Arakelyan, Kristina: Echo

from Seascapes

Echo is the third movement of Seascapes, which was commissioned by the BBC Singers, as companion music to the Four Sea Interludes by Benjamin Britten, arranged for the organ by Anna Lapwood. It was premiered at Temple Church by the BBC Singers, conducted by Ben Palmer, on 7 October 2025. The four movements of Seascapes take the four Britten movements as inspiration, seen through the prism of Arakelyan's musical language. Ranging from the painful lyricism of the third movement, Echo, to the wild energy of the final movement, Storm Wind, the musical syntax, including the melodies, structure and tonal centres are presented as a homage. The poems by Christina Rossetti were chosen to reflect the narrative themes of Britten’s opera Peter Grimes, from which the Four Sea Interludes are taken. The compositions can be paired with the Four Sea Interludes or performed as standalone pieces.