Suite in 5 parts. Duration: 14 minutes. 

This is one of the keystone works in the harp literature. It uses a rich array of playing techniques, transforming the traditional roulades, sweeps, and chords of the harp into a fresh, unique sound while presenting the performer with an extremely taxing test of skill and musicality.

The harp is famed for its ability to create flurries and cascades of notes. But Britten had reduced his habitual musical discourse to the minimum. Throughout the suite the harp produces jewel-like individual notes. When Britten uses the instrument's trademark glissando, these tend to be very short, a few notes only to produce a short but intense burst of color. The thin, ethereal notes of the harp's harmonics sometimes contrast with the very deep low notes the instrument possesses -- with nothing in between. Sometimes chords, are plucked sharply, almost percussively, rather than rolled, but Britten employs no modernist techniques such as rapping the sound box.

The suite has five movements. The first is an overture marked "Majestic," a forceful piece that establishes at once that this will be a different-sounding harp work. The second movement is a very fast toccata, not driving in its rhythms, but darting and nervous.

The central crown of the suite is the third movement, Nocturne. All pieces Britten wrote with titles dealing with night and sleep are special, for to him night was a time when thoughts became disturbed, but sleep exercised magical healing powers. Further, this nocturne is also a passacaglia, an ancient form at which he excelled. The spell of this hypnotic movement is broken by a quicksilver Fugue for the fourth movement, and the Finale is a wondrous set of variations on a hymn-tune called "St Denio" .