Britten: Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes'

Korngold: Violin Concerto in D

Nicola Benedetti (violin)

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Kirill Karabits (conductor)



Scottish-born Nicola Benedetti has attracted a lot of attention both as a soloist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games opening, BBC Young Musician of the Year, twice Best Female Artist at the Classical Brits and a leading partner of Venezuela’s pioneering El Sistema.

Commentary is provided by presenter Andrew McGregor, as well as BBC special correspondent Razia Iqbal.

Benjamin Britten (1913 –1976)

Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes' (1945)

Britten’s orchestral Four Sea Interludes were originally written to allow for changes of scenery in his opera Peter Grimes, but soon became established as one of his most popular works for the concert hall. Peter Grimes is set in a fishing village on the eastern coast of England and tells the tragic story of a cruel fisherman and the people who come into contact with him. The poem by George Crabbe which served as inspiration for the opera was published in 1810 but the characters and seascapes evoked in it feel timeless. Britten’s music, perhaps especially in the Interludes, captures this beautifully.

The first of the Interludes, Dawn, starts with the desolate sounds of violins in high register, a haunting, repeated melody that’s interspersed with fluid broken chords on other instruments reminiscent of rushing sea waves. The second movement, Sunday Morning, imitates the festive ringing of church bells as they remind the villagers to come to mass. The title of the next Interlude, Moonlight, could suggest an idyllic landscape but in Britten’s rendition it is mostly a menacing night full of foreboding. The Storm finishes the orchestral suite with ferocity that suggests a howling gale coming off the North Sea and the primeval power of water.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897- 1957)

Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35 (1945)

The waxing and waning of Korngold’s Violin Concerto’s popularity is a good illustration of how musical tastes change. At its premiere in 1947, critics dismissed it as ‘film music’. And yet, a quick search of the internet will bring up two dozen recent recordings of the work, played by the cream of today’s violinists. So what’s going on? Korngold’s concerto is film music but of the best kind - all three movements are based on scores for Hollywood movies which he wrote some 10 years earlier. And, while in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, Korngold’s lush melodies seemed not just out of fashion but out of step with modern sensibility, players and audiences alike now appreciate his effortless 'singing' lines for the solo violin and the ability to conjure up a kaleidoscope of sensuous and uplifting moods.