Britten Thematic Catalogue

Beta Version

BTC1031 FIVE FLOWER SONGS

For chorus (SATB) unaccompanied, op. 47
Composition date: April 1950
First performance: 23 Jul 1950 >>
Type of performance: Concert performance (private)
Location: Dartington Hall
Performance details:

Student choir, Imogen Holst cond

Genre: Choral (unaccompanied)
Text: See individual movements
Duration: 10'
Dedication: 'To Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst on the occasion of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary - 3rd April 1950'

Leonard Knight Elmhirst (1893-1974), and Dorothy (Payne Whitney) Elmhirst (1887-1968), co-founders of the Dartington Hall project in progressive education and rural reconstruction.

Notes

In a letter to John Lowe (19 March 1951, see Letters from a Life, vol 3, p. 662) Britten explained that the songs were about flowers because the dedicatees were keen botanists.

All content copyright (C) Britten-Pears Foundation 2012 unless stated. Please note all BTC numbers are provisional at this stage.