Camb Companion to Benjamin Britten: Cambridge Companions to Music

New
Illustrated
2008
$31.26

The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten is 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. Topics treated here in detail for the first time include Britten's work in the cinema in the 1930s, his lifelong pacifism and his strong interest in the music of the Far East; other chapters include reassessments of his relationship with W. H. Auden and his attitude towards childhood, comprehensive analyses of major works and a concise history of the Aldeburgh Festival. 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.

Synopsis

The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten is 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. Topics treated here in detail for the first time include Britten's work in the cinema in the 1930s, his lifelong pacifism and his strong interest in the music of the Far East; other chapters include reassessments of his relationship with W. H. Auden and his attitude towards childhood, comprehensive analyses of major works and a concise history of the Aldeburgh Festival. 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.

$31.26

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 372
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 21 Aug 2008
ISBN 10: 0521574765
ISBN 13: 9780521574761
Book Overview: A comprehensive Companion to Britten's music and life.

Media Reviews

' ... the serious student will be richly stimulated.' BBC Music Magazine
'Essential reading, then, for Britten students, containing much that will be of interest to the composers' wide and ever-widening circle of admirers.' Classical Music
...all the contributors share a keen awareness of how the composer's music speaks forcibly to a wide audience, even to those listeners whose lack of confidence in musical technicalities might influence them to shy away from a contemporary idiom. Reference and Research Book News
The most comprehensive collection of essays on Britten and his music to date, this volume goes beyond the usual subjects that one can fine [sic] in a dozen other Britten volumes...and explores a host of other areas. Choice
For those attracted to Britten's operas, other vocal works, chamber music, and symphonic compositions, this book is highly recommended. The authors' insights about his output and artistic point of view are likely to be what most readers expect to gain from their reading. The Opera Journal
Listeners new to Britten's music will find it highly useful, as will those who are more familiar with his music and the literature that has grown up around it. Opera Quarterly
Any serious student of Britten will want to own this book... Notes