Britten, Benjamin: Our Hunting Fathers op. 8 (1936) 27'
for high voice and orchestra

Music Text  
WH Auden (E)

Scoring
2(II=picc).2(II=corA).1.Ebcl(=bcl).asax.2-4.2.3.1-timp.perc(2):xyl/cyms/tgl/BD/SD/tamb/TD-harp-strings

Repertoire Note  
Written as a commission from the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and described by the composer as ‘my real opus 1’, Britten’s first mature song-cycle is also his first work to deal with a recurring theme in his output: man’s inhumanity to man. A tour-de-force of vocal bravura (for either soprano or tenor soloist) and of orchestral virtuosity, Our Hunting Fathers is increasingly recognized as one of Britten’s most original and brilliantly daring early works.