Les Illuminations

Album by Benjamin Britten & Karina Gauvin & Les Violons du Roy & Jean-Marie Zeitouni

Les Illuminations is a song cycle by Benjamin Britten, composed in 1939–1940. Scored for high voice and string ensemble, it combines vivid, impressionistic textures with agile vocal writing and rhythmic energy that reflect French symbolist influences and Britten's early engagement with modernist techniques, making it representative of his early vocal-orchestral output.
First released: August 2010

Tracklist

  1. 1.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: I. Fanfare
    1:55
  2. 2.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: II. Villes
    2:30
  3. 3.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: IIIa. Phrase
    1:01
  4. 4.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: IIIb. Antique
    2:13
  5. 5.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: IV. Royauté
    1:33
  6. 6.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: V. Marine
    1:04
  7. 7.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: VI. Interlude
    2:11
  8. 8.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: VII. Being Beauteous
    3:57
  9. 9.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: VIII. Parade
    2:47
  10. 10.
    Les Illuminations, op. 18: IX. Départ
    2:32
  11. 11.
    Prelude and Fugue for 18-Part String Orchestra, op. 29
    9:07
  12. 12.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Introduction and Theme
    1:48
  13. 13.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 1. Adagio
    2:04
  14. 14.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 2. March
    1:06
  15. 15.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 3. Romance
    1:31
  16. 16.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 4. Aria italiana
    1:19
  17. 17.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 5. Bourrée classique
    1:10
  18. 18.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 6. Wiener Waltzer
    2:33
  19. 19.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 7. Moto perpetuo
    1:05
  20. 20.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 8. Funeral March
    3:49
  21. 21.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 9. Chant
    1:38
  22. 22.
    Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10: Variation 10. Fugue and Finale
    7:41
  23. 23.
    Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
    2:46

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