DESCRIPTION:
Britten: Introduction and Rondo alla Burlesca, Op. 23, No. 1
Clifford Curzon and Benjamin Britten (pianists)

Recorded January 5, 1944, probably at Decca's West Hampstead Studios, London, on Decca matrices AR8010 and AR8011. Issued as Decca K 1117 (and in automatic sequence as AK 1117/18) in April, 1945. On the same day, Curzon and Britten recorded the companion piece in Britten's Opus 23, his "Mazurka Elegiaca," which I have uploaded separately. In the USA the two records containing both pieces were imported and sold as an album, EDA-17. The cover for this album is shown in the video.

The Introduction and Rondo alla Burlesca is in the key of D minor, with tempo markings of Grave (for the Introduction) and Allegro moderato ma con spirito (for the Rondo). The piece was written in New York in November, 1940, for the husband-and-wife piano duo team of Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson.

To download a higher-quality audio file of this recording, please visit my blog, The Shellackophile - http://shellackophile.blogspot.com - where this and many other vintage recordings may be downloaded.