Harriet Mackenzie directs the First Light Ensemble in a programme celebrating the legacy of Benjamin Britten: Sea-Change: Light and Landscape in the Wake of Britten

As the new statue celebrating Britten is celebrated in Britten’s home turf of Lowestoft, this programme illustrates the young Britten as well as his growth, influences and our long standing affection for the composer and his love of the landscape and sea.

Light – Deborah Pritchard (solo violin) This work inspired the latest painting in the series of Maggi Hambling paintings. Maggi Hambling has a connection and known affinity and enormous admiration with the fellow Suffolk artist Benjamin Britten and is this part of the long term collaboration with Harriet Mackenzie, Deborah Prtichard and Maggi Hambling

Cantus in Memorium Benjamin Britten – Arvo Part

Written to show his great admiration for Britten, Arvo Part wrote this work as an elegy to mourn the composer after his death in 1976. It’s incredible evocative writing has been used in many films and I believe it could be so affective on the beach in the morning:

Romance – Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge – Britten
A charming piece and a nod to Britten’s most influential teacher.

Lark Ascending – Vaughan Williams
The Lark Ascending is one of Britain’s most loved pieces. The celebration of nature seems to fit perfectly in this programme. Vaughan Williams and Britten shared musical circles, both attending and then teaching at the Royal College of Music. Vaughan Williams helped to establish Britain as a serious international force in composition which then Britten continued to grow and define.

Simple Symphony – Benjamin Britten

A perfect way to illustrate the new statue and Britten as a child and his growth as a composer. The Simple Symphony, Op. 4, is entirely based on works for the piano which Britten wrote as between the ages of 9 and 12 while he lived at Lowestoft.The piece is dedicated to Audrey Alston (Mrs Lincolne Sutton), Britten’s viola teacher during his childhood. The piece is based on eight themes which Britten wrote during his childhood (two per movement) and for which he had a particular fondness. He completed the first draft of the string orchestra version when he was twenty.