The Company of Heaven

The Company of Heaven
by Benjamin Britten (1937 (1937))
Höllensturz by Eugène Delacroix, 1861 (fresco, Saint-Sulpice, Paris), corresponding to the texts about angels which are spoken and sung.

The Company of Heaven is a composition for soloists, speakers, choir, timpani, organ, and string orchestra by Benjamin Britten. The title refers to angels, the topic of the work, reflected in texts from the Bible and by poets. The music serves as incidental music for a mostly spoken radio feature which was first heard as a broadcast of the BBC in 1937.