A parable based on the medieval Japanese Noh play Sumidagawa by Juroh Motomasa (1431)
Libretto by WILLIAM PLOMER
Music by BENJAMIN BRITTEN
The English Opera Group presents the first broadcast performance
From the Aldeburgh Festival (bass) (baritone) (baritone) (tenor)
Monks playing Pilgrims:
JOHN BARROW, BERNARD DICKERSON, BRIAN ETHERIDGE, EDWARD EVANKO, JOHN KITCHINER, PETER LEEMING, PHILIP MAY, NIGEL ROGERS
Acolytes, one of whom plays the Spirit of the Boy: ROBERT CARR, BERNARD MORGAN, JOHN NEWTON, BRUCE WEBB
ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA ENSEMBLE
Richard Adeney (flute) Neill Sanders (horn) Cecil Aronowitz (viola) Stuart Knussen (double-bass) Osian Ellis (harp) James Blades (percussion) Philip Ledger (organ)
Produced by COLIN GRAHAM

From Orford Church

The scene: a church by a Fenland river in early medieval times.

(Don Garrard broadcasts by permission of the Sadler's Wells Opera Company)