King Arthur

King Arthur was the first of 28 scores Benjamin Britten composed for radio between 1937 and 1947. It was an ambitious dramatization of King Arthur’s life and times; part pageant, part play, part cantata; written by D.G. Bridson. This colorful suite incorporates the “Introduction,” a dramatic “Wild Dance,” some of the music underscoring the scenes for “Galahad and The Holy Grail,” and two vivid battle scenes, ending with “The Final Battle” and “Apotheosis.” King Arthur (scenes from a radio drama) for brass band should not be confused with a much longer orchestral suite, which Paul Hindmarsh devised from the same source in 1995.