Benjamin Britten Songs

Naxos has an excellent series of Britten recordings. If you get their 2005 catalog, usually free, you can see all that's available. New/recent recordings include Volumes One and Two of his Orchestral Song Cycles; another CD of St. Nicholas, Christ's Nativity, and Psalm 150; and a fourth CD of Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Winter Words, et al. There's also some very recommendable Britten orchestral, instrumental, and chamber music on Naxos--all very inexpensive. Worth checking out.

Lousyreeds, the songs I listed are standalone works, although several (Seven Sonnets, Canticles, Eight Medieval Lyrics) are a series of songs (5-8) loosely related by a common theme.
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Or you could just get Peter Grimes! It's a great work, easily available and on the used vinyl market for no more than a dollar or two. I got to hear Simon Rattle conduct it live with the Berlin Phil in April! What an experience.

Rushton: are the songs you're talking about stand alone pieces, or part of a larger liturgical work? Or are they the larger works? I've never heard of them.

If you're interested in some of his symphonic stuff check out the "Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes" These vivid tone poems are interludes (orchestra only) taken from his opera "Peter Grimes".

Rushton's recommendations are all excellent. I would add "Les Illuminations" to his list. It is an orchestral song cycle, solo voice and orchestra. I recently picked up a Naxos disk of Britten Orchestral Songs which include Les Illuminations, Quatre Chansons Francaises & Our Hunting Fathers for $6 on Amazon. Great performances (Felicity Lott and Phyllis Bryn-Julson & English Chamber Orchestra) and decent recording quality. Good luck! As a side note I've always thought Britten was a great entry point for "modern" classical music.

If you enjoyed the Britten songs you heard and want to sample more of his vocal compositions, the first choice is "choral" or "single voice" songs. If you enjoy choral, I would recommend any of the following as good entry points to Britten's work:

Ceremony of Carols (Willcocks/ChoirKingsCollege)
Rejoice in the Lamb (Britten/Purcell Singers)
Missa Brevis (Guest/ChoirStJohn'sCollegeCambridge or Willcocks/ChoirKingsCollege)
Hymn to St. Cecilia (Willcocks/ChoirKingsCollege)

If you want to stay with songs, then you might consider any of the following as a starting point:

Sacred & Profane - Eight Medieval Lyrics (Wilbye Consort/Pears)
Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo (Britten -pf, Pears -ten)
Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (Britten/ECO, Pears -ten, Tuckwell -hn)
Canticles I-V (Britten -pf, Pears -ten)

The performances I've suggested are simply that: suggestions for performances of these works that I like.

Enjoy!
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The most famous (arguably) from a rock/mainstream point of view to have a listen to is Corpus Christi Christ on the late Jeff Buckley's Grace.

Sorry to point you in a non-Classical direction.