Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"...a concise, informative study of Benjamin Britten's grandest opera." New York Daily News
Review
"...excellent...enlightening...Cooke and Reed have put together a very useful and helpful handbook..." The Opera Journal
Synopsis
A detailed synopsis guides the reader through the musical and dramatic action of the opera, Billy Budd.
Synopsis
'A full synopsis takes the reader through the musical and dramatic action of this, one of Britten\'s most challenging operas and further chapters discuss the literary background, the collaboration between librettists and composer, and the distinctive tonal symbolism of the music.\n
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Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
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.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 174-176) and index.
Table of Contents
1. Synopsis; 2. Herman Melville's Billy Budd; 3. Britten's Billy Budd: Melville as opera libretto; 4. From first thoughts to first night: a Billy Budd chronology; 5. The 1960 revisions: a two-act Billy Budd; 6. Britten's 'prophetic song': tonal symbolism in Billy Budd; 7. A Billy Budd notebook (1979-91); 8. Stage history and critical reception; Appendices.