the second of his
Two Ballads for two voices and piano. During May and
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October of the following year, he completed eight
further settings, five of which were selected for the
cycle On This Island, Op.11, for solo voice and piano,
first performed in November 1937 at a BBC
contemporary music concert by the soprano Sophie
Wyss and the composer. The score was published by
Boosey & Hawkes in October 1938 and originally
designated ‘Vol.1’: it seems likely that Britten intended
to use the three remaining settings in a second volume
which never materialised.
On This Island was Britten’s first published group
of songs with piano. The set is conceived more as a
sequence of self-contained vignettes, perhaps reflecting
the recent experience of writing the Variations on a
theme of Frank Bridge, rather than attempting the quasi-
symphonic unity of Our Hunting Fathers. They are also
notably simpler in their relatively orthodox approach to
word-setting and use of more traditional harmony.
Perhaps the most striking song is the fourth, Nocturne,
which with its daring reliance on the most economical
of musical means sounds perhaps the most personal
note in the work and anticipates the inspired simplicities
found in such later cycles as Les Illuminations and the
Michelangelo Sonnets.
In January 1938, Britten completed another setting
of a poem from Look, Stranger!, Fish in the unruffled
lakes, which was subsequently published in 1947. Two
further settings, What’s in your mind and a new solo-
voice version of Underneath the abject willow were
written during the early 1940s, but remained in
manuscript. These songs, along with the unused settings
from 1937, were finally published by Boosey &
Hawkes under the title Fish in the Unruffled Lakes: Six
settings of W.H.Auden in 1997. Underneath the abject
willow is particularly noteworthy as the text is dedicated
to Britten and is clearly Auden’s invitation for his
younger friend to break his natural reticence and
abandon himself to the pleasures of the flesh. Yet
Britten’s jaunty setting of this text is remarkably
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impersonal, as if the message is being deliberately
misunderstood. The two versions Britten made differ
primarily in their accompaniments, the later solo-voice
version being simpler and more direct in effect, but the
strangely detached impression remains the same in
both.
The Four Cabaret Songs, composed between 1937
and 1939 but not published until 1980, reveal another,
more light-hearted side to the Britten-Auden creative
partnership. These songs were written for Hedli
Anderson, a singer specialising in high quality ‘light
music’ who had played the part of The Singer in The
Ascent of F6, an Auden-Isherwood theatre piece for
which Britten had written the incidental music in 1937.
The Funeral Blues (also known as Stop all the clocks)
was in fact originally written for this production when it
was sung by a choir accompanied by two pianos and
percussion, but later reworked in a version for solo
voice and piano. Tell me the truth about love and
Johnny are obviously influenced by the popular hits of
the day (à la Cole Porter), while the onomatopoeic train
noises of Calypso, the last to be composed, clearly point
forward to Midnight on the Great Western from
Britten’s Thomas Hardy cycle Winter Words of 1953. In
much the same lighter vein is the very brief When
you’re feeling like expressing your affection, probably
written in 1935 for a GPO promotional film
encouraging the use of public telephone boxes.
Britten had met Lennox Berkeley during the mid-
1930s and during this period, the two men were on close
terms. They shared Britten’s home at the Old Mill in
Snape, Suffolk, for a time, collaborated on an orchestral
suite on Catalan folk tunes, Mont Juic in 1937, and in
Publishers: Chester Music (1-5, 7)
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1938, Britten dedicated his recently composed Piano
Concerto to Berkeley. It is probable that Berkeley came
into contact with Auden’s poetry through Britten as his
first Auden settings, Night covers up the rigid land and
Lay your sleeping head, my love (both recorded here)
date from this time. The latter was another poem that
Auden had dedicated to Britten, but which Britten never
set (Berkeley, following Auden’s lead, dedicated his
setting ‘To B.B.’). Berkeley’s setting of Night covers up
the rigid land is more pensive and static than Britten’s,
capturing the mood of the poem and sustaining it
throughout, rather than following the more
developmental treatment preferred by his younger
colleague.
Berkeley returned to Auden for his Five Poems,
Op. 53, composed in 1958. Interestingly, all except the
first song, Lauds, which Auden wrote in 1952, had been
previously set by Britten. Carry her over the water
features in the second act of Paul Bunyan, where it
forms the wedding song for Slim and Tiny. Though it is
unlikely that Berkeley would have known Britten’s
setting (Paul Bunyan was withdrawn after its first run of
performances in New York and not revived until 1974),
the resemblances between the two settings, such as the
compound-time rhythm and the threefold repetition on
the word ‘agreeably’, are striking. In these beautiful
songs, Berkeley reveals himself to be as sensitive as
Britten in his response to a text, in his ability to mould
words and music into a strongly unified and affecting
listening experience.
Lloyd Moore
Della Jones
Della Jones, one of Great Britain’s leading mezzo-sopranos was born in Neath and studied at the Royal College of
Music, where she won many prizes including the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship. She has appeared with
the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, and Opera North,
and foreign engagements have included performances in the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and throughout
Europe, with repertoire including leading rôles in Ariodante, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, Orfeo,
Carmen, Norma, Les Troyens, Don Giovanni, Salome, Tristan und Isolde, Oedipus Rex, The Rake’s Progress and
other operas, together with the rôle of Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and of Auntie and Mrs
Sedley in the same composer’s Peter Grimes. Her concert appearances include engagements with major British
orchestras and throughout Europe, with a repertoire that ranges from Britten’s Phaedra to Hindemith’s Sancta
Susanna, Verdi’s Requiem and Songs of the Auvergne. In 1993 she made an acclaimed appearance at the Last Night
of the Proms, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and in 1997 took part in the Gala Concerts as part of the Hand-
Over Ceremony in Hong Kong. Della Jones also participated in the Bernard Haitink Farewell Performances at the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 2002. Della Jones broadcasts regularly on radio and television both in
Britain and abroad and has recorded prolifically for all the major record companies.

Philip Langridge
Philip Langridge was born in Kent and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He is one of the world’s
most distinguished singers, whose musical and dramatic qualities ensure that he is in constant demand throughout
Europe, the United States and Japan. In recognition of these qualities, he was made a Commander of the British
Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 1994. He has also received a number of other awards, including the
prestigious Olivier Award for Osud, the Singer of the Year Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society and The
Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Santay Award. He was awarded the NFMS/Charles Groves Prize 2001 for his
outstanding contribution to British Music. His remarkable versatility and command of a wide variety of styles is
reflected in his extensive discography, ranging from the early classical period to the present day. These recordings
have gained him two Grammy Awards (Moses und Aron, and Peter Grimes), the Gramophone Award (War
Requiem) and a Classic CD Award (The Turn of the Screw). On video he can be seen in Peter Grimes, Billy Budd,
Idomeneo, La Clemenza di Tito, From the House of the Dead, Wozzeck, Oberon, Jenuºfa and Oedipus Rex, which
won the Classical Music Award. International festivals and opera houses with which he is particularly closely
associated include Salzburg, the Metropolitan Opera New York, La Scala, Milan, Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich,
the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Edinburgh, and the English National Opera. In concert
Philip Langridge has appeared with the world’s major orchestras and leading conductors.

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Steuart Bedford
Steuart Bedford is recognised as one of today’s leading experts on the works of Benjamin Britten. As a result of his
former collaboration with the composer, he has conducted Britten’s operas throughout the world, including the
world première of Death in Venice in 1973, which was followed by the first recording of the work. From 1974 to
1998 he was one of the Artistic Directors of the Aldeburgh Festival eventually becoming Joint Artistic Director
with Oliver Knussen. Steuart Bedford has an extensive operatic repertoire and has worked with many of the world’s
greatest opera companies including English National Opera, the Royal Opera Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera,
Opera North, Scottish Opera, Opéra de Paris, Brussels Opera, Monte Carlo Opera, Lausanne Opera, San Diego
Opera, Santa Fe Opera Festival, Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, and the Teatro Colón in Buenos
Aires. He is also highly regarded for his interpretations of the works of Mozart, with acclaimed performances at the
Garsington Opera and elsewhere. Although opera commitments take up much of his time, Steuart Bedford conducts
concert engagements both in Britain and abroad, and has toured Australia, New Zealand, South America and
Scandinavia. He has worked with the English Chamber Orchestra (with whom he has toured all over the world), the
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, Teatro Colón, Gurzenich
Orchestra, Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier, Dortmund
Philharmonic and the BBC Orchestras.

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Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) • Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989)
Liedvertonungen nach W.H. Auden
Durch Benjamin Brittens großartige Nachkriegskarriere
als Opernkomponist wurden die beachtlichen
Leistungen seiner früheren Jahre ein wenig in den
Hintergrund gedrängt. Zwischen seinem offiziellen op.
1, der Sinfonietta von 1932, die er als Neunzehnjähriger
schrieb, und der 1945 vollendeten Oper Peter Grimes,
schuf er eine große Anzahl von Werken in allen
Gattungen, von denen viele selbst heute noch viel zu
wenig bekannt sind. Darunter befinden sich auch fünf
größere Werke nach Texten des englischen
Schriftstellers W.H. Auden: die Liederzyklen Our
Hunting Fathers (1936) und On This Island (1937), die
Ballad of Heroes (1939) für Chor und Orchester, die
‚Operette’ Paul Bunyan (vollendet 1941) und die Hymn
to St Cecilia (1942) für Chor. Darüber hinaus vertonte
Britten während dieser Zeit eine Reihe anderer
Gedichte von Auden, die zu seinen Lebzeiten
unveröffentlicht blieben und die in dieser Aufnahme
vorgestellt werden.
Britten und Auden begegneten sich erstmals im Juli
des Jahres 1935, als beide für den GPO Film Unit
arbeiteten, eine Organisation, die pädagogische
Dokumentarfilme herstellte. Auden wurde zu einem der
wichtigsten Einflüsse im Leben des jungen
Komponisten, und obwohl Britten gestand, dass er sich
vom brillanten Intellekt des Schriftstellers
eingeschüchtert fühlte, entwickelte sich ihre
Zusammenarbeit zweifellos zu einer von gegenseitiger
Bewunderung geprägten Partnerschaft. Ihre ersten
gemeinsamen Arbeiten waren die Filme Coal Face
(1935) und Night Mail (1936). Besonders vom Erfolg
des letzteren fühlten sich die beiden zu größeren
Projekten ermutigt, und 1936 entwarf Auden den Text
für eines von Brittens bedeutendsten früheren Werken,
das der Komponist als sein eigentliches op. 1
bezeichnete, den Liederzyklus Our Hunting Fathers für
Sopran (Tenor) und Orchester. Kurz nach der
Uraufführung dieses Werks beim Norfolk und Norwich
Festival des Jahres 1936 besorgte sich Britten ein
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Exemplar eines neuerschienenen Gedichtbandes von
W.H. Auden mit dem Titel Look, Stranger!. Zwei der
dort veröffentlichten Gedichte, Underneath the abject
willow und Night covers up the rigid land, waren ihm
gewidmet. Britten vertonte das erste dieser beiden
Gedichte im November 1936 als die zweite seiner Two
Ballads für zwei Gesangsstimmen und Klavier. Im Mai
und Oktober des folgenden Jahres vollendete er acht
weitere Vertonungen, von denen er fünf für den Zyklus
On This Island op. 11 für Solostimme und Klavier
auswählte. Die Uraufführung durch die am Klavier vom
Komponisten begleitete Sopranistin Sophie Weiss fand
im November 1937 bei einem BBC-Konzert für
zeitgenössische Musik statt. Die Partitur erschien im
Oktober 1938 bei Boosey & Hawkes. Der ursprüngliche
Zusatz ‚vol.1’ lässt vermuten, dass die restlichen drei
Vertonungen für ein zweites Heft bestimmt waren, zu
dessen Veröffentlichung es jedoch nie kam.
On This Island war Brittens erster im Druck
erschienener Liederzyklus mit Klavier. Die
Werkgruppe ist eher eine Folge in sich abgeschlossener
Vignetten als eine quasi-sinfonische Einheit wie etwa
Our Hunting Fathers. Die einzelnen Lieder sind auch
wesentlich schlichter in ihrer relativ orthodoxen
Textvertonung und traditionelleren Harmonisierung.
Am bemerkenswertesten ist vielleicht noch das vierte
Lied, Nocturne, das mit seiner durchaus gewagten
musikalischen Ökonomie am persönlichsten wirkt und
bereits die inspirierte Schlichtheit späterer Werke wie
Les illuminations und die Michelangelo Sonnets
vorwegnimmt.
Im Januar 1938 vollendete Britten eine weitere
Vertonung eines Gedichts aus Look, Stranger!, Fish in
the unruffled lakes, das 1947 in einer Druckausgabe
erschien. Zwei weitere Vertonungen, What’s in your
mind und eine neue Fassung (für Solostimme) von
Underneath the abject willow wurden in den ersten
Monaten des Jahres 1940 komponiert, blieben aber
Manuskript. Diese Lieder erschienen zusammen mit
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den bis dahin unveröffentlichten Vertonungen von 1937
schließlich 1997 unter dem Titel Fish in the Unruffled
Lakes: Six Settings of W.H. Auden im Verlag Boosey &
Hawkes. Underneath the abject willow ist von
besonderem Interesse, da der Text Britten gewidmet ist
– eine unzweideutige sexuelle Einladung Audens an
den jungen Komponisten. Gleichwohl bleibt Brittens
Vertonung bemerkenswert unpersönlich und wirkt eher
wie ein kalkuliertes Missverständnis. Die beiden
Fassungen, die Britten von diesem Lied erstellte,
unterscheiden sich vor allem in der Begleitstimme,
wobei die spätere Version für Solostimme einfacher
und in ihrer Wirkung direkter ist, obwohl man sich in
beiden Fassungen eines merkwürdig unbeteiligten
Ausdrucks nicht erwehren kann.
Die Four Cabaret Songs, komponiert zwischen
1937 und 1939, aber erst 1980 veröffentlicht, enthüllen
eine andere, unbeschwertere Seite der künstlerischen
Partnerschaft von Britten und Auden. Diese Lieder
entstanden für Hedli Anderson, bekannt geworden
durch eine Partie in The Ascent of F6 in dem
Bühnenstück von Auden und Isherwood, für das Britten
1937 die Musik geschrieben hatte. The Funeral Blues
entstand ursprünglich für diese Produktion (gesungen
vom Chor und begleitet von zwei Klavieren und
Schlagzeug), wurde aber später für Solostimme und
Klavier bearbeitet. Tell me the truth about love und
Johnny sind eindeutig von damals modischen Schlagern
à la Cole Porter beeinflusst, wohingegen die
lautmalerischen Eisenbahngeräusche von Calypso
bereits auf Midnight on the Great Western aus Brittens
Thomas-Hardy-Zyklus Winter Words von 1953
hinweisen. Von ähnlich heiterem Charakter ist das
kurze When you’re feeling like expressing your
affection, das vermutlich 1935 für einen Werbefilm für
Telefonzellen entstand.
Brittens Bekanntschaft mit Lennox Berkeley datiert
aus der Mitte der 1930er Jahre, als beide eng
miteinander befreundet waren und eine Zeitlang
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zusammen in Brittens Haus in Snape in der Grafschaft
Suffolk wohnten. 1937 arbeiteten sie an der
Orchestersuite über katalonische Volksmelodien, Mont
Juic, zusammen, und 1938 widmete Britten Berkeley
sein gerade vollendetes Klavierkonzert. Vermutlich
lernte Berkeley durch Britten Audens Gedichte kennen,
denn seine ersten Auden-Vertonungen, Night covers up
the rigid land und Lay your sleeping head, my love
(beide hier eingespielt), datieren aus dieser Zeit. Bei
letzterem handelt es sich um ein weiteres Britten
gewidmetes Gedicht, das dieser jedoch nie vertonte.
(Berkeley folgte Audens Beispiel und dedizierte seine
Vertonung ‚B.B.’) Berkeleys Fassung von Night covers
up the rigid land ist nachdenklicher und statischer als
Brittens; sie greift die Stimmung des Gedichts auf und
hält sie fest anstatt sie – wie sein jüngerer Kollege es tat
– zu entwickeln.
In seinen 1958 entstandenen Five Poems op. 53
griff Berkeley noch einmal auf Texte von W.H. Auden
zurück. Interessanterweise waren alle mit Ausnahme
des ersten Lieds, Lauds, das Auden 1952 geschrieben
hatte, bereits zuvor von Britten vertont worden: Carry
her over the water ist Teil des zweiten Akts von Paul
Bunyan, wo es als Hochzeitslied für Slim und Tiny
gesungen wird. Obwohl es unwahrscheinlich ist, dass
Berkeley Brittens Fassung kannte (Paul Bunyan
verschwand nach der ersten Aufführungsserie in New
York von der Bühne und wurde erst 1974 wieder
aufgeführt), sind die Ähnlichkeiten zwischen den
beiden Vertonungen, z.B. der zusammengesetzte
Rhythmus und die dreifache Wiederholung des Wortes
‚agreeably’, frappant. In diesen herrlichen Liedern zeigt
sich Berkeley in der gefühlvollen Textbehandlung und
der Fähigkeit, Worte und Musik zu einer festgefügten
Einheit zu verschmelzen, Benjamin Britten ebenbürtig.
Lloyd Moore
Deutsche Fassung: Bernd Delfs
 LENNOX BERKELEY (1903-1989)
Five Poems, Op. 53 † 9:49
1 I Lauds (Among the leaves the small birds sing) 2:04
2 II O lurcher-loving collier 2:04
3 III What’s in your mind, my dove, my coney? 1:47
4 IV Eyes look into the well 2:24
5 V Carry her over the water 1:27
6 Night covers up the rigid land, Op. 14 No. 2 † 2:35
7 Lay your sleeping head, my love, Op. 14 No. 2b † 5:30

BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976)

On This Island, Op. 11 † 13:20
8 Let the florid music praise! 3:32
9 Now the leaves are falling fast 1:56
0 Seascape 2:08
! Nocturne 4:10
@ As it is, plenty 1:32
# Fish in the unruffled lakes † 2:17
$ Night covers up the rigid land † 2:03
% To lie flat on the back † 2:23
^ The sun shines down † 2:03
& What’s on your mind? † 1:50
* Underneath the abject willow † 1:46
Cabaret Songs * 14:44
( Tell me the truth about love 5:35
) Funeral blues 2:32
¡ Johnny 4:32
™ Calypso 2:03
£ When you’re feeling like expressing your affection * 0:43
¢ Underneath the abject willow * † 1:54
Della Jones, Mezzo-Soprano * • Philip Langridge, Tenor † • Steuart Bedford, Piano
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 NAXOS
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Benjamin Britten’s varied output includes a number of works which set texts by W.H. Auden. Britten
and Auden first met in 1935 when they were both working for the GPO Film Unit and they soon
formed a highly productive creative partnership. On This Island was Britten’s first published group
of songs with piano. A number of other Auden settings from this period, including the light-hearted
Cabaret Songs, were published after Britten’s death. Lennox Berkeley came into contact with Auden’s
poetry via Britten whom he had met in the 1930s. His settings, including the Five Poems op.53, reveal DDD
him to be as sensitive and imaginative as Britten in his response to Auden’s verse.
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BRITTEN • BERKELEY: Auden Songs

Settings of Poems by W.H. Auden Playing Time
BRITTEN • BERKELEY: Auden Songs

Lennox 60:57
BERKELEY
(1903-1989)
1-5 Five Poems, Op. 53 9:49
6 Night covers up the rigid land, Op. 14 No. 2 2:35
7 Lay your sleeping head, my love, Op. 14 No. 2b 5:30
Benjamin
BRITTEN
(1913-1976)
8-@ On This Island, Op. 11 13:20
# Fish in the unruffled lakes 2:17

www.naxos.com
Made in Canada
Booklet notes in English • Kommentar auf Deutsch
h & g 2003 HNH International Ltd.
h 1998 Pinnacle Entertainment Ltd.
$ Night covers up the rigid land 2:03
% To lie flat on the back 2:23
^ The sun shines down 2:03
& What’s on your mind? 1:50
* Underneath the abject willow 1:46
(-™ Cabaret Songs 14:44
£ When you’re feeling like expressing your affection 0:43
¢ Underneath the abject willow 1:54
Della Jones, Mezzo-Soprano • Philip Langridge, Tenor • Steuart Bedford, Piano

Recorded at St Silas Church, Chalk Farm, London, September 1997 (1-18, 24); Blackheath Concert Halls,
London, December 1995 (16-18); Rosslyn Hill Chapel, Hampstead, London (19-23)

8.557204
NAXOS

First issued on Collins Classics in 1998 • World Première Recordings (1, 3-7, 16-18)
A detailed tracklist can be found in the booklet.
Producer: John H. West • Engineers: Mike Hatch, Geoff Miles • Music Notes: Lloyd Moore
Cover Image: W.H. Auden by Jeffrey Morgan, Mary Evans / Jeffrey Morgan Collection