Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, The

Orchestral VARIATIONS and FUGUE by BENJAMIN BRITTEN, 1945, premiered in Liverpool, 1946. The variation theme is taken from a piece of incidental music of HENRY PURCELL.

In its original form, Britten's piece is part of an educational film entitled Instruments of the Orchestra. With an unpretentious narrative as support, Britten cleverly brought out orchestral families and individual instruments one after another, so a young person can really learn how orchestral instruments sound. The Purcell variations and fugue are often recorded and performed independently of the text.