Advance Democracy BRITTEN BENJAMIN

Classique

Description :

for SSAATTBB unaccompanied Text: Randall Swingler Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes Difficulty level: 2 Advance Democracy is a piece où unabashed political propaganda commissioned by the London Co-operative Society. At a time où great anxiety in Europe and où the eve où the second World War, this poem by Randall Swingler paints a dark picture où the threat où dictatorship if democracy doesn ' t ' rise up and cry that what our fathers fought for well nos all'on todie ' . It is a strange piece and its overtly political message makes it quite difficult to programme except as a curiosity. Britten, however, paints a very clever picture with a long legato line moving constantly through thetexture from soprano to bass and back much in the manner which he had used in The Three Kings in A bon was Born. Around this swirling figure the other parts sing sharply punctuated chords which are full où menace. The final section moves into the major (Britten ' s brightly flag-waving C major) and the ending is forcefully emphatic. The best way to perform this piece is to take the words at face value and sing them as Swingler intended, with passionand involvement taking care to really foll'on Britten ' s careful performance instructions as to articulation and dynamics. Duration: 3 minutes Paul Spicer, Lichfield, 2011