Britten's Donne, Hardy and Blake Songs

Britten's Donne, Hardy and Blake Songs

Author: Gordon Cameron Sly

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2023-04-18

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1783277718

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Presents a first analytical study that looks at the overarching designs of Benjamin Britten's John Donne, Thomas Hardy and William Blake solo song cycles. By questioning when a group of songs ought to be understood not merely as a collection, but as a cycle, Sly shows that Britten's personal selection and arrangement is indispensable to understanding these cycles' extra-musical communication. The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Winter Words (poems by Hardy) and Songs and Proverbs of William Blake - composed in 1945, 1953 and 1965 respectively - each represent a philosophical exploration. The terrains set out by the three poets are distinct, but also engage one another in important and unexpected ways. Their cyclic architectures are expressed not only in their poetic arrangement, but in their musical settings. Key relationships and motive remain central for Britten. Keys convey a network of interconnections, create groupings of songs, and establish levels of tonal affinity or distance. Motive - often intervals that can fit into any melodic, harmonic or rhythmic context - is used to create aural affinities between or among individual songs. This book also offers a broader narrative revealing Britten's evolving philosophical convictions in post-war Britain. While it may not be the case that Britten intended any broader philosophical comment, the works together outline the cold and brittle state that emerges from loss and aligns with their composer's increasingly stark outlook on humanity.


Book Synopsis Britten's Donne, Hardy and Blake Songs by : Gordon Cameron Sly

Download or read book Britten's Donne, Hardy and Blake Songs written by Gordon Cameron Sly and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2023-04-18 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a first analytical study that looks at the overarching designs of Benjamin Britten's John Donne, Thomas Hardy and William Blake solo song cycles. By questioning when a group of songs ought to be understood not merely as a collection, but as a cycle, Sly shows that Britten's personal selection and arrangement is indispensable to understanding these cycles' extra-musical communication. The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Winter Words (poems by Hardy) and Songs and Proverbs of William Blake - composed in 1945, 1953 and 1965 respectively - each represent a philosophical exploration. The terrains set out by the three poets are distinct, but also engage one another in important and unexpected ways. Their cyclic architectures are expressed not only in their poetic arrangement, but in their musical settings. Key relationships and motive remain central for Britten. Keys convey a network of interconnections, create groupings of songs, and establish levels of tonal affinity or distance. Motive - often intervals that can fit into any melodic, harmonic or rhythmic context - is used to create aural affinities between or among individual songs. This book also offers a broader narrative revealing Britten's evolving philosophical convictions in post-war Britain. While it may not be the case that Britten intended any broader philosophical comment, the works together outline the cold and brittle state that emerges from loss and aligns with their composer's increasingly stark outlook on humanity.

Benjamin Britten, His Life and Operas

Benjamin Britten, His Life and Operas

Author: Eric Walter White

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780520048942

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This new edition has been thoroughly revised and edited by John Evans (research scholar to the Britten Estate) who has updated the chronological list of published works and included in the bibliography the many books that have been written about the composer since his death in 1976. Although, as the title suggests, this book concentrates on Britten's operatic output, Mr White's account offers insights into the whole range of this prodigious composer's music. The text is lavishly illustrated with plates that reveal both the diversity of his operatic development and comprise a distinctive pictorial bibliography.


Book Synopsis Benjamin Britten, His Life and Operas by : Eric Walter White

Download or read book Benjamin Britten, His Life and Operas written by Eric Walter White and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1983 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new edition has been thoroughly revised and edited by John Evans (research scholar to the Britten Estate) who has updated the chronological list of published works and included in the bibliography the many books that have been written about the composer since his death in 1976. Although, as the title suggests, this book concentrates on Britten's operatic output, Mr White's account offers insights into the whole range of this prodigious composer's music. The text is lavishly illustrated with plates that reveal both the diversity of his operatic development and comprise a distinctive pictorial bibliography.

The Rest Is Noise

The Rest Is Noise

Author: Alex Ross

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2007-10-16

Total Pages: 640

ISBN-13: 1429932880

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Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book of the Year Time magazine Top Ten Nonfiction Book of 2007 Newsweek Favorite Books of 2007 A Washington Post Book World Best Book of 2007 In this sweeping and dramatic narrative, Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, weaves together the histories of the twentieth century and its music, from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties; from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies up to the present. Taking readers into the labyrinth of modern style, Ross draws revelatory connections between the century's most influential composers and the wider culture. The Rest Is Noise is an astonishing history of the twentieth century as told through its music.


Book Synopsis The Rest Is Noise by : Alex Ross

Download or read book The Rest Is Noise written by Alex Ross and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2007-10-16 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book of the Year Time magazine Top Ten Nonfiction Book of 2007 Newsweek Favorite Books of 2007 A Washington Post Book World Best Book of 2007 In this sweeping and dramatic narrative, Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, weaves together the histories of the twentieth century and its music, from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties; from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies up to the present. Taking readers into the labyrinth of modern style, Ross draws revelatory connections between the century's most influential composers and the wider culture. The Rest Is Noise is an astonishing history of the twentieth century as told through its music.

Music and Musicians

Music and Musicians

Author: Evan Senior

Publisher:

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 1056

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Music and Musicians by : Evan Senior

Download or read book Music and Musicians written by Evan Senior and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 1056 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Benjamin Britten in Context

Benjamin Britten in Context

Author: Vicki P Stroeher

Publisher: Composers in Context

Published: 2022-04-21

Total Pages: 427

ISBN-13: 1108496695

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A thematically organised overview of the musical, social and cultural contexts for the multi-faceted career of this pivotal British composer.


Book Synopsis Benjamin Britten in Context by : Vicki P Stroeher

Download or read book Benjamin Britten in Context written by Vicki P Stroeher and published by Composers in Context. This book was released on 2022-04-21 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thematically organised overview of the musical, social and cultural contexts for the multi-faceted career of this pivotal British composer.

Try Whistling This

Try Whistling This

Author: Andrew Ford

Publisher: Black Inc.

Published: 2012-07-25

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1921870680

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Perceptive and entertaining, Try Whistling This is a pleasurable journey through music, ideas and history. Andrew Ford traces the concept of dirty dancing back to the sixteenth century, marvels at the weirdness of Percy Grainger and considers the decision of Wilhelm Furtwängler to keep conducting under the Nazis. He explores the intersection of words and music, the bugbear of Australian musical identity, and the fundamental importance, in music and in life, of listening. There are essays based on Ford’s acclaimed radio series Music and Fashion, as well as illuminating examinations of music-makers from Mozart to Shostakovich, Elgar to Britten, Cole Porter to Bob Dylan. In Try Whistling This, a brilliant communicator offers a fresh take on music and changing times.


Book Synopsis Try Whistling This by : Andrew Ford

Download or read book Try Whistling This written by Andrew Ford and published by Black Inc.. This book was released on 2012-07-25 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perceptive and entertaining, Try Whistling This is a pleasurable journey through music, ideas and history. Andrew Ford traces the concept of dirty dancing back to the sixteenth century, marvels at the weirdness of Percy Grainger and considers the decision of Wilhelm Furtwängler to keep conducting under the Nazis. He explores the intersection of words and music, the bugbear of Australian musical identity, and the fundamental importance, in music and in life, of listening. There are essays based on Ford’s acclaimed radio series Music and Fashion, as well as illuminating examinations of music-makers from Mozart to Shostakovich, Elgar to Britten, Cole Porter to Bob Dylan. In Try Whistling This, a brilliant communicator offers a fresh take on music and changing times.

Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten

Author: Lucy Walker

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1843835169

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An essay collection which examines Britten's juvenilia, influences such as Shostakovich and Verdi, his opera Owen Wingrave and a libretto written by Australian novelist Patrick White with the hope of a future collaboration.


Book Synopsis Benjamin Britten by : Lucy Walker

Download or read book Benjamin Britten written by Lucy Walker and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2009 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An essay collection which examines Britten's juvenilia, influences such as Shostakovich and Verdi, his opera Owen Wingrave and a libretto written by Australian novelist Patrick White with the hope of a future collaboration.

Keys to the Drama

Keys to the Drama

Author: Professor Gordon Sly

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2013-01-28

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1409493938

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Sonata form is fundamentally a dramatic structure that creates, manipulates, and ultimately satisfies expectation. It engages its audience by inviting prediction, association, and interpretation. That sonata form was the chief vehicle of dramatic instrumental music for nearly 200 years is due to the power, the universality, and the tonal and stylistic adaptability of its conception. This book presents nine studies whose central focus is sonata form. Their diversity attests both to the manifold analytical approaches to which the form responds, and to the vast range of musical possibility within the form's exemplars. At the same time, common compositional issues, analytical methods, and overarching perspectives on the essential nature of the form weave their way through the volume. Several of the essays approach the musical structure directly as drama, casting the work as an expression of its composer's engagement with an idea or principle that is dynamic and at times intensely difficult. Others concentrate their attention on a composer's use of "motive," which typically takes the form of a simple melodic span that shapes the musical architecture through an interdependent series of structural levels. Integrating these motivic threads within the musical fabric often warrants departures from formal norms in other areas. Analyses that seek to understand works with anomalous formal qualities-whether engendered by a motivic component or not-have a prominent place in the volume. Among these, accounts of idiosyncratic tonal discourse that threatens to undermine the unfolding of form-defining qualities or events are central.


Book Synopsis Keys to the Drama by : Professor Gordon Sly

Download or read book Keys to the Drama written by Professor Gordon Sly and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-01-28 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sonata form is fundamentally a dramatic structure that creates, manipulates, and ultimately satisfies expectation. It engages its audience by inviting prediction, association, and interpretation. That sonata form was the chief vehicle of dramatic instrumental music for nearly 200 years is due to the power, the universality, and the tonal and stylistic adaptability of its conception. This book presents nine studies whose central focus is sonata form. Their diversity attests both to the manifold analytical approaches to which the form responds, and to the vast range of musical possibility within the form's exemplars. At the same time, common compositional issues, analytical methods, and overarching perspectives on the essential nature of the form weave their way through the volume. Several of the essays approach the musical structure directly as drama, casting the work as an expression of its composer's engagement with an idea or principle that is dynamic and at times intensely difficult. Others concentrate their attention on a composer's use of "motive," which typically takes the form of a simple melodic span that shapes the musical architecture through an interdependent series of structural levels. Integrating these motivic threads within the musical fabric often warrants departures from formal norms in other areas. Analyses that seek to understand works with anomalous formal qualities-whether engendered by a motivic component or not-have a prominent place in the volume. Among these, accounts of idiosyncratic tonal discourse that threatens to undermine the unfolding of form-defining qualities or events are central.

Britten, Voice and Piano

Britten, Voice and Piano

Author: Graham Johnson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-10-03

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1351218204

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This collection of eight 'lectures' by internationally acclaimed pianist, Graham Johnson, is based on a series of concert talks given at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as part of the Benjamin Britten festival in 2001. The focus of the book is on Britten's songs, starting with his earliest compositions in the genre. Graham Johnson suggests that the nature of Britten's creativity is especially apparent in his setting of poetry, that he becomes the poet's alter-ego. A chapter on Britten's settings of Auden and Eliot explores the particular influences these writers brought to bear at opposite poles of the composer's life. The inspiration of fellow musicians is also discussed, with a chapter devoted to Britten's time in Russia and his friendship with the Rostropovitch family. Closer to home, the book places in context Britten's folksong settings, illustrating how he subverted the English folksong tradition by refusing to accept previous definitions of what constituted national loyalty. Drawing on letters and diaries, and featuring a number of previously unpublished photographs, this book illuminates aspects of Britten's songs from the personal perspective of the pianist who worked closely with Peter Pears after Benjamin Britten was unable to perform through illness. Johnson worked with Pears on learning the role of Aschenbach in 'Death in Venice' and was official pianist for the first master class given by Peter Pears at Snape in 1972.


Book Synopsis Britten, Voice and Piano by : Graham Johnson

Download or read book Britten, Voice and Piano written by Graham Johnson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-03 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of eight 'lectures' by internationally acclaimed pianist, Graham Johnson, is based on a series of concert talks given at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as part of the Benjamin Britten festival in 2001. The focus of the book is on Britten's songs, starting with his earliest compositions in the genre. Graham Johnson suggests that the nature of Britten's creativity is especially apparent in his setting of poetry, that he becomes the poet's alter-ego. A chapter on Britten's settings of Auden and Eliot explores the particular influences these writers brought to bear at opposite poles of the composer's life. The inspiration of fellow musicians is also discussed, with a chapter devoted to Britten's time in Russia and his friendship with the Rostropovitch family. Closer to home, the book places in context Britten's folksong settings, illustrating how he subverted the English folksong tradition by refusing to accept previous definitions of what constituted national loyalty. Drawing on letters and diaries, and featuring a number of previously unpublished photographs, this book illuminates aspects of Britten's songs from the personal perspective of the pianist who worked closely with Peter Pears after Benjamin Britten was unable to perform through illness. Johnson worked with Pears on learning the role of Aschenbach in 'Death in Venice' and was official pianist for the first master class given by Peter Pears at Snape in 1972.

The Penguin Book of English Song

The Penguin Book of English Song

Author: Richard Stokes

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2016-04-07

Total Pages: 976

ISBN-13: 0141982551

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The Penguin Book of English Song anthologizes the work of 100 English poets who have inspired a host of different composers (some English, some not) to write vocal music. Each of the chapters, arranged chronologically from Chaucer to Auden, opens with a precis of the poet's life, work and, often, approach to music. Richard Stokes's notes and commentaries constantly illuminate the language and themes of the poems and their settings in unexpected ways. An awareness of how Ben Jonson based his famous poem 'Drinke to me, onely, with thine eyes' on a Greek original, for example, increases our enjoyment of both the poem and the traditional song; knowledge of Thomas Hardy's relationships with women deepens our appreciation of songs by Ireland, Finzi, Britten and others; Charles Dibdin's 'Tom Bowling', played each year at the Last Night of the Proms, takes on a deeper resonance when we know that it was written after the death of his brother Tom, a sea captain struck by lightning in the Indian Ocean. Many composers of different nationalities appear, but the book remains quintessentially British, and includes pieces that have an established place in our national consciousness: 'Rule, Britannia' (James Thomson), 'Abide with me' (Henry Francis Lyte), 'Auld lang syne' (Robert Burns), 'Jerusalem' (William Blake), 'Once in royal David's city' (Mrs C. F. Alexander), and even 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star' (Jane Taylor). The poems are printed in their original versification and spelling, enabling us to trace the development of the English language as the book progresses. The volume presents a huge amount of information about English Song that will enlighten all those who delight in the fusion of words and music. The presence of minor as well as major poets and the unique principle of selection make The Penguin Book of English Song a highly original anthology of English verse.


Book Synopsis The Penguin Book of English Song by : Richard Stokes

Download or read book The Penguin Book of English Song written by Richard Stokes and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2016-04-07 with total page 976 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Penguin Book of English Song anthologizes the work of 100 English poets who have inspired a host of different composers (some English, some not) to write vocal music. Each of the chapters, arranged chronologically from Chaucer to Auden, opens with a precis of the poet's life, work and, often, approach to music. Richard Stokes's notes and commentaries constantly illuminate the language and themes of the poems and their settings in unexpected ways. An awareness of how Ben Jonson based his famous poem 'Drinke to me, onely, with thine eyes' on a Greek original, for example, increases our enjoyment of both the poem and the traditional song; knowledge of Thomas Hardy's relationships with women deepens our appreciation of songs by Ireland, Finzi, Britten and others; Charles Dibdin's 'Tom Bowling', played each year at the Last Night of the Proms, takes on a deeper resonance when we know that it was written after the death of his brother Tom, a sea captain struck by lightning in the Indian Ocean. Many composers of different nationalities appear, but the book remains quintessentially British, and includes pieces that have an established place in our national consciousness: 'Rule, Britannia' (James Thomson), 'Abide with me' (Henry Francis Lyte), 'Auld lang syne' (Robert Burns), 'Jerusalem' (William Blake), 'Once in royal David's city' (Mrs C. F. Alexander), and even 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star' (Jane Taylor). The poems are printed in their original versification and spelling, enabling us to trace the development of the English language as the book progresses. The volume presents a huge amount of information about English Song that will enlighten all those who delight in the fusion of words and music. The presence of minor as well as major poets and the unique principle of selection make The Penguin Book of English Song a highly original anthology of English verse.