The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears, 1936-1978 [Paperback]

Peter Pears (Author), Philip Reed (Editor), Peter Reed (Author)

Book Description

Series: Aldeburgh Studies in Music | Publication Date: May 1, 1999

This volume brings together all the travel diaries of Sir Peter Pears (1910-1986), principal interpreter of Britten's works. Pears accompanied Britten on many of his trips and the record of their tour of the Far East in 1955 is of special interest. Here the sound of the gamelan orchestras enchanted Britten and deeply influenced his musical development. A valuable source of material on the musical development of both Pears and Benjamin Britten...a `must' for those interested in either. OPERA JOURNAL (US)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At the height of their careers, tenor Peter Pears and composer Benjamin Britten traveled the globe, both to give performances and for pleasure. Pears, not a diarist in his daily life, had the habit of keeping journals while he was away--though even those were irregular. His diaries, most from the mid-1950s to the late '70s, are sometimes sketchy, even cryptic, but have been supplemented by Philip Reed's excellent editing and by letters and other material. The sections that were previously published (often in the Aldeburgh Festival's annual program book) have the virtue of a full narrative flow, and Pears reveals himself as an alert if unremarkable observer of food, art, flora, fauna, and people.

The couple's Asian tour in 1955-56 was deeply significant for Britten's subsequent output, especially his Church Parables. Pears describes their attendance at a performance (by a Japanese school group) of the Noh play Sumidagawa--the basis, eight years later, of Britten's first parable, Curlew River. The experience was thrilling to them both. Pears's comments are less worthwhile for their insight into the composer's thinking than for the sensation they give of being in the room at a moment of inspiration. The diaries are filled with celebrated friends and the aura that attended two famous musicians (traveling from Moscow to Armenia, a planeload of people bursts into applause when it is announced that Britten and Pears are among the passengers). The final segments were written when Pears made his Metropolitan Opera debut (at 64) in Death in Venice, and when he returned four years later, after Britten's death, to appear in Billy Budd.

This volume, essentially a footnote to studies on Britten and Pears, is one of the Aldeburgh Studies in Music series, which comprises a usefully broad range of titles examining Britten's techniques and influences. --David Olivenbaum

Review

A valuable source of material on the musical development of both Pears and Benjamin Britten...a `must' for those interested in either. --Opera journal

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Boydell Press (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851157416
• ISBN-13: 978-0851157412
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,754,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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