Readings by W. H. Auden and Musical Settings of His Works
Many of these recordings may be ordered by clicking on the links below, which lead to the web sites of on-line booksellers. American readers may prefer to order from Amazon.com; European readers may prefer its British counterpart, Amazon.co.uk.
When you begin the process of ordering a recording by clicking on a link on this site, the on-line bookseller gives the Society a small percentage of the purchase price; the Society uses these payments to help defray the cost of printing and mailing its Newsletter. There is no difference in the selling price of the recording if you begin the order on this site or if you begin it directly from the bookseller's web site. Further information on this arrangement is available on the booksellers' sites.
This page was updated 2022 with the generous help of Jean-Christoophe Henel.
Many pirated recordings of Auden's poems may be found on Youtube.com; these are not listed here.
The Spoken Word: W. H. Auden, a two-disc set of about forty recordings of Auden reading for the BBC, published by the British Library, 2007. Sometimes available from Amazon.com.
Voice of the Poet: W. H. Auden, edited by J. D. McClatchy, selected from recordings made over many years. Random House Audio Books, 1999. Available on CD-ROM (order from Amazon.com, where the item is confusingly listed as a "paperback edition" but is in fact the CD-ROM edition), and streaming from Amazon.com(the link address is the UK site; the recording is available from Amazon.com in other countries also).
W. H. Auden Reading his Poetry, recorded 1953, originally published by Caedmon. HarperCollins. Tape cassette. (Used copies may be ordered from Amazon UK.) Available streaming from Amazon.com (the link address is the UK site; the recording is available from Amazon.com in other countries also).
Auden Reads Auden is an unidentified collection made up from earlier published recordings.
Libretti of these operas may be ordered through the list of books by Auden, elsewhere on this site.
Paul Bunyan. Music by Benjamin Britten. 1941.
Conducted by Richard Hickox, with Peter Coleman-Wright, Susan Gritton, Kenneth Cranham, Royal Opera Chorus and Orchestra. Recorded 1999. Chandos 9781. Two CD's. (Order from Amazon.com or Amazon UK.)
The Rake's Progress. With Chester Kallman. Music by Igor Stravinsky. 1951.
Conducted by Igor Stravinsky, with Don Garrard, Jane Manning, Judith Raskin, Sadler's Wells Opera Chorus, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Recorded 1964. Sony Music 46299. Two CDs. (Order from Amazon.com.)
Conducted by Robert Craft, with John Cheek, John Garrison, et al., Gregg Smith Singers, Orchestra of St. Luke's. Recorded 1994. BMG/Musicmasters 67131. Two CDs.
Conducted by Kent Nagano, with Grace Bumbry, Jerry Hadley, et al., Lyon Opera Chorus, Lyon Opera Orchestra. Recorded 1996. Erato 12715. Two CDs. (Order from Amazon.com or Amazon UK.)
Conducted by Seiji Ozawa, with Donald Adams, Ian Bostridge, Sylvia McNair, et al., Tokyo Opera Singers, Saito Kinen Orchestra. Recorded 1997. Philips 454431. Two CDs. (Order from Amazon.com.)
Conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, with Bryn Terfel, Ian Bostridge, Deborah York, et al., Monteverdi Choir, London Symphony Orchestra. Recorded 1999. Deutsche Grammophon 456648. Two CDs. (Order from Amazon.com or Amazon UK.)
Elegy for Young Lovers. With Chester Kallman. Music by Hans Werner Henze. 1961.
Excerpts conducted by Hans Werner Henze, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Loren Driscoll, Liane Dubin, et al., members of the Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Berlin and the Deutsche Oper Orchestra Berlin, 1964. Deutsche Grammophon 449874. One CD. Sung in German. (Order from Amazon UK.)
The Bassarids. With Chester Kallman. Music by Hans Werner Henze. 1966.
Conducted by Gerd Albrecht, with Karen Armstrong, Kenneth Riegel, et al., Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. 1992. Koch Schwann 314006. Sung in English. Two CDs. (Order from Amazon UK.)
A much more extensive list will appear on this page in the future.
Benjamin Britten. Hymn to St. Cecilia, Spring Symphony, etc. Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner. 1997. Deutsche Grammophon 453433. One CD. (Order from Amazon.com.)
Benjamin Britten and Lennox Berkeley. Auden Songs. Della Jones, Philip Langridge, 1998, reissued 2003. Naxos 8.557204. One CD. (Order from Amazon.com.)