Album: Les Illuminations
In his article ‘The Key to the Parade’, published in On Mahler and Britten: Essays in Honour of Donald Mitchell on His Seventieth Birthday (1995), Oliver Knussen observed that the opening ‘Fanfare’ of Les Illuminations may be used as a mnemonic for the whole cycle, in that musical figures occurring in this movement presage important phrases from the ensuing songs in the order in which they appear. ‘Within this context, the identification of the composer, his text and the musical structure is complete’ he wrote. Similarly, the Illuminations sequence exhibited here attempts to link music and art through a unifying theme, although it should be emphasized at the outset that much of the subject matter is drawn from only the titles of those poems set by Britten. While certain of the exhibits do refer to more specific images evoked by the poems themselves, this ‘visual cycle’ is not, of course, to be taken as a literal depiction or recreation of Rimbaud’s words, still less as an attempt to ‘interpret’ them, which is not necessarily possible or desirable. It would in any case be almost impossible to match the poet’s dazzling and often disturbing hallucinations with just one or two representations. Indeed, if this is attempted, some of the implied connections between an exhibit and the poem with which it is associated may rightly be regarded as jarringly contradictive: for example, Rimbaud’s ‘Villes’ are obviously not in Brazil or Italy. Nonetheless, Edward Sackville-West wrote of the poems ‘it is always a picture, not an idea, that is evoked’ and the ordering assembled here, no more than a reflected illumination of Rimbaud’s original, has resulted in a fresh exploration of the work and collections of Britten and Pears. This is certainly a broader approach than the poet’s kaleidoscopic and provocative visualizations might immediately suggest but one which allows parallels to be drawn with contemporary artists working in various media, some of whom have responded with great immediacy to the music of Britten. Here there are many keys to the parade.

Album: Rumours
It is always fascinating to determine exactly why Britten was drawn to a poem or author, particularly when discovering lines or parts of poems he did not set. A number of omissions were the result of purely musical considerations but there were of course many other considerations. Other examples of the composer’s unfinished work are now explored.

Album: Responses to Britten's Music