Interesting typed signed letter from English composer and pianist. Typed letter signed ("Benjamin Britten"), 2 pp (recto/verso), on "The English Opera Group" letterhead, addition of red-type address "Theatre Royal, Newcastle-upon-Tyne" (8 x 7 inches; 20.5 x 17.5 cm), 1st October, 1947. Addressed to Philip Towell of the Stamford School, in part: "I am so glad that the Young Person's Guide has had a reception from your music club. I am so sorry that you have been unable to obtain the commentary of this work but I will ask Boosey & Hawkes to send you a copy. I suggest very much that you read the commentary to the work while the music is being played. The educational and also amusement value of the work will be heightened if the younger boys know exactly which instruments are playing. I regret that there is no miniature score yet available of the work and, since the full score I am sure costs pounds, I am not carrying out the instructions in your letter." Usual folds, left margin irregularly trimmed without any apparent textual losses, else fine.
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34, is a 1945 musical composition with a subtitle Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell. It was based on the second movement, "Rondeau", of the Abdelazer suite. It was originally commissioned for the British educational documentary film Instruments of the Orchestra released on 29 November 1946, directed by Muir Mathieson and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent; Sargent also conducted the concert première on 15 October 1946 with the Liverpool Philharmonic in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England.
Interesting typed signed letter from English composer and pianist. Typed letter signed ("Benjamin Britten"), 2 pp (recto/verso), on "The English Opera Group" letterhead, addition of red-type address "Theatre Royal, Newcastle-upon-Tyne" (8 x 7 inches; 20.5 x 17.5 cm), 1st October, 1947. Addressed to Philip Towell of the Stamford School, in part: "I am so glad that the Young Person's Guide has had a reception from your music club. I am so sorry that you have been unable to obtain the commentary of this work but I will ask Boosey & Hawkes to send you a copy. I suggest very much that you read the commentary to the work while the music is being played. The educational and also amusement value of the work will be heightened if the younger boys know exactly which instruments are playing. I regret that there is no miniature score yet available of the work and, since the full score I am sure costs pounds, I am not carrying out the instructions in your letter." Usual folds, left margin irregularly trimmed without any apparent textual losses, else fine.
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34, is a 1945 musical composition with a subtitle Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell. It was based on the second movement, "Rondeau", of the Abdelazer suite. It was originally commissioned for the British educational documentary film Instruments of the Orchestra released on 29 November 1946, directed by Muir Mathieson and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent; Sargent also conducted the concert première on 15 October 1946 with the Liverpool Philharmonic in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England.