Britten, Benjamin

notated for voice and piano in blue ink on four three-stave systems per page, with a few neat corrections, an explanatory note to the title ("Jan - Jan 13^th 1929. (altered & rewritten on Feb. 25^th 1930") and an alternative version of the last bar added at the end ("...If this last bar is found to be too low for the singer & consequently cannot be made powerful enough, the following bar may be used instead... [bar of music] It is, however, wished that the original version be used, where possible.")

4 pages in all, 4to (c.31 x 23.5cm), including the title page, 12-stave paper by B.F. Wood Co. of Boston, inscribed "Lowestoft-Suffolk (Holt. Norfolk)", 25 February 1930, light browning

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This song is one of five settings of Walter de la Mare, composed between 1928 and 1931.  They were assembled in 1968 under the general title of "Tit for Tat", and published in 1969, with this as the fifth song.  Britten included the following note to the edition:

...between 1922 and 1930 when I was a schoolboy, I must have written well over fifty songs - most of them straight off without much thought; others were written and re-written many times in a determined if often unsuccessful effort to 'get them right'. The choice of poets was nothing if not catholic. There are more than thirty of them, ranging from the Bible to Kipling, from Shakespeare to an obscure magazine poet 'Chanticleer'; there were many settings of Shelley and Burns and Tennyson, of a poem by a schoolmaster friend, songs of texts by Hood, Longfellow, 'Anon', and several French poets, and one to the composer's own words...

This delightful song dates from the beginning of 1929, when Britten was at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk, and at the same time having lessons in composition from Frank Bridge in London.  A letter about the song, to the former owner, from the Britten-Pears Library (1980) is included in the lot.