Double Reed Vol. 25 No.

2 2002
40
HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS ON TWO INSECT PIECES AND TEMPORAL VARIATIONS

Historical Accounts on Two Insect Pieces and Temporal Variations

Mark Biggam Winston-Salem, North Carolina

he following is an excerpt from Dr. Biggams DMA thesis, Benjamin Brittens Four Chamber Works for Oboe (2001) he did not have them published during that time. A possible explanation is that Britten intended to write three more and that he had not considered them yet a complete set. The sketches of the three other insect pieces did not survive, nor did the string orchestra accompaniment that Britten mentions in the letter. By the way that the sentence reads, it could he assumed that Britten might have been considering an orchestration for Insect Pieces. This mystery is further enhanced by the next sentence of Ms. Spencers letter: In fact out of a simple little piece for oboe & piano has grown (or is growing) a large and elaborate suite for oboe & strings.3 Again, it is assumed that Britten is still referring to Insect Pieces. However, editors Mitchell and Reed remark in a footnote of that letter that this (i.e., the elaborate suite) did not materialize, nor do any sketches exist. Brittens Temporal Variations (1936) for oboe and piano . . was originally entitled Temporal Suite. Was Temporal Variations the eventual product of the composer planning, in April 1935, a large & elaborate suite for oboe & strings?4 This conjecture, whether Britten intended to orchestrate Temporal Variations, has been noted by Britten scholar, Colin Matthews, who is responsible for the present day editions of Two Insect Pieces and Temporal Variations. Along with other present-day scholars from the Britten-Pears Library, he repudiates any connection to Temporal Variations with reference to the suite for oboe and orchestra: But that work did not materialize; instead he (Britten] wrote the Temporal Variations for oboe and piano - . ..5 Furthermore, it appears unlikely in two other respects. One explanation is that the letter referring to the suite was written over a year and a half before Temporal Variations was composed, The other reason is that Temporal Variations was written for Natalie Caine and Adolph Hallis, not Sylvia Spencer, to whom the letter was addressed. On the other hand, traits of the piano accompaniment of Temporal Variations lend themselves well to orchestration... Furthermore, Temporal Variations was a commissioned work, not a work composed for a friend. Kennedy writes that Adolph Hallis ran a series of concerts and for one of them, on 15 December 1936, he commissioned from Britten a set of variations for oboe and piano, Temporal Variations, which were completed three days before the event.6 It should be noted that Temporal Variations

INTRODUCTION This [article] intends to answer the integral question of the thesis regarding the two posthumous oboe works by Britten. Why were these two works, Two Insect Pieces and Temporal Variations not published during Brittens life? Did he believe that these works were not worthy of publication? As will be demonstrated, Britten never wrote that he was ashamed of the works; in fact, through his letters, it seems as if he liked them. They never got the public notoriety that the oboe Phantasy had via radio broadcast or international performances, At this time, Britten was occupied by various projects and was not able to spend much time on these works. Though he intended to work on them more, he never got around to completing or modifying them, and ultimately, was interrupted by a visit to the United States in 1939. Below I will consider these matters, and address other mysteries found in some sources, notably Brittens April 17, 1935 letter to Sylvia Spencer. Two Insect Pieces and Temporal Variations disappeared into obscurity for more than forty years, In fact, Two Insect Pieces never received a public performance during Brittens lifetime. Temporal Variations received only one performance and was put away, not to be discovered until the late 1970s. Britten wrote Two Insect Pieces for his friend, oboist Sylvia Spencer. For Britten, this work was probably not intended as a serious addition to his oeuvre. His letter, dated April 17, 1935, to Ms. Spencer was the key documentation to the existence of Insect Pieces and possibly Temporal Variations, until the latter part of the 1970s. Britten wrote Talk of dashing a piece [Two Insect Pieces] off in five minutes! I have spent at least three weeks worrying [at] the blessed thing-with the result that I have written two insect pieces--sketched three more-sketched the scoring for accompaniment of string orchestra.1 More than a week later, Ms. Spencer and Britten read through those pieces as indicated in his diary entry, dated April 26: 3.0 to Brechin Place to rehearse Grasshopper & Wasp with Sylvia Spencer-she is fine & I am very pleased with the little pieces.2 So the question remains as to why

Double Reed Vol. 25 No. 2002 Double Reed Vol. 25 No. 2 22002
THE DOUBLE REED

41

was known also as Temporal Suite, as is mentioned in the note above from Letters from the Life, Vol. 1. Matthews has noted in the foreword to the score that [t]he programme for the first performance, at odds with the manuscript, gives the title as Temporal Suite.7 Oddly enough, Britten himself refers to this piece as a suite in a following citation. Various accounts of the first 1936 performance of Temporal Variations contradict its success. Britten wrote: My Oboe Suite which they [Caine and Hallisl play well if not brilliantly & which goes down very well-surprisingly...8 Various reviews cited in Mitchell and Reeds edition give the piece bittersweet press. A notice of the concert appeared in The Times, 18 December: Benjamin Brittens Temporal Suite (does the adjective mean ephemeral in this context?) for oboe and pianoforte is a triviality. It is the kind of music that is commonly called clever. The suite was given an excellent performance by Miss Natalie Caine and Mr. Hollis.9 Two days before, a review by Richard Capell appeared in the Daily Telegraph; In his Suite for oboe and piano, faultlessly played by Natalie Caine and Adolphe Hollis, Mr. Britten is again a sly and nimble Harlequin of music. The neatness of his leg-pulling amounts to grace.10 Michael Kennedy, author of Britten, however, seems misinformed regarding Brittens reaction to the performance. He notes that the piece was completed three days before the performance and [p]erhaps this led to an unsatisfactory performance, for Britten was not happy about the work, withdrew it and presumably forgot it.11 Philip Reeds liner notes to the Nicholas Daniels recording of Temporal Variations insinuates that both of these reviews resulted in Brittens withdrawal of the piece: This type of half-baked criticism, with its typical establishment attitudes to the youthful composer, may have been responsible for Brittens complete withdrawal of the Suite.12 Lady Evelyn Barbirolli writes in a letter to me that, I understand that there was some misunderstanding between Natalies husband, Cecil James (the very well known bassoon player) and Britten, which was the reason that the piece was put away.13 On the contrary, it seems that Britten had faith in Temporal Variations and did not withdraw the piece completely. In his diary of January 1, 1937, only a couple of weeks after the premiere, he wrote that he was rewriting parts of Temporal Suite. Furthermore, it is evident he either wanted to work on it more or have it performed again, because that manuscript, along with Two Insect Pieces, traveled with him and Peter Pears to the United States in April, 1939. The transport of these scores to the U.S. is the reason for their disappearance for nearly forty years. This fact is documented in the article entitled Trunk Yields Forgotten Work [sic] by Benjamin Britten, The article, by an unnamed author, reads as follows:

In a classic case of life imitating art, a tin trunk on Long Island has yielded a significant work by the late English composer, Benjamin Britten. The long years of neglect ended October 12 when the newly discovered Temporal Variations received its American premiere at Alice Tully Hall performed by Philip West, oboist, and David Burge, pianist. Temporal Variations was originally performed in England on December 15, 1936, three days after its completion. The 23-year-old Britten then came to America for a five-year stay. He arrived with the manuscript, which, along, with compositional sketches and papers, he deposited in a trunk at the home of his American hosts, Dr. and Mrs. William Mayer of Amityville. Apparently, the prolific composer became so involved in other projects that when he returned to England, he left behind the trunk and its contents. Several years ago the trunk was discovered and returned to the composer, who died shortly thereafter in 1976. While visiting in London last year, Philip West was told about the existence of the Temporal Variations and immediately set about arranging a belated American premiere, along with the American premiere of another previously neglected shorter work for oboe and piano, Two Insect Pieces. Both works have just been published by Faber Music Ltd. In London, and are being distributed in the United States by G. Schirmer, Inc. The 15-minute Temporal Variations are described by West as ingenious, full of brilliant things, and the work of a fully mature composer.14 Though the passage above does not mention that Two Insect Pieces were also in the trunk, it is implied that they indeed accompanied Temporal Variations according to oboist, Philip West. He also contends that the reason these works were brought to the United States was because Britten brought all of the music that he could, fearing that they might be destroyed during the war.15 The passage above mentions the American premiere by Philip West, but the true secondworld premiere, or reintroduction, of these pieces took place shortly before in England. The first public performance of Two Insect Pieces took place an March 7, 1979 at a memorial concert for Sylvia Spencer at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester by Janet Craxton, oboist, and Margot Wright, pianist.16 Temporal Variations was reintroduced in 1980, again with Janet Craxton, oboist, and Ian Brown, pianist.17 Since then, both pieces have become staplels of the oboists repertoire. These pieces, while important for the addition to an oboists meager recital options, are important to the overall output of Britten, since they represent the only works that he wrote for a wind instrument and piano.

Double Reed Vol. 25 No. 2002 Double Reed Vol. 25 No. 2 22002
42 CONCLUSION Both Two Insect Pieces and Temporal Variations suffered unfortunate circumstances that led to them not being published in Brittens lifetime and, in the case of the Two Insect Pieces, not completed. However, through the contributions of editor Colin Matthews and performers Janet Craxton and Philip West, these works came back from decades of nonexistence. Matthews was not only responsible for the current day editions of these two works, he has provided a current orchestration of Temporal Variations. The elusive orchestration mentioned in the letter to Sylvia Spencer still remains a mystery. It is my contention, by the way that the letter reads, that this potential orchestration could have belonged to Two Insect Pieces . . . With this historical documentation, it is further hoped that, although Britten never chose to publish them, the reader not dismiss these works as lesser efforts. FOOTNOTES 1. Donald Mitchell and Philip Reed, eds., Letters from a Life, Vol. 1, 369. 2. Ibid., 370. 3. Ibid., 369. 4. Ibid., 370. 5. Colin Matthews, Foreword to Benjamin Britten Temporal Variations (1936) orchestration by Colin Matthews, (London: Faber Music, 1995). 6. Kennedy, 20. 7. Colin Matthews, Foreword to Benjamin Britten Temporal Variations (1936) for oboe and piano (London: Faber Music, 1980). 8. Donald Mitchell and Philip Reed, eds., Letters from a Life, Vol. 1, 784. 9. Ibid. 10. Ibid. 11. Kennedy, 20. 12. Philip Reed, liner notes from Benjamin Britten Temporal Variations, et. al., Nicholas Daniel, Steuart Bedford, Northern Sinfonia, Collins Classics, 15262, 1998: 5. 13. Lady Evelyn Barbirolli, Letter to Mark Biggam, TLS, April 26, 1999. 14. Trunk Yields Forgotten Work by Benjamin Britten, The Music Trades 128, No. 10 (October 1980): 82. 15. Philip West, Telephone conversation with Mark Biggam. February 20, 2001. 16. Benjamin Britten, Introduction to Two Insect Pieces (1935), (London: Faber Music, 1980). 17. Colin Matthews, Foreword to Benjamin Britten Temporal Variations (1936) orchestration by Colin Matthews, (London: Faber Music, 1995).
HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS ON TWO INSECT PIECES AND TEMPORAL VARIATIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WORKS CONSULTED 1. Trunk Yields Forgotten Works [sic] by Benjamin Britten, The Music Trades (October,1980): 82. 2. Britten, Benjamin. Temporal Variations (1936) Oboe and String Orchestra. Orchestrated by Colin Matthews. London: Faber Music. 1995. 2. Britten, Benjamin. Temporal Variations (1936). London: Faber Music. 1980. 3. Britten, Benjamin. Temporal Variations. Nicholas Daniel, Oboe. Steuart Bedford, Conductor, Northern Sinfonia. Collins Classics. 15262. 1998. 4. Britten, Benjamin. Two Insect Pieces (1935). London: Faber Music. 1980. 5. Barbirolli, Lady Evelyn. Letter to Mark Biggam. Typed Letter, Signed. April 26, 1999. 6. Kennedy, Michael. Britten. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. 1981. 7. Mitchell, Donald and Philip Reed, eds. Letters from a Life, Vol. 1, 1923-39. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. 8. West, Philip. Telephone conversation with Mark Biggam. February 20, 2001.