Twentieth-century British authors and the rise of opera in Britain / Irene Morra.

Author/creator Morra, Irene, 1975-
Format Book
Publication InfoAldershot, Hampshire, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate Publishing Limited, ©2007.
Descriptionviii, 138 pages ; 24 cm
Subjects

Contents Defining the British operatic idiom -- The second renaissance -- The literary librettist -- Drama, verse, and the musical libretto -- Tippett, verse drama, and King Priam -- The Bassarids -- Nation, modernity, and the operatic stage -- Gawain -- Troilus and Cressida -- The muddying of the wells -- The beach of Falesá -- Billy Budd.
Abstract The involvement of literary figures in the definition and creation of modern British opera offers a glimpse into the aesthetic anxieties and projects of modern writers and composers. Collaborations and interactions between such artists as Benjamin Britten, E.M. Forster, Michael Tippett, W.H. Auden, and Harrison Birtwistle have contributed to a 'literature of librettos', and represent an increasingly synthetic movement between literature and music. Such collaborations have redefined the genres of opera and the opera libretto in modern Britain, and necessitate a new critical language. The opera libretto is a literary as much as a musical form, and its development as such demands a reconsideration of traditional critical narratives about dramatic, poetic, and narrative aesthetics in the twentieth century.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 121-135) and index.
LCCN 2007017962
ISBN9780754660637 (alk. paper)
ISBN075466063X (alk. paper)

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk ML1731.5 .M67 2007 ✔ Available Place Hold