Go to BPA Website

Benjamin Britten’s

Song Catalogue

Quatre chansons françaises

High voice Orchestra

Britten composed this group of French songs when aged just 14 years old and dedicated it to his parents. The inscription 'Dedicated to Mr and Mrs R. V. Britten on the twenty-seventh aniversary of their wedding, September 5th 1928' is written on the front of the fair copy. Britten later arranged this work for voice and piano, but the published vocal score is a reduction of the orchestral version and is not Britten's voice and piano arrangement. The songs show a startling precocity and a departure into a new, palpably French soundworld - there are clear evocations of the vocal music of Debussy in not only the manner of text-setting but also in the sensuous orchestration. The collection was published in 1982 requiring very little in the way of editorial or corrections.

Audio extracts courtesy of EMI Records. Jill Gomez (soprano), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Reproduced on CD 40 of Decca Classics Benjamin Britten: The Complete Works.

Length
12 minutes
Language
French
Vocal Range
Publisher
Faber
Type
Collection
Voice Type
High voice
Accompaniment
Orchestra
Buy Score

Quatre chansons françaises

High voice Orchestra

Britten composed this group of French songs when aged just 14 years old and dedicated it to his parents. The inscription 'Dedicated to Mr and Mrs R. V. Britten on the twenty-seventh aniversary of their wedding, September 5th 1928' is written on the front of the fair copy. Britten later arranged this work for voice and piano, but the published vocal score is a reduction of the orchestral version and is not Britten's voice and piano arrangement. The songs show a startling precocity and a departure into a new, palpably French soundworld - there are clear evocations of the vocal music of Debussy in not only the manner of text-setting but also in the sensuous orchestration. The collection was published in 1982 requiring very little in the way of editorial or corrections.

Audio extracts courtesy of EMI Records. Jill Gomez (soprano), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Reproduced on CD 40 of Decca Classics Benjamin Britten: The Complete Works.

Length
12 minutes
Language
French
Vocal Range
Publisher
Faber
Type
Collection
Voice Type
High voice
Accompaniment
Orchestra
Buy Score

Quatre chansons françaises

High voice Orchestra

Britten composed this group of French songs when aged just 14 years old and dedicated it to his parents. The inscription 'Dedicated to Mr and Mrs R. V. Britten on the twenty-seventh aniversary of their wedding, September 5th 1928' is written on the front of the fair copy. Britten later arranged this work for voice and piano, but the published vocal score is a reduction of the orchestral version and is not Britten's voice and piano arrangement. The songs show a startling precocity and a departure into a new, palpably French soundworld - there are clear evocations of the vocal music of Debussy in not only the manner of text-setting but also in the sensuous orchestration. The collection was published in 1982 requiring very little in the way of editorial or corrections.

Audio extracts courtesy of EMI Records. Jill Gomez (soprano), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Reproduced on CD 40 of Decca Classics Benjamin Britten: The Complete Works.

Length
12 minutes
Language
French
Vocal Range
Publisher
Faber
Type
Collection
Voice Type
High voice
Accompaniment
Orchestra
Buy Score

Quatre chansons françaises

High voice Orchestra

Britten composed this group of French songs when aged just 14 years old and dedicated it to his parents. The inscription 'Dedicated to Mr and Mrs R. V. Britten on the twenty-seventh aniversary of their wedding, September 5th 1928' is written on the front of the fair copy. Britten later arranged this work for voice and piano, but the published vocal score is a reduction of the orchestral version and is not Britten's voice and piano arrangement. The songs show a startling precocity and a departure into a new, palpably French soundworld - there are clear evocations of the vocal music of Debussy in not only the manner of text-setting but also in the sensuous orchestration. The collection was published in 1982 requiring very little in the way of editorial or corrections.

Audio extracts courtesy of EMI Records. Jill Gomez (soprano), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Reproduced on CD 40 of Decca Classics Benjamin Britten: The Complete Works.

Length
12 minutes
Language
French
Vocal Range
Publisher
Faber
Type
Collection
Voice Type
High voice
Accompaniment
Orchestra
Buy Score

Brittens Song Catalogue

You can browse Britten’s Song Catalogue in three different ways. If you know a key word or title from any song cycle, movement or individual song then use the Search too. If you are looking for a range of songs that fit your specific requirements then use the Refine tool where you can select from a number of options. If you just want to view what songs are available within different categories then use the Explore tool.

Which ever way you choose, we hope you find what you’re looking for.

icon-search

Search

Text based keyword search for matching titles darr

icon-refine

Refine

Results based on your selected options darr

icon-explore

Explore

View every available song, indexed into categories darr