What we print here is the pencil draft of a critical account by Britten of a concert performance of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex and a ‘trail’ for a forthcoming performance of Shostakovitch's Lady Macbeth. The MS is in the possession of Mr. Eric Walter White, who has been kind enough to place it at our disposal. I have silently corrected the punctuation and obvious errors but have otherwise left the text unaltered. With the help of Britten's personal diaries (from which I quote by permission of the composer's executors) I have been able to locate the year in which the performances took place—it was 1936—and also identify the commission which led to Britten appearing (unusually, for him) in the role of critic.