The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten [Paperback]

A comprehensive Companion to Britten's music and life.A comprehensive guide to the composer's work, aimed both at the non-specialist and music student. It sheds light on both the composer's stylistic and personal development, offering new interpretations of his operatic works and discussing his characteristic working methods. A distinguished team of contributors include some who worked with the composer during his lifetime, as well as leading representatives of the younger generation of Britten scholars on both sides of the Atlantic.A comprehensive guide to the composer's work, aimed both at the non-specialist and music student. It sheds light on both the composer's stylistic and personal development, offering new interpretations of his operatic works and discussing his characteristic working methods. A distinguished team of contributors include some who worked with the composer during his lifetime, as well as leading representatives of the younger generation of Britten scholars on both sides of the Atlantic.This is a comprehensive guide to Britten's work, aimed both at the nonspecialist and the music student. It sheds light on both the composer's stylistic and personal development, offering new interpretations of his operatic works and discussing his characteristic working methods. A distinguished team of contributors include some who worked with the composer during his lifetime, as well as leading representatives of the younger generation of Britten scholars on both sides of the Atlantic.Introduction Mervyn Cooke; Part I. Apprenticeship: 1. Juvenilia (19221932) Christopher Mark; 2. Britten, Auden and 'Otherness' Paul Kildea; 3. Britten in the cinema: 'Coal Face' Philip Reed; Part II. The Operas: 4. 'He Descended into Hell': Peter Grimes, Ellen Orford and Salvation Denied Stephen Arthur Allen; 5. The chamber operas Arnold Whittall; 6. 'Gloriana': Britten's 'Slighted Child' Antonia Malloy-Chirgwin; 7. Britten and Shakespeare: 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Mervyn CooklC“