Book Review: The Middle of Life: Vocal Works of Benjamin Britten 1953-1958

As one of the most significant and versatile composers of the twentieth century, Benjamin Britten's vocal output provides a wealth of musical delights for performers, audiences and scholars. Exploring a fertile period of the composer's career from 1953-58 in which he produced, amongst others, the cycle Winter Words (Op. 52) 1953 and Canticle III: Still falls the Rain (Op. 55) 1954, this article reviews a distinguished new recording produced under the auspices of Cantus Music (https://www.cantusmusic.net). This article was published on the Taylor and Francis website on 4 May 2020 and will be published in the journal Musicology Australia in the July 2020 issue