Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A tenor best known for his musical partnership with Benjamin Britten and for creating the role of Peter Grimes.
On the island
Eight records
It is a bit of Delius, in fact, which I'm very fond of, and which recalls, as nothing else does, to me, the English countryside, the scene of Suffolk or Sussex in early May, and incorporates one of the most beautiful English folk tunes, that is, Brig Fair by Delius.
the finest lutenist we've had since Dowland's day, and one with whom I'm proud to have been associated
Et in unum Dominum (from Mass in B minor)
Elizabeth Schumann and Margaret Balfour
I don't think this is a very specially good performance, but it captures her charm and is a very lovely piece.
Moonlight Interlude (from Peter Grimes)Favourite
I couldn't resist taking Grimes on Desert Island with me.
one of the most extraordinary songs that Schubert ever wrote, with a quite unique piano accompaniment showing the dogs growling in the distance while the unhappy man sings about his dreams.
Fear no more the frown of the great
as will be nobody on the island to talk to. I should have someone on disk to talk to me.
it would be delicious on a desert island to hear the harpsichord sound of a Scarlatti sonata played by that marvellous player, George Malcolm
I thought I would plump the record of Bismillah Khan playing his Shennai
In conversation
Presenter asks
4:55What part of the country do you come from?
I come from Sussex. I spent the first eighteen years of my life in Sussex.
Presenter asks
9:57When did you first meet Benjamin Britten?
I first met Benjamin Britton in 36 or 37, at the time of the Spanish Civil War, through a mutual friend of ours, and we gave our first concert in 1938, the winter of 1938, at Cambridge in aid of the Spanish Republican funds. Then, um, of course, in early 39, we went off to America together. He'd been offered a job in Hollywood. We went and did a lot of concerts there and he wrote a great deal of music and I did a good deal of studying as well.
Presenter asks
13:32Does Benjamin Britten ask your opinion and advice when writing music for you?
Yes, to a certain extent. If I think that he's making too great demands on myself and my colleagues, well, I pipe up. It doesn't follow that he takes my advice, but at least I don't do any harm, I think, in that way.
Presenter asks
The keepsakes
The book
Tropical Plants and Their Cultivation
Bruegeman
There presumably will be some vegetation on the island and hopes presumably of some more. I mean, seeds might be wafted in from somewhere else. So I thought I'd get a very attractive book on tropical plants and their cultivation by a man called Bruegeman. It's got marvellous illustrations. I'm not a very good gardener, but I think that with the aid of this book I might be able to start some quite new species.
The luxury
After all, we are told uh that we spend a third of our lives in bed. And that would apply certainly on Desert Island. It might even be rather more than a third. So I would take my very comfortable bed with me.
How well do you think you could endure solitude?
I don't know. Oh, solitude, as the Purcell song goes, my sweetest choice. There are times when one thinks one could very happily endure solitude. On the other hand, I think one can only have it for a few days and one begins to doubt how long one could really tackle it. Well, one would have to get used to it, wouldn't one? One would have to face it. One would have to simply be philosophical about it.
Presenter asks
22:33If you could take just one of the discs you've chosen, which would it be?
Oh, very difficult. I think probably something which has really been a part of me for twenty odd years. I think that would be the Grimes interlude. The Peter Grimes interlude.
“After all, I'm not so young anymore and I've had thirty odd years of musical life and it's those peaks in my career which I would like to preserve if possible.”
“Making records is a terrible, terrible process. Just after you've made them, you think, well, that's the best I can do for now. And then, maybe six months later, you hear them again and think, well, that's not half bad, actually.”
“I don't know. Oh, solitude, as the Purcell song goes, my sweetest choice.”
“We spend a third of our lives in bed. And that would apply certainly on Desert Island. It might even be rather more than a third. So I would take my very comfortable bed with me.”