Britten, Benjamin: Simple Symphony

for String Orchestra (or String Quartet)

This Simple Symphony is entirely based on material from works which the composer wrote between the ages of nine and twelve. (The actual sources are given in footnotes to each movement.) Although the development ofthesethemes is in many places quite new, there are large stretches of the work which are taken bodily from the early pieces - save for the re-scoring for strings. It is suitable for string quartets or string orchestras,beingscored for Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello and Double Bass.