Leaflet providing the programme of performances for the twenty-first Festival. It began with a production of The Seasons by Haydn in which Pears sung tenor and Britten conducted, and was followed by the first performance of Birtwistle's comical tragedy, Punch and Judy. Operas by Britten were also presented by both The English Opera Group - The Prodigal Son (first performance) - and The Sadler's Wells Opera Company - Gloriana. There were first performances for The Wife of Winter by Lord, Unaccompanied Cello Suites by Britten (Op. 72 and Op. 80), Romances, for soprano, violin, cello and piano by Shostakovich (first performance in England), and Duo for viola and piano by Imogen Holst. In addition Britten's Alpine Suite, Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, Abraham and Isaac (Canticle II), Sonata in C for cello and piano (Op. 65) and The Poet's Echo (Op.76) were all also performed during the course of the Festival.
There were two concerts given over to Publishers' Choice, the music for which was chosen by the companies Faber Music Ltd and Schirmer Inc. and two concerts dedicated to Musical Families, the Wesleys and the Holsts. Yehudi Menuhin performed together with the Bath Festival Orchestra and there were recitals by Shostakovich and Britten, Rostropovich, and Pears and Britten (of Schubert's Winterreise).
The BBC Transcription Service presented six half-hour programmes devised by Imogen Holst on European Church Music of the twelfth to twentieth centuries and the BBC Music Programme presented Up She Goes, a concert celebrating five centuries of Folk Music. There was also a performance of music by Mendelssohn, Gerhard and Elgar by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Other events included a programme of open-air entertainment (Punch and Judy, Folk Dancing and Brass Band Music), concerts celebrating the work of composers such as Tchaikovsky, Bach, Vivaldi and Mozart, showings in the Aldeburgh Cinema of films by Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton, and a programme of readings from William Shakespeare by Sir John Gielgud entitled, Ages of Man.
Details are provided for the Box office, Bus Services, Festival Club, Exhibitions, Late Night Concerts and for the Festival Services.
Printed inside are the seating plans for the various venues and on the reverse, a miniature map of Aldeburgh with performance venues marked.
Booking form attached.
1 document
Performance details for performance of The Prodigal Son on 22 June have been added by hand.
2
Archive
https://www.bpacatalogue.org/archive/PG-AF-1968-8
