The Holy Sonnets of John Donne is a song cycle composed in 1945 by Benjamin Britten (1913–76) for tenor or soprano voice and piano, and published as his Op. 35. It was written for himself and his life-partner, the tenor Peter Pears (1910–86), and its first performance was by them at the Wigmore Hall, London on 22 November 1945. Britten began to compose the cycle shortly after visiting, seeing the horrors of, and performing at, the liberated Nazi Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Date of composition | 1945 (2 August 1945 - 19 August 1945) |
Premiered | 1945, November 22nd (Wigmore Hall) in London, United Kingdom by Benjamin Britten |
Dedicated to | 'For Peter' |
Type | Song(s) |
Catalogue | BTC 970 |
Approx. duration | 26 minutes |
Instruments |
Voice
- Female ;
Piano |
Autotranslations beta |
Benjamin Britten: The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, BTC 970 Benjamin Britten: The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, BTC 970 Benjamin Britten: The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, BTC 970 |