| Letters from a Life: The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976: Volume Six: 1966-1976 Contributor(s): Reed, Philip (Editor), Cooke, Mervyn (Editor), Mitchell, Donald (Editor) |
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ISBN: 1843837250 ISBN-13: 9781843837251 Publisher: Boydell Press OUR PRICE: $71.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: November 2012 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs - Biography & Autobiography | Music - Music | History & Criticism - General |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 90042998 |
| Series: Selected Letters of Britten |
| Physical Information: 2.5" H x 6.3" W x 9.3" (4.00 lbs) 880 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The sixth and final volume of the annotated selected letters of Benjamin Britten, edited by Philip Reed and Mervyn Cooke, covers the composer's last decade. The genesis, composition and premieres of major stage works such as Owen Wingrave, commissioned by BBC Television, and Death in Venice are fully documented, as are the church parables, The Burning Fiery Furnace and The Prodigal Son. Important concert works from this period include the powerful Brecht setting, Children's Crusade, the Third Cello Suite (for Rostropovich), Canticles IV and V (both settings of poetry by T. S. Eliot), Phaedra (for Janet Baker) and the Third String Quartet, with its haunting echoes of Death in Venice. As in previous volumes, Britten's letters to his life partner and principal interpreter, the tenor Peter Pears, remain central. Other significant correspondents include theQueen and Queen Mother; librettists William Plomer and Myfanwy Piper; artistic collaborators Frederick Ashton, Colin Graham and John Piper; musicians Janet Baker, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Mstislav Rostropovich; and composers Oliver Knussen, Dmitri Shostakovich and William Walton. The volume also traces the conversion of Snape Maltings into the Aldeburgh Festival's principal concert venue, its destruction by fire on the opening night of the 1969 Festival and its miraculous rebuilding in time for the following year's Festival, as well as major concert tours by Britten and Pears to New York, Canada, South America, Moscow and Leningrad, Australia, and New Zealand. Close attention is paid to Britten's final years, when his failed heart surgery left him a near invalid. Published in association with The Britten-Pears Foundation. |
Contributor Bio(s): Reed, Philip: - Phil Reed is a professional model maker who has built models for clients in North America and Europe. His work also includes restoration projects for leading galleries and museums. After studying Fine Art and Photography he found his true vocation in ship model building, eventually abandoning a teaching career to concentrate full time on his model work. His latest work, Building a Miniature Navy Board Model, gives readers a step by step guide to creating these magnificent models. |