Literary Britten : words and music in Benjamin Britten's vocal works / edited by Kate Kennedy.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Class of 1932 Fund.

Kennedy, Kate, editor.

JSTOR (Online Service)

Series:

Aldeburgh studies in music ; 13.

Aldeburgh studies in music ; 13

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976--Criticism and interpretation.

Britten, Benjamin.

Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations.

polychrome

Place of Publication:

Woodbridge : The Boydell Press, 2018.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Britten is the most literary British composer of the twentieth century. His relationship to the many and varied texts that he set was deeply committed and sensitive. As a result, both his responses to poetry and his collaborationswith his librettists tell us a great deal about his music, and often, about the man himself. This book takes a unique approach to Britten, drawing together well-known Britten experts alongside English, music, modern language andhistory scholars who bring their own perspective to bear on Britten's work. Chapters examine all aspects of Britten's text setting, from his engagement with a wide variety of poetry to his relationship with his librettists. By approaching Britten's operas and songs through their literature, this book offers fresh insights into his vocal works. KATE KENNEDY is the Weinrebe Research Fellow in Life-writing at Wolfson College, Oxford, where she is an associate of both Music and English Faculties. She is a frequent broadcaster for the BBC and specialises in interdisciplinary biography and has published widely on twentieth century music and literature. Contributors:JOANNA BULLIVANT, PHILIP ROSS BULLOCK, NICHOLAS CLARK, MERVYN COOKE, DAVID FULLER, JOHN FULLER, PETER HAPPÉ, J. P. E. HARPER-SCOTT, JOHN HOPKINS, KATE KENNEDY, ADRIAN POOLE, HANNA ROCHLITZ, PHILIP RUPPRECHT, REBEKAH SCOTT, VICKISTROEHER, JUSTIN VICKERS, LUCY WALKER, BRIAN YOUNG

Contents:

1 Britten and His Librettists: The Composer as Auteur p. 10 / Mervyn Cooke

2 Britten, Auden and the 1930s p. 31 / John Fuller

3 James, Britten, Piper and the Literary Supernatural: The Changing 'vision of evil' in The Turn of the Screw and Owen Wingrave p. 49 / Nicholas Clark

4 'Thought's Wildernesses': The Development of Britten's Nocturne from Library to Score p. 77 / Kate Kennedy

5 'Reading at Intervals': Brittens Romantic Poetry p. 100 / Brian Young

6 Britten's Drops: The Lyric into Song p. 124 / Rebekah Scott

7 'Without any tune': The Role of the Discursive Shift in Britten's Interpretation of Poetry p. 144 / Vicki P. Stroeher

8 Britten and Modern Tragedy p. 171 / Adrian Poole

Part II Studies

9 Settings from Boyhood p. 186 / Lucy Walker

10 'Practical Jokes': Britten and Auden's Our Hunting Fathers Revisited p. 206 / Joanna Bullivant

11 Choice and Inevitability: The Moral Economy of Peter Grimes p. 223 / Philip Ross Bullock

12 Sin, Death and Love: Britten's The Holy Sonnets of John Donne p. 243 / David Fuller

13 Britten's Donne Meditation p. 256 / Justin Vickers

14 Scenes from Britten's Spring Symphony p. 274 / Philip Rupprecht

15 'I have read Billy Budd': The Forster-Britten Reading(s) of Melville p. 296 / Hanna Rochlitz

16 Miles Must Die: Ideological Uses of 'Innocence' in Britten's The Turn of the Screw p. 318 / J. P. E. Harper-Scott

17 Benjamin Britten and Medieval Drama at Chester: From Abraham and Isaac to 'The Nativity' p. 340 / Peter Happé

18 Ambiguous Venice p. 356 / John Hopkins.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. New York Available via World Wide Web.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed June22, 2018).

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1932 Fund.

ISBN:

9781787442566

178744256X

Publisher Number:

40028305505

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.