B.Britten & P.Pears - O Waly, Waly

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) - O Waly, Waly (folksong arrangement) Peter Pears (tenor), Benjamin Britten (piano)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• britten
• song
• folksong
• water
• wide

[janraffaello]

Thank you so much; I adore Britten as a pianist (and also Pears as a singer) and this is actually the first video where I see him playing. He was an astonishing good pianist and his range of colours immensly rich; even in this simple folk song every moment has its own shade and meaning. Woow I adore him!

[LilyBess]

Thank you for posting this. It's exquisite.

[WarlordLuvzMCR]

So amazingly beautiful; even though I still detest playing it in Orchestra.

[marginallymental]

Hey, @Valhalla0.....can you go easy on Americans. please? Some Americans are here to enjoy beautiful music and engage in lively conversation with other music lovers, such as yourself. Most Europeans are genuine and intelligent people. And so are we.

[marginallymental]

does anybody know where I can get Brittan's arrangement for piano?  I can make out most of it, but I'm not as young as I once was! Any help appreciated.

[serenaluce]

Beautiful! thanks for sharing. In ART, and in this case in music and singing only TALENT should matter, and nothing else! Artists' private life is only their own business and nobody else's!

[Fredigundis22]

@Pitcairn2 That's a good point - official hypocrisy on the part of the establishment, many of whom came from those notoriously heterosexual institutions, English public schools! I'd also forgotten about Britten's pacifism; in the light of this, I can well understand why those who lived through and remembered the air-raids might reasonably have a jaundiced view of him. But when hue and cry dies down and the dust settles the only thing left is the music.

[Pitcairn2]

Cont.. However I am glad to say that he is now recognised in place of origin in these more enlightened times.. I am proud to come from Brittens home town, and I am a great fan of his music. In school back in the early 60's we were continually played old recordings of 'Peter and the Wolf' to teach us about the orchestra. They NEVER played us 'The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra' which seemed mad to me.. Looking forward again to going back to Snape in the Spring. Wonderful place.

[Pitcairn2]

@Fredigundis22 Yes but while technically illegal, if you were of a certain 'class' as Britten was it was also 'brushed under the carpet' . Britten was also disliked because of his pacifism , the town where he was born (my town) was absolute hammered by the Luftwaffe  for 4 years between 1939 and 1944, and there was a lot of bitterness over this amongst the locals even up to the 1960's, particularly against those who 'did not fight'.

[Fredigundis22]

@Pitcairn2 I'm also sorry to learn about Britten's shoddy treatment by his home town. As far as naming a school after him, well, better late than never! It does suggest that attitudes are changing for the better, and that a great artist is finally (if belatedly) receiving his due recognition.

[Fredigundis22]

@Pitcairn2 I understand your point, but I don't think that the illegality of homosexual acts at the time in any way detracts from Britten's and Pears's discretion and gentlemanliness, which I think was a product of wider cultural forces than a misconceived (and actually soon-to-be-abolished) law. The attitudes that brought about such laws lay a good deal further in the past than the 19th century (and it is significant that countries such as France had no such laws, even then).

[Pitcairn2]

@Fredigundis22 They were discreet about it because at the time it was a crime to be Gay. I come from the same town as Britten and I must say his treatment by his birth town was awful. At my school in the 1950's he was never invited to speak to us and I remember my music teacher talking of him when I asked , with disdain. This music partnership was superb but in a 19th century mindset the couple were not really accepted . They HAVE named a school after him in Lowestoft.. Rather late I think.