Britten Thematic Catalogue

Beta Version

BTC847 FISH IN THE UNRUFFLED LAKES

Song for high voice and piano
Period of composition: 15 - 16 Jan 1938
Revised: 1942-43
First performance: 28 Feb 1943 >>
Type of performance: Concert performance
Location: Friends House, Euston Road, London
Performance details:

Peter Pears ten, Benjamin Britten pf. This was a performance of version II.

Genre: Solo vocal
Text: W.H. Auden (1907-1973)
Duration: 2'

Notes

The fair copy of this song was given to Sophie Wyss some time before its publication (probably before Britten's departure for America), so the first edition was prepared on the basis of a revision of Britten's composition draft (=version II) which was presumably made just before the first performance. The fair copy has since come to light (=version I) and was edited by Colin Matthews for publication.

At its first performance on radio the song was heard not as an independent item, but in place of no. 3 ('Seascape') in a broadcast of On this island, op.11. This substitution was adopted in at least one concert performance of the cycle by Britten and Pears (8 October 1944).

Resources

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