Britten: Rattle Conducts Britten. Sir Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. EMI CZS 5 73983 2 (2-disc set).

Britten: Rattle Conducts Britten. Sir Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. EMI CZS 5 73983 2 (2-disc set).

When many of us think of 20th-century English composer Benjamin Britten, no doubt what first leaps to mind are his "Young People's Guide to the Orchestra," "Spring Symphony," and "War Requiem" or the operas "Peter Grimes," "Billy Budd," and "The Turn of the Screw." To supplement these standard items, this new two-disc set from Sir Simon Rattle and EMI presents a collection of the composer's early work as well as several items from final period. Much of it is lesser-known material, and I cannot admit to liking a lot of it, but it is certainly a worthy adjunct to the more-famous pieces, and it is splendidly recorded.

The program is arranged on the discs to accommodate a comfortable concert level rather than offering the music in any chronological order. It begins with "An American Overture," which was never performed in Britten's lifetime and only surfaced shortly after his death in 1976. Rattle premiered it with the CBSO in 1983. Next is "Ballad of Heroes," a solemn cantata for voice, chorus, and orchestra written in 1939, commemorating the British heroes who fell in the Spanish Civil War. The "Diversions for piano and orchestra" is a more conventional set of variations, although typically stark. "Praise We Great Men" is another late work, incomplete at the composer's death, never played until 1985. It is based on a poem by Edith Sitwell. Concluding Disc One is probably the most familiar music of this round, the "Suite on English Folk Tunes: `A time there was ...'" from 1974. Although Britten used some melodies from Percy Grainger and dedicated it to the earlier champion of English folk tunes, the tendency of the pieces is more serious than anything Granger ever came up with.

Disc Two also begins with an overture, "Canadian Carnival" from 1939, a series of dances that are among the lightest and easiest listening of the album's fare. The "Quatre Chansons francaises" are notable for being among Britten's earliest work, dating from 1928 when the composer was only fourteen! I liked "A Scottish Ballad" quite a bit, perhaps because its comes down via more traditional lines than the rest of Britten's output. The program concludes with probably the best-known composition in the set, the melancholy "Sinfonia da Requiem" from 1940, which has a fascinating history, being originally commissioned by Japan to honor one of their dynasties. When the Japanese found that the "Requiem" had Christian implications, they rejected it, causing a rift that lasted until 1956 when Britten conducted a broadcast performance of the work in Tokyo. I suspect World War II didn't help them reconcile their differences too soon, either.

Anyway, all of the music is earnestly but affectionately played by Rattle and his City of Birmingham players, recorded between 1982 and 1991. The "Sinfonia da Requiem" will be of special interest to audiophiles because it contains the biggest drum strokes and the widest dynamics of any of the pieces represented. Throughout the recordings one is aware of realistic stage depth and generally excellent orchestral imaging. There is some congestion, however, at louder climaxes, but it is not excessive enough to be noticed by those intent on listening to the music itself. The whole set is recommended for the more adventurous music lover and the serious Britten enthusiast.