Curlew River---A Parable for Church Performance (Op. 71) is the first of three Church Parables by Benjamin Britten. The work is based on the Japanese Noh play Sumidagawa (Sumida River) of Juro Motomasa (1395--1431), which Britten saw during a visit to Japan and the Far East in early 1956. Beyond the Noh source dramatic material, Britten incorporated elements of Noh treatment of theatrical time into this composition.