# Britten - catchy, or cacophony?



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

In a letter in our newspaper, the writer asks if anyone has ever left a concert whistling a tune of Benjamin Britten's. His verdict? That Britten's work 'is usually a cacophony'.

Do you agree? If not, and you regularly cycle to work whistling his tunes, do tell us which ones. 

I look forward to reading some witty and/or informative replies.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I must admit myself that what little I know of Britten, I don't like. Only when he's arranging (nicking?) other composers' work, such as Purcell's Rondo for his 'Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra', do I give him Brownie points for taste at any rate. I was soured for life, mind you, by being made to play 'Boisterous Bourrée' and 'Playful Pizzicato' at the age of 11, when I went to York's School Strings (Junior) Orchestra.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I was whistling Albert Herring for months after I saw it!


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I was whistling Albert Herring for months after I saw it!


I hope you removed the bones first.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Ingenue said:


> In a letter in our newspaper, the writer asks if anyone has ever left a concert whistling a tune of Benjamin Britten's. His verdict? That Britten's work 'is usually a cacophony'.
> 
> Do you agree? If not, and you regularly cycle to work whistling his tunes, do tell us which ones.
> 
> I look forward to reading some witty and/or informative replies.


I sometimes whistle the whole of R.Strauss' "Heldenleben" when I'm on my way somewhere-----trouble is it claps me out so much doing it that I have to turn round and go back again.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

I sometimes earworm the theme from the first movement of the piano concerto! So the simple answer is, yes he wrote some catchy tunes! ... I can't think of a complicated answer to Your question!

/ptr


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

I have frequently, over time, hummed or whistled tunes from the Serenade and Les Illuminations, and parts of the Young Person's Guide.

(Several times, here in the eastern U.S. I've been to the Boston area during the anniversary of the start of the revolution in Lexington and Concord. I have been round encampments of re-enactors, and occasionally hear someone noddling around on a fife. Each time I really want to hear him break into the piccolo theme that starts the fugue at the end of the Young Person's Guide.  )(


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Well, I suppose the Serenade for tenor, horn and strings might not be as memorable as Doo Wah Diddy, but "cacophony" isn't the word I'd use.
I'm curious as to how this letter writer feels about other 20th-century composers. Does he find Britten especially cacophonous next to, say, Martinu or Prokofiev? Or is "Britten" just a code word for anything written after Wagner?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

He was writing about Britten because it's been the centenary, I think, and he had been sounding off to his friends who'd called him a Philistine. So he wrote in complaining about how he'd been trapped in several concert halls, forced to listen to Britten. (The horror, the horror! )


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Words by Auden - I think it was written in the mid-30s for the telecommunications section of the General Post Office.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ptr said:


> I sometimes earworm the theme from the first movement of the piano concerto! So the simple answer is, yes he wrote some catchy tunes! ... I can't think of a complicated answer to Your question!
> 
> /ptr


Go on,try really hard.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

If somebody finds BRITTEN to be a cacophony, is there any hope for them? They might as well think that Beethoven is a cacophony. Do they even know what that word means?


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

moody said:


> Go on,try really hard.


Ok, I could, but won't, as it would certainly contain so much foul language towards the geezer that put me up to it that I would be banned from TC for life! 
Let me just say that I'm young and foolish enough to think that people who equates Britten with cacophony should be given no pardon before having their mentality circumcised! Chop Chop... 

/ptr


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

As much as I love him, Britten would never score high in my ranking w.r.t. beautiful melodies composers - but from there to cacophony is a ridiculously big step!


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ptr said:


> Ok, I could, but won't, as it would certainly contain so much foul language towards the geezer that put me up to it that I would be banned from TC for life!
> Let me just say that I'm young and foolish enough to think that people who equates Britten with cacophony should be given no pardon before having their mentality circumcised! Chop Chop...
> 
> /ptr


What's this---foolish yes,but young, have you been acting old to get on the right side of the Geezers?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

I can readily call to mind several bits from Peter Grimes (one of which was lifted from Mahler) and Turn of the Screw, so I suppose I would lean towards catchy, but I agree with _Art Rock_ here. Certainly not cacophony.


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Catchy is such a weird compliment, you might as well like influenza. It's certainly a skill to make instantly recognisable melodies that can be whistled right away but I tend to prefer music and art in general that offers it's rewards more cautiously. There's a suspicion that behind every catchy tune is a lack of depth, and while some can write both, catchy with depth, i'd rather be persuaded than caught. Also catchy vs. cacophony? these aren't really opposites and a lot of modern pop have both qualities.

I like his solo cello works and Lachrymae for viola, neither of which are thankfully very catchy. Other than that most of his other instrumental works haven't caught me. His vocal works are where he really shines, none in a bel canto style, all rather harsh and worldly compared to Puccini but all in soundworlds you can lose yourself within.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

We don't go around whistling all that many tunes by Debussy either. I'm not sure a composer necessarily needs to compose easily singable tunes (although it can frequently help a great deal to popularize his work). 

I don't know much of Britten's work, but the bits and pieces of his choral music that I have on CD are quite magical when I am in the mood for it.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

moody said:


> What's this---foolish yes,but young, have you been acting old to get on the right side of the Geezers?


No Sir, I've been a part of Geezdom all my life, it is something I value precociously! 

/ptr


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I used to walk down the street singing "Don't help on the big chariot" until the authorities told me to stop.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Thank you for this one out loud laugh-inducing post.

Schöneberg's postman, this guy is not.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

"Mostly cacophony" - what silly drivel from your letter-writer. 

I am amused by the implication (which perhaps wasn't intended, but which I nonetheless perceived) that all music is either catchy or cacophony. I am also amused by the fact that cacophony literally means "poop-sound." 

When I was in college (read: until last month), whenever I was walking home from the music building late at night, I'd find myself softly singing "steady now... there you are... nearly home..." That's my life-permeating Britten earworm. It's often his most haunting stuff that sticks with me the most.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Meaghan said:


> "Mostly cacophony" - what silly drivel from your letter-writer.
> 
> I am amused by the implication (which perhaps wasn't intended, but which I nonetheless perceived) that all music is either catchy or cacophony. I am also amused by the fact that cacophony literally means "poop-sound."
> 
> When I was in college (read: until last month), whenever I was walking home from the music building late at night, I'd find myself softly singing "steady now... there you are... nearly home..." That's my life-permeating Britten earworm. It's often his most haunting stuff that sticks with me the most.


Sorry, Meaghan - I just gave the thread a title to sum up the opposition set up by the letter-writer. I was hoping to attract posters, and it seems to have worked and ... okay, okay, I admit it. Once again, I've been seduced by Alliteration!


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I've whistled many a Britten tune, particularly from his religious music. _A Ceremony of Carols_, _Hymn to the Virgin_, _Rejoice in the Lamb_, _Missa Brevis_, and _Sacred and Profane_. I can recall a number of tunes from each of those works. And of course his _Spring Symphony_.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Peter Grimes is jam packed full of great tunes.
As is the War Requiem.

I often find myself singing Old Joe has gone fishing to myself.

Seems a silly criticism to level at Britten. There are far more tune-challenged composers about. Try whistling along to some Xenakis.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Oh My!! Look what's coming next week.
And I'm still working my way through this one.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Ingenue said:


> In a letter in our newspaper, the writer asks if anyone has ever left a concert whistling a tune of Benjamin Britten's. His verdict? That Britten's work 'is usually a cacophony'.
> 
> Do you agree? If not, and you regularly cycle to work whistling his tunes, do tell us which ones.
> 
> I look forward to reading some witty and/or informative replies.


I don't find his tunes as catchy as some other composers, but I do find his music atmospheric. Perfect in evoking moods, tone pictures and images, much like say Debussy. Britten was from Suffolk (as was Tippett) and I often connect their music with a sense of landscapes and seascapes. Its very evocative of the northern hemisphere light and lie of the land. I agree with what Yehudi Menuhin said about Britten's music in this regard:

'If wind and water could write music, it would sound like Ben's."


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

this is absolutely catchy (and beautiful) in my opinion.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

MagneticGhost said:


> Oh My!! Look what's coming next week.
> And I'm still working my way through this one.


Goodness alone knows what it's going to be like in Lowestoft this year! Luckily, we're (just) far enough away.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Ingenue said:


> Sorry, Meaghan - I just gave the thread a title to sum up the opposition set up by the letter-writer. I was hoping to attract posters, and it seems to have worked and ... okay, okay, I admit it. Once again, I've been seduced by Alliteration!


Oh no, I didn't mean that _you_ were saying that all music must be one or the other; my impression was that the _letter-writer_ was saying "it is not catchy, and therefore it is cacophony." I did not mean to suggest that you think in such dichotomies.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Taggart said:


> Goodness alone knows what it's going to be like in Lowestoft this year! Luckily, we're (just) far enough away.


The fact of Britten's centenary completely passed me by with the bicentenaries that are getting all the headlines.

By the way. As a fan of alliteration you may like to join my new group.
The Anglophile Aggregate.

http://www.talkclassical.com/groups/anglophile-aggregate.html


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Meaghan said:


> Oh no, I didn't mean that _you_ were saying that all music must be one or the other; my impression was that the _letter-writer_ was saying "it is not catchy, and therefore it is cacophony." I did not mean to suggest that you think in such dichotomies.


He may have made the points in separate paragraphs, though; I don't know as I've put the paper in the recycling bin!

Anyhow, for the last two days, the Brittenites have been sorting him out on the Letters Page well & truly. One observed that he'd developed an unconscious coping strategy whenever he feared that he'd end up 'trapped' in a concert hall': he would discover that he somehow had not bought any tickets for the said concert.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

MagneticGhost said:


> The fact of Britten's centenary completely passed me by with the bicentenaries that are getting all the headlines.
> 
> By the way. As a fan of alliteration you may like to join my new group.
> The Anglophile Aggregate.
> ...


Ta. I will.

I gather they're pushing the boat out in Lowestoft with a performance of Noye's Fludde on 22nd November.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Taggart said:


> Ta. I will.
> 
> I gather they're pushing the boat out in Lowestoft with a performance of Noye's Fludde on 22nd November.


That's really funny, because they did an ambitious production of Noye's Fludde in York Minster in the 1950s (or early 1960s), using any schoolkid they could find in the orchestra - even my brother, who wasn't really a very motivated violinist. He didn't enjoy it one jot, but I'm sure it was a significant event. It certainly impinged on me, & now I'll get a chance to see what I missed at the age of eight! 

PS I have joined your group too - great fun! Thanks.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Speaking of ambitious Britten productions in the year of the centenary, did you guys hear about this?

!!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Thanks, Meaghan - I had heard of it, but only today, through the infamous letters column. Someone said that the original Britten-hater ought to go to that, so he could leave at any moment he felt like, preferably in an Easterly direction (no, I made that last bit up).


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Taggart said:


> Ta. I will.
> 
> I gather they're pushing the boat out in Lowestoft with a performance of Noye's Fludde on 22nd November.


No pun intended? Presumably the venue is equipped with ark lighting (ouch...).


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

I'm always getting tunes from Ceremony of Carols stuck in my head. Not that I mind.

ADam lay ybounden, BOUNDen in a bond; four THOUSand WINter thought he not too long.

Who else is singing along now?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Catchytunes, Saskatchewan; Population 108. [(c) 2013]


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## Rapide (Oct 11, 2011)

Not quite cacophony but not ctachy either, however a reasonably respectable 20th century composer.


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## Chris (Jun 1, 2010)

In today's Daily Mail there is a piece by Craig Brown, who lives in Aldeburgh. He can hear the rehearsals for the open-air Peter Grimes (see Meaghan's post above) from his cottage. A couple of extracts:

'For the past couple of weeks, the cast and chorus have been rehearsing vociferously. So to the regular drone of the sea and cackle of the gulls has been added the somewhat disjointed music of Benjamin Britten who, for all his spooky angst, sometimes sounds as though he is straining a little too hard after that elusive tune.'

'There is, at the best of times, something of a stop-start feel to Britten's music - for some reason, he never quite gets going.'

Craig Brown is a humorist, by the way.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh beach. Drat I can't put the video up directly.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

On the local news last night the audience were all huddled up in overcoats and cossack hats and said they were 'absolutely freezing' but that it was fabulous anyway...


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## Garlic (May 3, 2013)

What is this obsession with "tunes" anyway? If all these people care about is tunes what are they hearing when they listen to Bach or Brahms?

It's quite amusing that "Britten" is used by some as shorthand for awful modern cacophony. I know people who talk about "Shostakovich" in the same way. How would they cope if confronted with Boulez?


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Garlic said:


> It's quite amusing that "Britten" is used by some as shorthand for awful modern cacophony. I know people who talk about "Shostakovich" in the same way. How would they cope if confronted with Boulez?


Run away screaming in horror, all the while exclaiming "It's music, but not as we know it, Jim!"


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

I have Britten's complete works but I would say that the only thing I could remember off the top of my head is the ceremony of carols, and that is only because I have sung it.

Catchy, not really ...... Cacophony, how rude


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Meaghan said:


> "Mostly cacophony" - what silly drivel from your letter-writer.
> 
> I am amused by the implication (which perhaps wasn't intended, but which I nonetheless perceived) that all music is either catchy or cacophony. I am also amused by the fact that cacophony literally means "poop-sound."
> 
> When I was in college (read: until last month), whenever I was walking home from the music building late at night, I'd find myself softly singing "steady now... there you are... nearly home..." That's my life-permeating Britten earworm. It's often his most haunting stuff that sticks with me the most.


It doesn't mean any such thing.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Meaghan said:


> "Mostly cacophony" - what silly drivel from your letter-writer.
> 
> I am amused by the implication (which perhaps wasn't intended, but which I nonetheless perceived) that all music is either catchy or cacophony. I am also amused by the fact that cacophony literally means "poop-sound."


Cacophony = Greek for bad voice / kako phonē


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