Music & Letters 31/3 (July 1950)

Benjamin Britten's Spring Symphony, op. 44, which is dedicated to Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was performed for the first time at Amsterdam in July 1949, was given in London at the Royal Albert Hall by the London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, conducted by Eduard van Beinum, on March 9.

Seldom can the acoustical shortcomings of that building have been more unfortunate. The publication of the symphony (by Boosey & Hawkes) will be particularly welcome to those who, like myself, have heard it only there. The extremely contrapuntal nature of the music makes it essential for the listener to hear the part-writing clearly; the moment the parts are blurred or indistinct it loses its meaning. Only on reading this beautiful but rather disconcerting work did I realise how little I had heard and how inaccurately.

The Spring Symphony is by no means an easy work, and one can understand that, at first hearing, if many people appreciated it at once, others were somewhat bewildered. This was due to various reasons but chiefly, I think, to the fact that recently the composer has greatly developed his style, and his admirers have to make an effort to keep up with him. This always happens with an artist whose personality is rich enough to permit of development. When he always carries his public with him it generally means that he is standing still, rewriting, albeit with more assurance and accomplishment, what he has already written.