1. It was Charlotte Brontë who titled the poem ‘Love and friendship’ when she printed it in 1850.

1. Britten set six of Brontë’s eighteen stanzas. His setting was broadcast by the BBC on 29 September 1937 by Sophie Wyss, Peter Pears and the BBC Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Trevor Harvey. This was the first music that Britten wrote for Pears, and he confided to his diary on 10 September 1937: ‘Before Peter leaves in the morning he runs thro’ my Emily Brontë song that he’s going to sing – & he makes it sound charming. He is a good singer & a first rate musician.’

1. The absence of punctuation heightens the powerful momentum of the poem.