The Burning Fiery Furnace is one of the three Parables for Church Performances composed by Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

, dating from 1966, and is his Opus 77. The other two 'church parables' are Curlew River

Curlew River

Curlew River — A Parable for Church Performance is the first of three Church Parables by Benjamin Britten. The work is based on the Japanese noh play Sumidagawa of Juro Motomasa , which Britten saw during a visit to Japan and the Far East in early 1956...

(1964) and The Prodigal Son

The Prodigal Son (Britten)

The Prodigal Son is an opera by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by William Plomer. Based on the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son, this was Britten's third "parable for church performance", after Curlew River and The Burning Fiery Furnace. Britten dedicated the score to Dmitri Shostakovich.The...

(1968). William Plomer

William Plomer

William Charles Franklyn Plomer CBE was a South African author, known as a novelist, poet and literary editor. He was educated mostly in the United Kingdom...

 was the librettist.

The work was premiered at Orford Church, Suffolk, England, on 9 June 1966 by the English Opera Group. Set designs were by Annena Stubbs. Colin Graham

Colin Graham

Colin Graham, OBE was a British-born stage director of opera, theater, and television.Graham was educated at Northaw School , Stowe School and RADA...

 was the stage director of this first production.

The scale and manner of instrumentation are similar to those in Curlew River, but one notable difference is the use of the alto trombone.

Clifford Hindley has commented on a reading of a subtext sympathetic to homosexuality on the part of both Britten and Plomer in their treatment of the story.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 9 June 1966 (Conductor: None)
Nebuchadnezzar	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Peter Pears Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears CBE was an English tenor who was knighted in 1978. His career was closely associated with the composer Edward Benjamin Britten....
Astrologer	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Bryan Drake
Ananias (Shadrack)	baritone	John Shirley-Quirk John Shirley-Quirk John Shirley-Quirk CBE is an English bass-baritone.He was born in Liverpool, England, and sang in his high school choir. He played the violin and was awarded a scholarship. While studying chemistry and physics at Liverpool University, he studied voice with Austen Carnegie...
Misael (Meshach)	tenor	Robert Tear Robert Tear Robert Tear, CBE was a Welsh tenor and conductor.Tear was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, UK, the son of Thomas and Edith Tear. He attended Barry Boys' Grammar School and during this period sang in the chorus of the first Welsh National Opera's production of 'Cavalleria Rusticana' in April 1946...
Azarias (Abednego)	baritone	Victor Godfrey
Herald and Leader of the Courtiers	baritone	Peter Leeming
Chorus of Courtiers; attendants

Synopsis

The Burning Fiery Furnace tells the story

Fiery furnace

Fiery furnace may refer to:* The fiery furnace in which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into in Daniel 3* Fiery Furnace , a region of Utah's Arches National Park* The Fiery Furnaces, a rock band...

 of Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar was the name of several kings of Babylonia.* Nebuchadnezzar I, who ruled the Babylonian Empire in the 12th century BC* Nebuchadnezzar II , the Babylonian ruler mentioned in the biblical Book of Daniel...

 and the three Israelites, Ananias, Misael and Asarias (corresponding Babylonian names; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego), who were thrown into a furnace for their refusal to worship Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar was the name of several kings of Babylonia.* Nebuchadnezzar I, who ruled the Babylonian Empire in the 12th century BC* Nebuchadnezzar II , the Babylonian ruler mentioned in the biblical Book of Daniel...

’s image of gold. However, God saves them from death, as the voice of an angel joins the Israelites in a 'Benedicte'.

Recording

Britten himself, along with Viola Tunnard, supervised the first commercial recording of this work, for Decca/London, with the following participants:

• Nebuchadnezzar: Peter Pears
• The Astrologer: Bryan Drake
• Ananias (Shadrach): John Shirley-Quirk
  John Shirley-Quirk
  John Shirley-Quirk CBE is an English bass-baritone.He was born in Liverpool, England, and sang in his high school choir. He played the violin and was awarded a scholarship. While studying chemistry and physics at Liverpool University, he studied voice with Austen Carnegie...
  
  
• Misael (Meshach): Robert Tear
  Robert Tear
  Robert Tear, CBE was a Welsh tenor and conductor.Tear was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, UK, the son of Thomas and Edith Tear. He attended Barry Boys' Grammar School and during this period sang in the chorus of the first Welsh National Opera's production of 'Cavalleria Rusticana' in April 1946...
  
  
• Asarias (Abednego): Stafford Dean
• The Herald: Peter Leeming
• Chorus of Courtiers: Graham Allum, Peter Bedford, Carl Duggan, David Hartley, John McKenzie, Clive Molloy, Malcolm Rivers
• The Acolytes: Robert Alder, Paull Boucher, James Newby, Stephen Price, Christopher Taylor

The instrumentalists were Richard Adeney

Richard Adeney

Richard Gilford Adeney was a British flautist who played principal flute with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra, was a soloist and a founding member of the Melos Ensemble.-Biography:...

 (flute), Neill Sanders

Neill Sanders

Neill Sanders was a British horn player, principal hornist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Melos Ensemble for 29 years. He was a professor in Kalamazoo, Michigan and founded a chamber ensemble and a festival there.-Biography:Neill Sanders...

 (horn), Roger Brenner (trombone), Cecil Aronowitz

Cecil Aronowitz

Cecil Aronowitz was a British viola player, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.-Biography:...

 (viola), Keith Marjoram (double bass), Osian Ellis

Osian Ellis

Osian Gwynn Ellis CBE is a Welsh harpist and composer.-Career:Osian Ellis was born in Ffynnongroyw, Flintshire in 1928. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Gwendolen Mason, whom he later succeeded as Professor of Harp from 1959 to 1989. He joined the London Symphony Orchestra in 1961...

 (harp), James Blades

James Blades

James "Jimmy" Blades OBE was an English percussionist.He was one of the most distinguished percussionists in Western music, with long and varied career. His book Percussion Instruments and their History is a standard reference work on the subject Blades was born in Peterborough, England in 1901...

 (percussion) and Philip Ledger

Philip Ledger

Sir Philip Ledger CBE is a British classical musician and academic. He is best-known for his tenure as director of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge between 1973 and 1982 and as director of Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama from 1982 until his retirement in 2001...

(organ).

Source: Recordings of The Burning Fiery Furnace on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk

External links

• Britten-Pears Foundation, page on The Burning Fiery Furnace