The Building of the House

The Building of the House, op. 79 is an "overture with or without chorus" by Benjamin Britten written in 1967. The overture is notable for the use of Asian-influenced heterophony.[1]

Snape Maltings concert hall in 1975

The Building of the House, which had previously only been heard in the Snape Maltings Concert Hall on the night of its premiere, was again performed there for the 2017 Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the composition.

Text

The optional text is taken from Psalm 127, adapted by Imogen Holst from The Whole Book of Psalms (set in English). It is set using the chorale melody Vater unser im Himmelreich.

History

The piece was written for the inauguration of the Snape Maltings concert hall, which took place in June 1967.[2] This has been described as the first performance,[3] although it was played at the opening of the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London which took place earlier the same year.[4]

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References
  1. Mervyn Cooke. Britten and the Far East: Asian Influences in the Music of Benjamin Britten 1998 0851158307 "Heterophony is also prominent in the 1967 overture The Building of the House"
  2. Kildea. "Britten Connections" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  3. Building of the House, The
  4. "Chineke! Orchestra". Southbank Centre. Retrieved 2018-03-31. With Britten's celebratory The Building of the House we remember that Britten conducted at the opening concert of the QEH in 1967
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