Search - Benjamin Britten, Richard Hickox, Maggie Donnelly :: Benjamin Britten: Spring Symphony; Welcome Ode; Psalm 150

A delightful performance of one of Britten's sunniest works. The Spring Symphony is yet another work in a form pioneered by Mahler in his Eighth Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde--a choral or song symphony setting texts by a variety of poets, and unified by theme. Britten begins with a magnificent musical picture of winter's icy grip before going on to celebrate the arrival of spring (complete with birdsong, adorably imitated by the soloists), and culminating in the arrival of summer with a whistling chorus of children. The other pieces on the disc are similarly celebratory in nature, making this a well-planned and executed program. --David Hurwitz