Britten registered his personal feelings about war by calling this symphony a requiem, and giving its three interlinked movements headings taken from the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead. Cast in two sombre outer movements and an agitated centre, it covers a gamut of moods, from pity to passion. Showing influences from Mahler, Stravinsky and Vaughan Williams, it is distinctly written in his unique language. The last of Mahler’s Wunderhorn symphonies, the Fourth is the sunniest, the final one without the brooding nature, intensity, size, and vastness of those yet to come. Displaying an innocence and congeniality throughout, it is an exploration of the idea of Heaven from the perspective of a child. The title of the poem used in the symphony’s final movement is There is not a cloud in the sky. Elements from the song appear in the first three movements before it is heard in its entirety in the last movement.
Mahler’s Fourth Symphony was the one Britten loved the most. The coupling of these two works is our way of acknowledging the 50th anniversary of Britten’s death.