| Description |
1 online resource (xxv, 400 pages) illustrations |
| Series |
Composers in context |
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Composers in context.
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| Contents |
Cover -- Half-title page -- Series page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Dedication page -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Notes on Contributors -- Acknowledgements -- List of Bibliographic and In-Text Abbreviations -- Prologue: Positioning Britten -- Part I The Britten Circle(s) -- 1 Early Mentors: The Bridges, the Auden Set, and the Mayers of Long Island -- 2 Peter Pears -- 3 The Open Secret -- 4 Britten's Circle -- 5 The Making of Britten: Imogen Holst, Rosamund Strode, and Colin Matthews -- 6 Britten's Publishers as Advance and Rear Guard |
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Part II British Musical Life -- 7 Composing in England -- 8 Britten and Film -- 9 Britten and the Radio -- 10 Recording a Musical Experience: Britten's Works on Record and Television -- 11 Music Critics and the Press -- 12 Britten and English Opera: Myths and a (Chequered) History -- 13 Festival Culture in the British Isles -- 14 Concert Life in Britain -- 15 Benjamin Britten and Folk Song -- 16 Educating the Nation: Britten's Music for Young People -- Part III Britten and Other Composers -- 17 The Compositional Context: Creating a Voice -- 18 Responding to a British Musical Past |
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19 Britten and the English Musical Renaissance -- 20 Responding to the Continent -- 21 An English Tradition? -- 22 'An Exciting Time with All the Russians': Anglo-Soviet Musical Contacts -- 23 The Avant-Garde -- Part IV Wordsmiths, Designers, and Performers -- 24 W. H. Auden -- 25 Eric Crozier -- 26 Two Librettists: Montagu Slater and Ronald Duncan -- 27 The Wise, Queer Heart of Englishness: E. M. Forster -- 28 William Plomer's Poetics of Exile at Home -- 29 'Don't Colour Them, the Music Will Do That': Myfanwy Piper and Britten's Marriage of Words and Music -- 30 Designing and Dancing Britten |
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31 Pears as Illuminator, Interpreter, and Inspiration -- 32 Britten's Singers -- 33 Britten's Performers: Those Most 'Instrumental' -- Part V British Sociocultural, Religious, and Political Life -- 34 English and British National Identity in the Arts -- 35 The Place Within: Britten's Landscapes -- 36 Monarchy, Royalty, and Arts Patronage -- 37 Literary Leanings -- 38 Faith, Spirituality, and the Church -- 39 The Politics of the Closet -- 40 Communism, Socialism, and Pacifism in British Politics: From the 1930s to the Second World War -- Epilogue: Britten's Legacy -- Further Reading -- Index |
| 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 |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-385) and index |
| Notes |
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on May 10, 2022) |
| Subject |
Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976 -- Criticism and interpretation
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| SUBJECT |
Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976 fast |
| Subject |
Music -- Great Britain -- 20th century -- History and criticism
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Music
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Great Britain
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| Genre/Form |
Electronic books
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Criticism, interpretation, etc.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Stroeher, Vicki P., editor.
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Vickers, Justin, editor.
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| ISBN |
9781108634878 |
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1108634877 |
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