Billy Budd, based on Herman Melville's nautical allegory, is one of Britten's most challenging operas. This comprehensive guide considers the work from both literary and musical viewpoints. Melville's novella is discussed, as is the interpretation given to the novella by the librettists E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier. A detailed synopsis guides the reader through the musical and dramatic action of the opera and in a chapter devoted to the music, Britten's distinctive technique of tonal symbolism is analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of his musical response to the dramatic suggestions of Melville's story. The most important critical writings on Billy Budd are represented by an expanded version of Donald Mitchell's 1979 notebook on the opera. A final chapter charts the opera's stage history and fluctuating critical reception.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"...a concise, informative study of Benjamin Britten's grandest opera." New York Daily News
"...excellent...enlightening...Cooke and Reed have put together a very useful and helpful handbook..." The Opera Journal
"...excellent...enlightening...Cooke and Reed have put together a very useful and helpful handbook..." The Opera Journal
Book Description
Based on a novella by Herman Melville, Billy Budd is one of Britten's most challenging operas. A complete synopsis is followed by an account of the opera's literary background, collaboration between librettists and composer, and the music's tonal symbolism.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, formerly commander of the HMS Indomitable, is revealed as an old man. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
unseen interview, muster scene, tonal symbolism, handsome sailor, prophetic song, sailing master, trial scene Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Billy Budd, Covent Garden, Captain Vere, New York, Eric Crozier, Red Whiskers, Peter Grimes, United States, John Piper, Royal Opera, San Francisco, Britten-Pears Library, David Webster, Lord Harewood, Nancy Evans, Peter Pears, Sadler's Wells, Albert Herring, Bob Buckingham, First Lieutenant, Captain Graveling, Donald Mitchell, Kenneth Harrison, Theodor Uppman, Third Programme New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, formerly commander of the HMS Indomitable, is revealed as an old man. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
unseen interview, muster scene, tonal symbolism, handsome sailor, prophetic song, sailing master, trial scene Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Billy Budd, Covent Garden, Captain Vere, New York, Eric Crozier, Red Whiskers, Peter Grimes, United States, John Piper, Royal Opera, San Francisco, Britten-Pears Library, David Webster, Lord Harewood, Nancy Evans, Peter Pears, Sadler's Wells, Albert Herring, Bob Buckingham, First Lieutenant, Captain Graveling, Donald Mitchell, Kenneth Harrison, Theodor Uppman, Third Programme New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 55
books:
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17
books
cite this book:
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- Billy Budd and Other Stories (Penguin Classics) by Herman Melville on 52 pages
- Peter Grimes (Project Drama) by Michael Marland on 13 pages
- Benjamin Britten: Death in Venice (Cambridge Opera Handbooks) by Donald Mitchell on 13 pages
- The Britten Companion by Christopher Palmer on 4 pages
- Selected Letters of E. M. Forster, Volume Two 1921-1970 (Volume II) by E. M. Forster in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
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- Britten (Master Musicians) by Michael Kennedy in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Vincenzo Bellini: Norma (Cambridge Opera Handbooks) by David R. B. Kimbell in Front Matter
- Richard Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer (Cambridge Opera Handbooks) by Thomas Grey in Front Matter
- W. A. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Cambridge Opera Handbooks) by Peter Branscombe in Front Matter
- Giacomo Puccini: La Bohème (Cambridge Opera Handbooks) by Arthur Groos in Front Matter
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