Suite for Harp, Op. 83, Op. 83

Britten's Suite for Harp (1969) was written for Osian Ellis, the Welsh harpist who became one of Britten's closest collaborators and performed at Aldeburgh Festival for many years. The five-movement work is the most important 20th-century solo suite for the instrument: wide-ranging in style, demanding in technique, and deeply characteristic of Britten's late manner. The opening Overture, the modal Toccata, the elegant Nocturne with its delicate harmonics, the vigorous Fugue, and the closing Hymn display both the harp's range and Britten's complete understanding of its idiomatic possibilities. The work inhabits a neo-Baroque formal clarity combined with Britten's own harmonic ambiguity.