The Little Sweep
The Little Sweep, Op. 45, is an opera for children in three scenes by the English composer Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Eric Crozier.
The Little Sweep
English
Performance history[edit]
The Little Sweep was the first of Britten's operas to be entirely conceived, composed and produced at Aldeburgh. Work continued throughout the spring and the first performance was given on 14 June 1949 in the Jubilee Hall. Imogen Holst describes "a hubbub of excited comment" from the first audience as even seasoned opera-goers raised their eyebrows at the standard expected of the audience/chorus ("What! In five-four?" "What? Diminished octaves?"), and the consternation of a "tall thin music critic" uncertain of the precise divisi required for the four birdsong choirs in the "Night Song". The performance was a huge success, with the final "Coaching Song" in which the children on stage improvised a coach using a rocking-horse, a couple of chairs, and two parasols for the wheels, hailed as a triumph.[2]
(Conductor/Juliet/Rowan/Sam/Baggott/Clem/Black Bob)[9]
Notes
Cited sources