Mont Juic (suite)

Background#

Berkeley and Britten both attended the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) Festival in Barcelona, Spain in 1936. Berkeley had been living abroad for some years and had never previously met Britten. They soon became close friends. Another friend of Berkeley’s, Peter Burra, was also present, and he also became a friend of Britten’s. At the Festival, Britten accompanied the violinist Antonio Brosa in the first performance of his Suite for violin and piano, Op. 6. The highlight of the Festival, which Britten, Berkeley and Burra all attended, was the posthumous world premiere of Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto, “To the memory of an angel”, which was performed on Sunday 19 April, with the soloist Louis Krasner, under the conductor Hermann Scherchen. The next day, the trio visited Montjuïc, the hill that dominates the Barcelona landscape. On the Wednesday, 22 April, where they heard various Catalan folk tunes. Later that day Berkeley and Britten jotted down some of the melodies in a Barcelona café.

Instrumentation#

The instrumentation consists of: two flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets in B, alto saxophone (ad lib.), tenor saxophone (ad lib.), two bassoons (one doubling double bassoon), four horns, two trumpets in B, three trombones, tuba, timpani, glockenspiel, xylophone, cymbals, bass drum, tenor drum, side drum, triangle, tambourine, tam-tam, harp, and strings.

Movements#

The suite has four movements: The two composers chose not to reveal who had written which parts of the music. The manuscript Benjamin Britten submitted to the publisher was written entirely in his hand.

Homage to Catalonia#

By the time the work was written, the Spanish Civil War had broken out, and the third movement Lament (in C minor) It includes a solo alto saxophone and is based on the Sardana. It is subtitled “Barcelona, July 1936”, a clear reference to the Civil War that had broken out on 18 July.

First performance#

The first performance of the work was in a BBC radio broadcast on 8 January 1938, by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Joseph Lewis. Mont Juic has since had many performances and a number of recordings.

External links#

• Listing for the premiere performance, in the BBC’s Radio Times magazine.