On MusicBenjamin 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 This book, by bringing together all his published articles, unpublished speeches, drafts, and transcriptions of numerous radio interviews, explores the paradox of a reluctant yet influential cultural commentator, artist, and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. |
Contents
19361945 | 11 |
Shostakowitchs Lady Macbeth 1936 | 17 |
On Film Music c 19401 | 29 |
Au Revoir to the U S A 1942 | 37 |
Peter Grimes 1945 | 40 |
Sinfonia da Requiem 1946 | 40 |
The Rape of Lucretia 1946 | 67 |
Frank Bridge and English Chamber Music 1947 | 75 |
On Writing English Opera 1960 | 208 |
Britten and Pears in Canada 1961 | 210 |
Speech on Receiving Honorary Degree at Hull University 1962 | 214 |
Freedom of Borough of Aldeburgh 1962 | 217 |
Form and Performance 1962 | 219 |
A Tribute to Wilfred Owen ?1963 | 221 |
An ABC of Music 1963 | 222 |
Benjamin Britten 1963 | 223 |
The Rape of Lucretia 1948 | 78 |
Piano works by Frederic Chopin and Gabriel Fauré 1949 | 80 |
A New Centre for Music 1949 | 81 |
UNESCO 1949 | 83 |
The Story of an Orchestra 1950 | 85 |
The Arts Council and Opera 1950 | 86 |
VerdiA Symposium 1951 | 102 |
The Rape of Lucretia ?1951 | 104 |
Dido and Aeneas 1951 | 106 |
Freeman of Lowestoft 1951 | 108 |
The Rise of English Opera 1951 | 112 |
Arnold Schoenberg 1951 | 114 |
Variations on a Critical Theme 1952 | 115 |
The Marriage of Figaro 1952 | 120 |
Three Premieres 1954 | 123 |
Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings 1954 | 128 |
The Physicians Folly 1955 | 129 |
The Aldeburgh Festival 1955 | 130 |
19561965 | 133 |
Composer and Listener 1946 | 135 |
Brittens Method of Composing 1956 | 139 |
British Culture Abroad 1956 | 140 |
Britten and SouthEast Asia 1956 | 142 |
The Composer Speaks 1957 | 145 |
To the Music Lovers of Japan 1957 | 156 |
Dennis Brain 19211957 1958 | 158 |
Television and The Turn of the Screw 1959 | 161 |
Paul Beck 18951958 1959 | 162 |
so On Purcells Dido and Aeneas 1959 | 163 |
On Realizing the Continuo in Purcells Songs 1959 | 166 |
Back to Britain with Britten 1959 | 171 |
Benjamin Britten 1960 | 176 |
A New Britten Opera 1960 | 186 |
A Midsummer Nights Dream 1960 | 190 |
Brighton Philharmonic Society 1960 | 193 |
Discussion on Billy Budd 1960 | 194 |
The Artistto the People 1963 | 233 |
On Pravda Art and Criticism 1963 | 236 |
Address to Kesgrave Heath School Ipswich 1963 | 241 |
An Interview 1963 | 244 |
Britten Looking Back 1963 | 250 |
Francis Poulenc 18991963 1964 | 254 |
On Receiving the First Aspen Award 1964 | 255 |
Musician of the Year 1964 | 264 |
British Music in the World Today 1964 | 270 |
Tribute to Michael Tippett 1965 | 274 |
Tribute to Zoltán Kodály 1965 | 275 |
Tribute to Jean Sibelius 1965 | 276 |
Sibelius 1965 | 277 |
Dreams ?1965 | 280 |
A Composer in Russia 1965 | 281 |
19661976 | 285 |
Introduction and Chronology | 287 |
Sir Arthur Bliss at 75 1966 | 291 |
Benjamin Britten Talks to Edmund Tracey 1966 | 292 |
Tribute to Dmitry Shostakovitch 1966 | 300 |
Tribute to Zoltán Kodály 1967 | 302 |
An Interview with Benjamin Britten 1967 | 304 |
Britten and Pears 1967 | 310 |
The Moral Responsibility of the Artist towards his Fellow Man 1968 | 311 |
Britten on Aldeburgh and the Future 1968 | 313 |
On Receiving the Sonning Prize 1968 | 315 |
Some Notes on Forster and Music 1969 | 316 |
Mapreading 1969 | 321 |
No Ivory Tower 1969 | 330 |
Idomeneo in Performance 1969 | 337 |
SeventiethBirthday Tribute 1970 | 343 |
Percy Grainger 1976 | 350 |
ON THE MUSIC OF OTHER COMPOSERS | 392 |
| 433 | |
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Common terms and phrases
actually AFPB Aldeburgh Festival Allegro artist Auden audience bass beautiful Benjamin Britten Billy Budd Boyd Neel broadcast cello chorus concert conductor course Covent Garden critic CROZIER Dido and Aeneas E. M. Forster Editor's England English composers English Opera Group Eric Crozier ESHER Essay feel film FORSTER Frank Bridge friends GB-ALb Gloriana Glyndebourne HAREWOOD hear ideas instruments kind language later librettist libretto listen London MCKECHNIE mean movement Mozart musicians notes one's orchestra performance perhaps Peter Grimes Peter Pears piano piece PIPER play players poems POOLEY produced programme Purcell Purcell's Rape of Lucretia recitative rehearsal remember Requiem Rostropovich Sadler's scene SCHAFER Schubert score seems sing singers solo sonata songs soprano sound Source stage Stravinsky String Quartet sung Symphony theatre theme things tune viola violin vocal voice War Requiem wonderful words wrote young composer