Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), arguably Britain’s foremost composer of the past century, whose War Requiem has long been a favorite of mine, was for a time a resident of 7 Middagh Street, the now famous February House. (The house was demolished during the construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.)
As a tribute to Britten and his Brooklyn residency, National Public Radio has commissioned tenor Nicholas Phan and harpist Sivan Magen to perform Britten’s arrangements of three English folk songs at 70 Fox House, a communal residence in Fort Greene. See a video of the performance, along with commentary.
Photo: Wikipedia.
