Britten Thematic Catalogue

Beta Version

BTC1151 CANTICLE IV 'JOURNEY OF THE MAGI'

For counter-tenor, tenor, baritone and piano, op. 86
Period of composition: 12 - 22 Jan 1971
First performance: 26 Jun 1971 >>
Type of performance: Concert performance
Location: Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh Festival
Performance details:

James Bowman counter-ten, Peter Pears ten, John Shirley-Quirk bar, Benjamin Britten pf

Genre: Vocal
Text: T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
Duration: 11'
Dedication: 'To James, Peter and John'

James Bowman (b. 1941), English countertenor; Peter Pears; and John Shirley-Quirk, English baritone (b. 1931).

Notes

The original text source shares a volume with the texts for two other Canticles: Canticle I: My beloved is mine (Sep 1947) and Canticle III: Still falls the rain - The raids, 1940, night and dawn (Nov 1954).

The piano part quotes from the plainchant melody 'Magi videntes stellam', the antiphon before the 'Magnificat' at first Vespers for the Feast of the Epiphany.

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