| Description |
xxv, 400 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Series |
Composers in context
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Composers in context.
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| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-385) and index. |
| Contents |
Prologue : Positioning Britten / Vicki P. Stroeher and Justin Vicker -- Part I : Britten circle(s). Early mentors : The Bridges, the Auden Set, and the Mayers of Long Island / Arnold Whittall ; Peter Pears / Justin Vickers ; Open secret / Nicholas Clark ; Britten's circle / Lucy Walker ; Making of Britten : Imogen Holst, Rosamund Strode, and Colin Matthews / Christopher M. Scheer ; Britten's publishers as advance and rear guard / Philip Reed -- Part II : British musical life. Composing in England / Eric Saylor ; Britten and film / Mervyn Cooke ; Britten and the radio / Alison Garnham ; Recording a musical experience : Britten's works on record and television / Danielle Ward-Griffin ; Music critics and the press / Vicki P. Stroeher and Philip Reed ; Britten and English opera : Myths and a (chequered) history / Mervyn Cooke ; Festival culture in the British Isles / Justin Vickers ; Concert life in Britain / Philip Reed ; Benjamin Britten and folk song / Julian Onderdonk ; Educating the nation : Britten's music for young people / Kate Guthrie -- Part III : Britten and other composers. Compositional context : Creating a voice / Christopher Mark ; Responding to a British musical past / Michael Burden ; Britten and the English musical Renaissance / Alain Frogley ; Responding to the Continent / Arved Ashby ; An English tradition? / Christopher Mark ; 'An exciting time with all the Russians' : Anglo-Soviet musical contacts / Cameron Pyke ; Avant-garde / Philip Rupprecht -- Part IV : Wordsmiths, designers, and performers. W.H. Auden / Vicki P. Stroeher ; Eric Crozier / Justin Vickers ; Two librettists : Montagu Slater and Ronald Duncan / Ian Patterson ; Wise, queer heart of Englishness : E. M. Forster / Hanna Rochlitz ; William Plomer's poetics of exile at home / Kevin Salfen ; 'Don't colour them, the music will do that' : Myfanwy Piper and Britten's marriage of words and music / Frances Spalding ; Designing and dancing Britten / Lucy Walker and Kevin Salfen ; Pears as illuminator, interpreter, and inspiration / Justin Vickers ; Britten's singers / Roger Vignoles ; Britten's performers : Those most 'instrumental' / Thomas Schuttenhelm -- Part V : British sociocultural, religious, and political life. English and British national identity in the arts / Irene Morra ; Place within : Britten's landscapes / Charlotte de Mille ; Monarchy, royalty, and arts patronage / Matthias Range ; Literary leanings / Nicholas Clark ; Faith, spirituality, and the Church / Margaret Lane ; Politics of the closet / J. P. E. Harper-Scott ; Communism, socialism, and pacifism in British politics : From the 1930s to the Second World War / Joanna Bullivant -- Epilogue : Britten's legacy / Arnold Whittall. |
| Summary |
"Benjamin Britten, pianist, conductor, educator, composer of a wide range of music from large-scale operas and choral works to string quartets and songs, is acknowledged as a pivotal figure in mid-twentieth-century Britain. This volume explores the contexts for his multi-faceted career and his engagement with his contemporaries in music, art, literature, and film, British musical institutions, royal and governmental entities, and the church, as well as his ground-breaking projects, philosophical and ideological tenets. The book is thematically structured in five parts: Britten's relationships with Peter Pears, his close friends, mentors, and colleagues; musical life in Britain; his interactions with previous and contemporary generations of composers; his professional work with choreographers, librettists, stage designers, and directors; and his socio-cultural, religious, and political environment. The chapters shed light on the many opportunities and challenges of post-war British musical life that shaped Britten's creative output." -- Dust jacket. |
| Subject |
Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976 -- Criticism and interpretation.
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Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976. |
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Criticism and interpretation. |
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Music -- Great Britain -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
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Music. |
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Great Britain. |
| Chronological Term |
20th century |
| Subject |
Great Britain -- Intellectual life -- 20th century.
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Intellectual life. |
| Chronological Term |
1900-1999 |
| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
|
| Added Author |
Stroeher, Vicki P., editor.
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Vickers, Justin, editor.
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| Other Form: |
Ebook version : 9781108751971 |
| ISBN |
1108496695 (hardcover) |
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9781108496698 (hardcover) |
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9781108751971 (ebook) |
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9781108634878 (PDF ebook) |
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