The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten

by Mervyn Cooke (Editor)

Overview

The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten is a comprehensive guide to the composer's work, aimed both at the non-specialist and music student. It sheds light on both the composer's stylistic and personal development, offering new interpretations of his operatic works and discussing his characteristic working methods. Topics treated here in detail for the first time include Britten's work in the cinema in the 1930s, his lifelong pacifism and his strong interest in the music of the Far East; other chapters include reassessments of his relationship with W. H. Auden and his attitude towards childhood, comprehensive analyses of major works and a concise history of the Aldeburgh Festival. A distinguished team of contributors include some who worked with the composer during his lifetime, as well as leading representatives of the younger generation of Britten scholars on both sides of the Atlantic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139815673
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/28/1999
Series:	Cambridge Companions to Music
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

Table of Contents

Introduction Mervyn Cooke; Part I. Apprenticeship: 1. Juvenilia (1922–1932) Christopher Mark; 2. Britten, Auden and 'Otherness' Paul Kildea; 3. Britten in the cinema: 'Coal Face' Philip Reed; Part II. The Operas: 4. 'He Descended into Hell': Peter Grimes, Ellen Orford and Salvation Denied Stephen Arthur Allen; 5. The chamber operas Arnold Whittall; 6. 'Gloriana': Britten's 'Slighted Child' Antonia Malloy-Chirgwin; 7. Britten and Shakespeare: 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Mervyn Cooke; 8. Eros in life and death: 'Billy Budd' and 'Death in Venice' Clifford Hindley; Part III. Perspectives: 9. Distant horizons : from Pagodaland to the Church Parables Mervyn Cooke; 10. Violent climates Donald Mitchell; 11. Britten as symphonist Arved Ashby; 12. The concertos and early orchestral scores: aspects of style and aesthetic Eric Roseberry; 13. The chamber music Philip Rupprecht; 14. Music for voices Ralph Woodward; Part IV. The Composer in the Community: 15. Britten and the world of the child Stephen Arthur Allen; 16. Old songs in new contexts: Britten as arranger Eric Roseberry; 17. Aldeburgh Judith LeGrove.

Editorial Reviews

"...all the contributors share a keen awareness of how the composer's music speaks forcibly to a wide audience, even to those listeners whose lack of confidence in musical technicalities might influence them to shy away from a contemporary idiom." Reference and Research Book News

"The most comprehensive collection of essays on Britten and his music to date, this volume goes beyond the usual subjects that one can fine [sic] in a dozen other Britten volumes...and explores a host of other areas." Choice

"For those attracted to Britten's operas, other vocal works, chamber music, and symphonic compositions, this book is highly recommended. The authors' insights about his output and artistic point of view are likely to be what most readers expect to gain from their reading." The Opera Journal

""Listeners new to Britten's music will find it highly useful, as will those who are more familiar with his music and the literature that has grown up around it." Opera Quarterly

"Any serious student of Britten will want to own this book..." Notes

From the Publisher