Benjamin Britten's Books

Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951)

The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten

By: Benjamin Britten

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Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951)

The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten

By: Benjamin Britten

The third volume of the annotated selected letters of composer Benjamin Britten covers the years 1946-51, during which he wrote many of his best-known works, founded and developed the English Opera Group and the Aldeburgh Festival, and toured widely in Europe and the United States as a pianist and conductor. Correspondents include librettists Ronald Duncan (The Rape of Lucretia), Eric Crozier (Albert Herring, Saint Nicolas, The Little Sweep) and E. M. Forster (Billy Budd); conductor Ernest Ansermet and composer Lennox Berkeley; publishers Ralph Hawkes and Erwin Stein of Boosey & Hawkes; and the celebrated tenor Peter Pears, Britten's partner. Among friends in the United States are Christopher Isherwood, Elizabeth Mayer and Aaron Copland, and there is a significant meeting with Igor Stravinsky. This often startling and innovative period is vividly evoked by the comprehensive and scholarly annotations, which offer a wide range of detailed information fascinating for both the Britten specialist and the general reader. Donald Mitchell contributes a challenging introduction exploring the interaction of life and work in Britten's creativity, and an essay examining for the first time, through their correspondence, the complex relationship between the composer and the writer Edward Sackville-West.

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Page Count

784

Publisher

Faber & Faber

Published Date

ISBN 10

057129930X

ISBN 13

9780571299300

Peter Grimes/Gloriana

By: Benjamin Britten

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Peter Grimes/Gloriana

By: Benjamin Britten

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

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Page Count

131

Publisher

Alma Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0714545031

ISBN 13

9780714545035

Letters from a Life Vol 2: 1939-45

Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten

By: Benjamin Britten

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Letters from a Life Vol 2: 1939-45

Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten

By: Benjamin Britten

In May 1939 Britten and Pears disembarked at Montreal at the start of their American visit, which was to be a period of intense musical activity and new personal relationships. At the same time, the relationship between Britten and Pears deepened into a partnership that was to endure for almost forty years.Their absence from England during the first years of the war led to sharp public comment and controversy, much of it documented here. On their return from America in 1942, hostility to their pacifist convictions and to their homosexuality resurfaced. Prejudice and subterfuge even affected the première of Peter Grimes in 1945, although it could not prevent the opera from being an unprecedented success.The letters in this second volume from the years 1939 to 1945 are among the most fascinating of the correspondence, and - supplemented by the editors' detailed commentary and by exhaustive contemporary documentation - offer a unique insight into American history, politics and culture during the Second World War.

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788

Publisher

Faber & Faber

Published Date

ISBN 10

0571265928

ISBN 13

9780571265923

Letters from a Life

The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten 1913-1976

By: Benjamin Britten,Philip Reed

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Letters from a Life

The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten 1913-1976

By: Benjamin Britten,Philip Reed

In May 1939 Britten and Pears disembarked at Montreal at the start of their American visit, which was to be a period of intense musical activity and new personal relationships. At the same time, the relationship between Britten and Pears deepened into a partnership that was to endure for almost forty years. Their absence from England during the first years of the war led to sharp public comment and controversy, much of it documented here. On their return from America in 1942, hostility to their pacifist convictions and to their homosexuality resurfaced. Prejudice and subterfuge even affected the premi�re of Peter Grimes in 1945, although it could not prevent the opera from being an unprecedented success. The letters in this second volume from the years 1939 to 1945 are among the most fascinating of the correspondence, and - supplemented by the editors' detailed commentary and by exhaustive contemporary documentation - offer a unique insight into American history, politics and culture during the Second World War.

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Page Count

800

Published Date

ISBN 10

0571194001

ISBN 13

9780571194001

Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951)

The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten

By: Benjamin Britten

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Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951)

The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten

By: Benjamin Britten

The third volume of the annotated selected letters of composer Benjamin Britten covers the years 1946-51, during which he wrote many of his best-known works, founded and developed the English Opera Group and the Aldeburgh Festival, and toured widely in Europe and the United States as a pianist and conductor.Correspondents include librettists Ronald Duncan (The Rape of Lucretia), Eric Crozier (Albert Herring, Saint Nicolas, The Little Sweep) and E. M. Forster (Billy Budd); conductor Ernest Ansermet and composer Lennox Berkeley; publishers Ralph Hawkes and Erwin Stein of Boosey & Hawkes; and the celebrated tenor Peter Pears, Britten's partner. Among friends in the United States are Christopher Isherwood, Elizabeth Mayer and Aaron Copland, and there is a significant meeting with Igor Stravinsky.This often startling and innovative period is vividly evoked by the comprehensive and scholarly annotations, which offer a wide range of detailed information fascinating for both the Britten specialist and the general reader.Donald Mitchell contributes a challenging introduction exploring the interaction of life and work in Britten's creativity, and an essay examining for the first time, through their correspondence, the complex relationship between the composer and the writer Edward Sackville-West.

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Page Count

781

Publisher

Faber & Faber

Published Date

ISBN 10

0571279937

ISBN 13

9780571279937

Letters from a Life

The Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976

By: Benjamin Britten

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Letters from a Life

The Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976

By: Benjamin Britten

Letters by the British composer to his friends, family, and colleagues document his life from school days to the end of World War II.

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Page Count

692

Publisher

Boydell Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1843833824

ISBN 13

9781843833826

On Music

By: Benjamin Britten

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On Music

By: Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten was a most reluctant public speaker. Yet his contributions were without doubt a major factor in the transformation during his lifetime of the structure of the art-music industry. This book, by bringing together all his published articles, unpublished speeches, drafts, and transcriptions of numerous radio interviews, explores the paradox of a reluctant yet influential cultural commentator, artist, and humanist. Whether talking about his own music, about the role of the artist in society, about music criticism, or wading into a debate on Soviet ideology at the height of the cold war, Britten always gave a performance which reinforced the notion of a private man who nonetheless saw the importance of public disclosure.

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Page Count

480

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198167148

ISBN 13

9780198167143

Midsummer Night's Dream

By: Benjamin Britten

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Midsummer Night's Dream

By: Benjamin Britten

A Midsummer Night's Dream was Benjamin Britten's seventh major opera and had its premiere at Aldeburgh in 1960. Britten and his partner Peter Pears prepared a condensed version of Shakespeare's much-loved comedy for the libretto, using (with the exception of a single line) only the original text.In this newly commissioned guide, Andrew Plant explores the genesis of the opera's composition, including passages of recently published material from Britten's own correspondence. Philip Reed examines the musical language of the opera and has prepared a detailed thematic guide, while David Nice outlines many of the different approaches to the work in productions that have taken place over the last forty years. An essay by Philip Brett discusses how the opera reflects the central issues in Britten's work. Finally, a unique article is included which Britten himself wrote for the Observer immediately preceding the work's premiere. The present edition also contains twenty-five black-and-white and colour photographs, the full libretto, a discography, DVD guide, bibliography and website guide. It will prove an invaluable companion to opera-goers wanting to increase their understanding and enjoyment of this magical work.Contents:Night's Caressing Grip: The Evolution of the Dream, Andrew PlantA Midsummer Night's Dream: The Music, Philip ReedReinventing the Dream: A Midsummer Night's Dream on Stage, David NiceBritten's Dream: An Introduction, Philip BrettA New Britten Opera, Benjamin BrittenA Midsummer Night's Dream: Libretto adapted from William Shakespeare by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears

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Page Count

169

Publisher

Alma Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0714544752

ISBN 13

9780714544755

Peter Grimes/Gloriana

By: Benjamin Britten

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Peter Grimes/Gloriana

By: Benjamin Britten

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131

Publisher

Alma Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0714545031

ISBN 13

9780714545035

Letters from a Life Vol 1: 1923-39

Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten

By: Benjamin Britten

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Letters from a Life Vol 1: 1923-39

Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten

By: Benjamin Britten

Volume One of these remarkable letters and diaries opens with a letter from Britten aged nine to his formidable mother, Edith. Music is already at the centre of his life, and it accompanies him through prep and public school and then to London to the Royal College of Music, where the phenomenally gifted but inexperienced young composer is plunged into metropolitan life and makes influential new friends, among them W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood. This was a time of prodigious musical creativity, a growing awareness of his sexuality, and the dawning of his political convictions. Most importantly, during this period Britten met Peter Pears and established the musical and personal relationship that was to last a lifetime. Volume One comes to a close in May 1939, when Britten, accompanied by Pears, departs for North America.The letters and diaries in this illuminating first volume and its successor are supplemented by the editors' detailed commentary and by exhaustive contemporary documentation. Together they constitute a comprehensive portrait not only of the composer but of an age.

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788

Publisher

Faber & Faber

Published Date

ISBN 10

057126591X

ISBN 13

9780571265916

On Music

By: Benjamin Britten

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On Music

By: Benjamin Britten

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480

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198167148

ISBN 13

9780198167143

Letters from a Life: 1946-1951

By: Benjamin Britten

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Letters from a Life: 1946-1951

By: Benjamin Britten

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784

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ISBN 10

057122282X

ISBN 13

9780571222827

My Beloved Man

The Letters of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears

By: Benjamin Britten

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My Beloved Man

The Letters of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears

By: Benjamin Britten

To read these letters is to climb up a wall and peer into the secret garden of two giants.' From the Foreword by FIONA SHAW This volume comprises the complete surviving correspondence between Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. The 365 letters written throughout their 39-year relationship are here brought together and published, as Pears intended, for the first time. While the correspondence provides valuable evidence of the development of Britten's works, more significant is the insight into his relationship with Pears and their day-to-day life together. Entertaining to read, domestic and intimate, the letters provide glimpses of cultural and artistic life in the twentieth century, including pacifism and conscientious objection, critical assessments of music and other artists, transport and communications development in the twentieth century, the 'Aldeburgh corpses', art collecting, gossip, everyday life in an English country house, the development of the Aldeburgh Festival, performance practice in early music, looking after dachshunds, travel, and a host of other topics. Above all, when read together, Britten and Pears's letters allow the clearest possible look 'behind the scenes' of one of the most productive creative partnerships of the twentieth century. VICKI P. STROEHER is Professor of Music History at Marshall University where she is also Coordinator of the Music History & Literature area. NICHOLAS CLARK is the Librarian at the Britten-Pears Foundation at The Red House, Britten and Pears's home in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. JUDE BRIMMER is an Archivist at the Britten-Pears Foundation.

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Page Count

452

Published Date

ISBN 10

1783271086

ISBN 13

9781783271085

Book's by Benjamin Britten

Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951)

Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951)

Peter Grimes/Gloriana

Peter Grimes/Gloriana

Letters from a Life Vol 2: 1939-45

Letters from a Life Vol 2: 1939-45

Letters from a Life

Letters from a Life

Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951)

Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951)

Letters from a Life

Letters from a Life

On Music

On Music

Midsummer Night's Dream

Midsummer Night's Dream

Peter Grimes/Gloriana

Peter Grimes/Gloriana

Letters from a Life Vol 1: 1923-39

Letters from a Life Vol 1: 1923-39

On Music

On Music

Letters from a Life: 1946-1951

Letters from a Life: 1946-1951

My Beloved Man

My Beloved Man

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