Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) was a British composer.
Britten himself appears as a major character in the plays Ben And Imo and The Habit Of Art.
Works by Britten include:
Opera and parables
- Paul Bunyan (1941, revised 1976), based on the mythic Paul Bunyan. Libretto by W. H. Auden.
- Peter Grimes (1945), based on a section of George Crabbe's poem The Borough. Libretto by Montagu Slater.
- The Rape Of Lucretia (1946), based on André Obey's play Le Viol de Lucrèce. Libretto by Ronald Duncan.
- Albert Herring (1947), loosely adapted from Guy de Maupassant's novella Le Rosier de Madame Husson. Libretto by Eric Crozier.
- The Beggar's Opera (1948): a reworking of John Gay's 18th century ballad opera.
- Billy Budd (1951, revised 1960), adapted from Herman Melville's novel Billy Budd. Libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier.
- Gloriana (1953), based on Lytton Strachey's book Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History. Libretto by William Plomer.
- The Turn of the Screw (1954), adapted from Henry James' novella. Libretto by Myfanwy Piper.
- Noyes Fludde (1958), adapted from the Chester Mystery Plays' version of the biblical Noah's Ark story from the Book of Genesis. Libretto by Britten.
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960): adapted from the titular William Shakespeare play. Libretto by Britten and Peter Pears.
- Curlew River (1964), adapted from the play Sumidagawa by Kanze Jūrō. Libretto by William Plomer.
- The Burning Fiery Furnace (1966), adapted from the biblical Book of Daniel. Libretto by William Plomer.
- The Prodigal Son (1968), adapted from the biblical Gospel of Luke. Libretto by William Plomer.
- Owen Wingrave (1971), adapted from the short story by Henry James. Libretto by Myfanwy Piper.
- Death In Venice (1973) Adapted from Thomas Mann's noella Death in Venice. Libretto by Myfanwy Piper.
Britten's work includes examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptational Location Change: Curlew River is set in medieval East Anglia, near the fictional river of the title. The original Japanese play, Sumidagawa ("Sumida River") is set near the real river of its title, which runs through Tokyo. The characters are never named in Britten's version, only referred to by role (the Madwoman, the Ferryman and so on), so no names are changed.
- Age Lift: In the novel Death in Venice, Gustav von Aschenbach falls in love with the beautiful boy Tadzio, who's said to be about 14. The Tadzio of Britten's opera, a non-singing role normally portrayed by a dancer, is usually a young adult. For the original performance Tadzio was portrayed by 19 year old dancer Robert Huguenin. For the 2024 WNO production he's played by aerialist Antony César, who's in his early 20s.
- Cross-Cast Role: Curlew River is based on Sumidagawa, a Noh play by Japanese playwright Kanze Jūrō. Noh traditionally cast male actors in all roles, and Britten does the same, with a male performer as the Madwoman. For the 1964 premiere, Britten's partner Peter Pears played the role.
- Framing Device: The three church parables (Curlew River, The Burning Fiery Furnace and The Prodigal Son) open and close with the monks and their abbot out of character, arriving and departing whilst singing plainsong. As they're not really monks, it's also a Nested Story, of sorts.
- Friendly Ghost: In Curlew River, the dead boy's grave is now a shrine and the locals, who sometimes see his spirit, do not consider him malevolent. When his spirit appears to the characters at the end, he heals his mother's sanity and looks forward to "that blessed day, We shall meet in heav'n".
- George Lucas Altered Version:
- The ballet Les Sylphides uses Chopin's music, but that music was orchestrated and selected by another composer, Alexander Glazunov, decades after Chopin's death. In 1941 Britten reworked it for Ballet Theater New York, keeping Chopin's music but replacing Glazunov's orchestration with his own.
- Paul Bunyan premiered in 1941, but was withdrawn by Britten himself and significantly rewritten before being revived in 1976.
- The Beggar's Opera is Britten's rewrite of John Gay's 18th century opera, based around Gay's original libretto, with additional dialogue by Tyrone Guthrie.
- Billy Budd premiered in 1951 but was revised in 1960, restructuring the opera from four acts to two. The changes were prompted by a planned broadcast on The BBC, but also became the new standard for stage versions. The original has occasionally been revived as well.
- Historical Domain Character: Gloriana is based on Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History, a non-fiction history by Lytton Strachey. Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex
are main characters and lesser roles include Henry Cuffe, the Countess of Essex, Lord Mountjoy, Lady Rich, Sir Robert Cecil and Sir Walter Raleigh. - Holy Ground: The shrine of Curlew River is said to be a holy location with "some special grace" that may heal body and mind for those who visit it. Locals take earth from the grave, hoping for its healing powers, and river folk claim to have seen a spirit there.
- Karma Houdini: The brutal northman of Curlew River is described as "a man without a heart". A year before the story starts he took a 12-year old Christian boy as a slave and then, when the boy sickened, his owner beat him, cursed him and finally abandoned him to die. The northman is long gone by the time the Ferryman brings his passengers to the boy's grave, and seemingly faces no consequences for his actions.
- Noah's Story Arc: Noyes Fludde adapts the Chester Mystery Plays' version of the biblical Noah's Ark tale. God unleashes a flood upon the world and only Noah, his family, and the animals they gather will survive it.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Curlew River brings the Ferryman and his passengers to a shrine across the river, where a boy was buried a year earlier. It's believed to be a sacred, blessed place. One of the passengers is the Madwoman, the boy's mother, and his spirit manifests to cure her madness.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The Madwoman of Curlew River is heading east to find her kidnapped son, but he's already been dead for a year. The shrine across the titular river is actually his grave, and she arrives there for the first anniversary of his death.
- Pre-Insanity Reveal: The Madwoman of Curlew River is introduced as a crazy woman from the black mountains, mocked by the people who hear her singing in the streets. It's then revealed that her son disappeared a year earlier, a tragedy that broke her sanity.The Madwoman: Love for my child confuses me. Where is my darling now? Where is my darling now?
- Pro Bono Barter: The Ferryman of Curlew River agrees to transport the Madwoman across the titular river, but only if she will entertain the boat's other passengers with her singing. She considers his bargaining rude, and tells him so.
