Winter Words, BTC 1045

Winter Words, Op. 52, is a song cycle for tenor and piano by Benjamin Britten. Written in 1953, it sets eight poems by Thomas Hardy. Winter Words is one of Britten's few compositions from the period after the premiere of his opera Gloriana; its poems are from Hardy's last published collection, having the same title. The cycle was premiered at the Leeds Festival in October 1953, with Peter Pears singing and Britten at the piano. It was dedicated to John and Myfanwy Piper.