New pieces by George Benjamin emerge less frequently than his many admirers would like. The orchestral song cycle Dream of the Song, which was first performed in Amsterdam last September, is the first to appear since the opera Written on Skin four years ago, and Benjamin’s first work for the concert hall since 2008. It was composed for the countertenor Bejun Mehta, who had created the role of the Boy in Written on Skin. For the British premiere, with Oliver Knussen conducting an out of sorts-sounding BBC Symphony Orchestra, the soloist was Iestyn Davies and the BBC Singers supplied the all-female chorus.
The texts for the five movements of Dream of the Song come from three poets, all with close connections with Granada. Those by Samuel ha-Nagid and Solomon Ibn Gabirol, written in the 11th century in Hebrew, are sung by the countertenor in English translation, while the chorus sings words by Gabriel García Lorca in the original Spanish. The solo writing is elaborately melismatic, while the choral textures create an ornate, fabulously detailed tapestry. Although the orchestra is a relatively modest one – just oboes, horns, harps and metallic percussion – the sounds Benjamin conjures from it are beguiling. Other countertenors might do much more with the words than Davies did, and unlock even more of the music’s expressive power, but it is unmistakably a major and profoundly beautiful work.
The programme that Knussen and Benjamin had planned together, which also included Debussy’s Nocturnes and Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, began with another UK premiere: one of the final orchestral pieces by Knussen’s teacher Gunther Schuller, who died last year. The bulk of Dreamscape, Schuller revealed, came literally from a dream. There is a huge amount of material packed into its 12 minutes, especially in the opening movement, when ideas tumble out with almost uncontrolled spontaneity.
• Broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 21 March and available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days.
