Research Catalog

Title

Benjamin Britten in context / edited by Vicki P. Stroeher, Justin Vickers.

Publication

• Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2022.
• ©2022

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Stroeher, Vicki P.
• Vickers, Justin

Description

xxv, 400 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

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." --

Series Statement

Composers in context

Uniform Title

Composers in context.

Subject

• Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976 > Criticism and interpretation
• Britten, Benjamin, 1913-1976
• 1900-1999
• Music > Great Britain > 20th century > History and criticism
• Music
• Criticism and interpretation
• Intellectual life
• Great Britain > Intellectual life > 20th century
• Great Britain

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-385) and index.

Contents

Prologue : Positioning Britten / Vicki P. Stroeher and Justin Vicker -- Part I : The Britten circle(s). Early mentors : The Bridges, the Auden Set, and the Mayers of Long Island / Arnold Whittall ; Peter Pears / Justin Vickers ; The open secret / Nicholas Clark ; Britten's circle / Lucy Walker ; The 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. The 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 ; The 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 ; The 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 ; The 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 ; The 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.

Call Number

JME 23-188

ISBN

• 1108496695
• 9781108496698
• 9781108751971 (canceled/invalid)
• 9781108634878 (canceled/invalid)

OCLC

1276933258

Title

Benjamin Britten in context / edited by Vicki P. Stroeher, Justin Vickers.

Publisher

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Copyright Date

©2022

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Composers in context

Composers in context.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-385) and index.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Added Author

Stroeher, Vicki P., editor.

Vickers, Justin, editor.

Other Form:

Ebook version : 9781108751971

Research Call Number

JME 23-188