Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Canadian Carnival (Kermesse Canadienne), op.19

Benjamin Britten composed Canadian Carnival (Kermesse Canadienne), op.19 shortly after his arrival in the United States prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Britten had left England with his companion Peter Pears during May 1939 and had initially spent several weeks together in Canada. Here they heard a performance of the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge given by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Britten and Pears declared themselves lovers at Grand Rapids and arrived in New York late June 1939. There they quickly began to move in various artistic circles, numbering Aaron Copland, W.H. Auden and the composer Colin McPhee as their friends. Other important works from this time include the choral setting Ad majorem Dei gloriam, the Violin Concerto and Young Apollo. The same period saw work commence on the Sinfonia da Requiem Op.20.

Canadian Carnival has been described as a ‘Rhapsody on French Canadian folk-tunes’ based on some songs Britten had heard in the Province of Quebec. The programmatic content begins by evoking the Canadian landscape at dawn. It is the day of the great Carnival. Slowly people begin to arrive. A number of ‘songs and snatches’ of folk tunes are presented. The fair grows more boisterous and eventually, after a significant climax it begins to calm down. Slowly the villagers disperse and the night falls. All is peaceful once more.

Typically, this work has been regarded as a ‘light-hearted frolic for symphony orchestra.’  However, David Matthews regards it as ‘a more serious piece than it appears.’ He notes the ‘disturbingly ironic setting of ‘Alouette’ which is provoked by the sadistic words of this disingenuous children’s song’. The burden of this song cruelly suggests that the singer will pluck the feathers, the eyes and the beak off the skylark for daring to sing and waken her from sleep. 

Negatively, Canadian Carnival has been described by Peter Evans as ‘little more than a sophisticated pot-pourri of folky song and dance, arranged inside a quasi-programmatic frame.’ This seems unfair. It is a fine, vivacious example of the ‘rhapsody’ genre with some excellent orchestration and a clever and subtle manipulation of the folk-tunes.

Aaron Copland had met Benjamin Britten at the 1938 International Society for Contemporary Music festival in London where the American’s El Salón México and Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge were both performed. After the Festival, Copland visited Britten’s home at Snape.  On Pears and Britten’s arrival at New York they gravitated to Woodstock to be close to Copland and his partner Victor Kraft.  At this time Britten regarded Copland as ‘the American spokesman.’  It is not surprising that critics have detected an ‘open-air prairie’ mood in Canadian Carnival.

The first performance was given on 6 June 1940 by the BBC Orchestra conducted by Clarence Raybould from the BBC studios in Bristol.  The first concert performance was at Cheltenham Festival on 13 June 1945 with the composer conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Benjamin Britten’s Canadian Carnival (Kermesse Canadienne), Op.19 can be heard on YouTube, here. The City of Birmingham Orchestra is conducted by Simon Rattle