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Author: Patricia Howard Publisher: ISBN: Category : Britten, Benjamin, 1913- Languages : en Pages : 260
Book Description
"Benjamin Britten's dramatic works--full operas, chamber operas, and dramas for church performance--dominate the repertoire of contemporary English opera, though they no longer monopolize it. His Peter Grimes will always rank with The Siege of Rhodes as a new beginning for English opera; unlike Sir William D'Avenant's work, the score of Peter Grimes seems likely to survive. Performances of Britten's operas are, however, far from frequent, and the average listener cannot readily form an impression of the scope and development of the series or absorb all the riches of individual works simply from his experiences in the opera house. The majority of British operagoers have a chance to see any one opera by Britten only once or twice in a lifetime. This book is designed to enable them, as well as the thousands of Americans who know Britten's operas exclusively through phonograph records, to make the most of these opportunities; it not only briefs the reader on events on-stage and in the orchestra, but it also prepares him for the experience of becoming involved in the drama. Patricia Howard distinguishes between details that can be perceived by a 'first-time' audience and those that are available only to the listener with an intimate knowledge of the score. Those who already know the operas well can relive them through this book, which has nearly 100 music illustrations. The author's personal approach is stimulating and at times provocative. There is a chapter on each of Britten's dramatic works, including Noye's Fludde and the Parables for Church Performance, but excluding the edited Dido, the revised Beggar's Opera, and the early Paul Bunyan. There is also a general survey of Britten's musicodramatic art throughout the canon. Although it is primarily intended to assist the inexperienced listener and stimulate the confirmed operagoer, Mrs. Howard's book should interest all those concerned with writing, producing, or studying opera of our time."--Dust jacket.
Author: Eric Walter White Publisher: Univ of California Press ISBN: 9780520048942 Category : Music Languages : en Pages : 324
Book Description
This new edition has been thoroughly revised and edited by John Evans (research scholar to the Britten Estate) who has updated the chronological list of published works and included in the bibliography the many books that have been written about the composer since his death in 1976. Although, as the title suggests, this book concentrates on Britten's operatic output, Mr White's account offers insights into the whole range of this prodigious composer's music. The text is lavishly illustrated with plates that reveal both the diversity of his operatic development and comprise a distinctive pictorial bibliography.
Author: Patricia Howard Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521283564 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 184
Book Description
This book is designed to introduce the non-specialist music lover to Britten's opera, The Turn of the Screw. The opening chapters by Vivien Jones and Patricia Howard deal with the literary source of the opera Oames's novella), the structure of the libretto, and the technique by which a short story was transformed into an opera. The central chapter, on the musical style and structures of the opera, includes an account of the composition process deduced from early sketches of the work by John Evans, an analysis of the unique form of the opera with a more detailed examination of the last scene by Patricia Howard, and an account of the significance and effect of the orchestration by Christopher Palmer. Finally, Patricia Howard traces the stage history of the work, from its initial reception in Venice in 1954, through some seminal reinterpretations in the 1960s to its present established position in the repertoire. The book is generously illustrated and there is also a bibliography and discography.
Author: Benjamin Britten Publisher: Alma Books ISBN: 0714545031 Category : Music Languages : en Pages : 131
Book Description
This is a double volume dedicated to two masterpieces by Benjamin Britten. While Peter Grimes established Britten as a composer of international standing, Gloriana, composed for the coronation of Elizabeth II, has never enjoyed a comparable fame. The variety of mood, characterization and pace, in each, illustrates Britten's exceptional gift for theatre. Commentaries on the scores reveal, for instance, how much the popular concert extracts gain from their context in the dramas. The essay by E.M. Forster - the inspiration for Peter Grimes - is reprinted here, and Michael Holroyd discusses Lytton Strachey's controversial Elizabeth and Essex - the source for Gloriana.Contents: Benjamin Britten's Librettos, Peter Porter; George Crabbe: The Poet and the Man, E.M. Forster; 'Peter Grimes': A Musical Commentary, Stephen Walsh; Peter Grimes: Libretto by Montagu Slater; 'Peter Grimes' and 'Gloriana', Joan Cross, Peter Pears and John Evans; Some Reflections on the Operas of Benjamin Britten, Buxton Orr; 'A daring experiment', Michael Holroyd; The Librettist of 'Gloriana', Rupert Hart-Davis; The Music of 'Gloriana', Christopher Palmer; Notes on the Libretto of 'Gloriana', William Plomer; Gloriana: Libretto by William Plomer
Author: Benjamin Britten Publisher: Herbert Press ISBN: Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 428
Book Description
A reference work for all opera-lovers containing the librettos of all sixteen of Britten's Operas, revised against the composer's own music scores and illustrated with 140 pictures of set and costume designs for the earliest productions of each opera.