Benjamin Britten: The Turn of the Screw

This book is designed to introduce the non-specialist music lover to Britten's opera, The Turn of the Screw.

Patricia Howard (Edited by)

9780521283564, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 19 September 1985

180 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1 cm, 0.24 kg

This book is designed to introduce the non-specialist music lover to Britten's opera, The Turn of the Screw. The opening chapters by Vivien Jones and Patricia Howard deal with the literary source of the opera Oames's novella), the structure of the libretto, and the technique by which a short story was transformed into an opera. The central chapter, on the musical style and structures of the opera, includes an account of the composition process deduced from early sketches of the work by John Evans, an analysis of the unique form of the opera with a more detailed examination of the last scene by Patricia Howard, and an account of the significance and effect of the orchestration by Christopher Palmer. Finally, Patricia Howard traces the stage history of the work, from its initial reception in Venice in 1954, through some seminal reinterpretations in the 1960s to its present established position in the repertoire. The book is generously illustrated and there is also a bibliography and discography.

General preface
List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
1. Henry James's The Turn of the Screw Vivien Jones
2. Myfanwy Piper's The Turn of the Screw: libretto and synopsis Patricia Howard
3. Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw: the music
3a. The sketches: chronology and analysis John Evans
3b. Structures: an overall view Patricia Howard
3c.The climax: Act II scene 8, Miles Patricia Howard
3d. The colour of the music Christopher Palmer
4. The Turn of the Screw in the theatre Patricia Howard
Notes
Bibliography
Discography
Index.

Subject Areas: Music: styles & genres [AVG]