NMC has released a free download of Benjamin Britten’s ‘Roman Wall Blues’, a bluesy, cabaret-style song with hints of Gershwin. The work was written to be performed as part of WH Auden’s radio play Hadrian’s Wall, which was aired on November 25, 1937. The original radio broadcast along with Britten’s music was lost, but in 2005 a handwritten copy of the vocal line was discovered to which composer Colin Matthews, Britten’s assistant in the 1970s, has completed a piano accompaniment. The recording features soprano Mary Carewe and pianist Huw Watkins.

Download the song for free below:

NMC is also marking the Britten centenary with the November release of four premiere recordings for stage and broadcast: Britain to America and An American in Britain, jointly commissioned by CBS Radio and the BBC, are performed by the Hallé and Sir Mark Elder; while music for two stage productions with WH Auden, The Ascent of F6 and On The Frontier, are performed by Ex Cathedra and Jeffrey Skidmore, featuring narrator Samuel West, mezzo Jean Rigby and tenor Andrew Kennedy.

To find out more about the recordings visit the NMC website.