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''Summer's Last Will and Testament'' is a choral masque or cantata by Constant Lambert, written between 1932 and 1935, and premiered in 1936. It is scored for chorus and orchestra, with a baritone solo also featured in the last of its seven movements.〔 It is based on the poem of the same name by Thomas Nashe, written around 1592. Lambert considered the work his magnum opus,〔(Lisa Hardy, The British Piano Sonata 1870–1945 )〕 and it is his largest work in any genre.〔(David Mason Greene, Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers )〕 However, it attracted little attention at its 1936 premiere and had only one or two other performances in Lambert's lifetime〔 (he died in 1951). It has received only one complete commercial recording to date, released in 1992. This, along with a general resurgence of interest in Constant Lambert's music, has led to the work being reexamined, and performances are starting to take place.〔〔 The ''Guardian'' critic said the 1992 recording had made available to the public "a masterpiece buried for far too long".〔 In 1949, Lambert said to Sir Frederick Ashton: "I like ''Summer's Last Will and Testament'' the best of all my work".〔 Malcolm Arnold called it "one of the undiscovered treasures of the English choral repertoire".〔(Music Web International: Concert review, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Sakari Oramo. Symphony Hall, Birmingham 23/09/99 )〕 ==Background and premiere== ''Summer's Last Will and Testament'' was written between 1932 and 1935, a period in which Lambert was busy with his conducting and orchestration duties with Sadler's Wells, conducting the London premiere of Kurt Weill's ''The Seven Deadly Sins'' (under the title ''Anna-Anna''), and completing his book ''Music Ho!''.〔(Mike Ashman, ''Lost in music'', The Guardian, 7 May 2005 )〕 The work was premiered at the Queen's Hall in London on 29 January 1936. The Philharmonic Choir, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the baritone soloist Roy Henderson were conducted by the composer.〔 The concert was sparsely attended. King George V had died just over a week before, and the sombre mood of the country was undoubtedly inimical to a work replete with references to plague, disease and death, and to the persistent aura of fatalism which affected much of Lambert's music.〔(Music and Letters )〕 Although this tepid response could well have been anticipated under the circumstances, Lambert considered he had failed as a composer, and completed only two major works in the remaining sixteen years of his life.〔(Bach cantatas )〕 The piece lasts about 55 minutes. It was dedicated to his then wife Florence Chuter (aka Florence Kaye), whom he had married in 1931.〔(mininova )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Summer's Last Will and Testament (Lambert)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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