Table of Contents

List of Plates List of Abbreviations Introduction I. 1936-45 'Oh but the unloved have had power' 1: Soviet Opera at B.B.C. Shostakowitch's 'Lady Macbeth' (1936) 2: Wireless Concerts lose Edward Clarke (1936) 3: BBC Programming: Holst, Vaughan Williams and Poulenc (1936) 4: 'As You Like It' Walton's Music (1936) 5: American Impressions (?1940) 6: An English Composer Sees America (1940) 7: On Film Music (c. 1940-1) 8: England and the Folk-Art Problem 9: Au Revoir to the U.S.A. (1942) 10: On Behalf of Gustav Mahler (1942) 11: Statement to the Local Tribunal for the Registration of Conscientious Objectors (1942) 12: Appeal to the Appellate Tribunal (1942) 13: How a musical work originates (1942) 14: Conversation with Benjamin Britten (1944) 15: Speech to the International Arts Guild (c.1944) 16: Vienna (1945) 17: Peter Grimes (1945) 18: 250th Anniversary of the death of Henry Purcell (1945) II. 1946-55 'This region of sin that you find you in, But are not of' 19: Sinfonia da Requiem (1946) 20: The Rape of Lucretia (1946) 21: The Artist and His Medium: Composer and Listener (1946) 22: An Opera is Planned (1947) 23: Frank Bridge and English Chamber Music (1947) 24: The Rape of Lucretia (1948) 25: Piano works by Frederic Chopin and Gabrial Faure (1949) 26: A New Centre for Music (1949) 27: UNESCO (1949) 28: Boyd Neel: The Story of an Orchestra (1950) 29: The Arts Council and Opera (1950) 30: Verdi - A Symposium (1951) 31: The Rape of Lucretia (?1951) 32: Dido and Aeneas (1951) 33: Freeman of Lowestoft (1951) 34: The Rise of English Opera (1951) 35: Arnold Schoenberg (1951) 36: Variations on a Critical Theme (1952) 37: Opera Diary: The Marriage of Figaro (1952) 38: Three Premieres (1954) 39: Serenade for tenor, horn and strings (1954) 40: The Physician's Folly (1955) 41: The Aldeburgh Festival (1955) III. 1956-65 'All a poet can do today is warn' 42: Britten's Method of Composing (1956) 43: British Culture Abroad (1956) 44: Britten and South East Asia (1956) 45: The Composer Speaks (1957) 46: To the Music Lovers of Japan (1957) 47: Dennis Brain 1921-1957 (1958) 48: Television and The Turn of the Screw (1959) 49: Paul Beck 1895-1958 (1959) 50: On Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (1959) 51: On Realizing the Continuo in Purcell's Songs (1959) 52: Back to Britain with Britten (1959) 53: People Today: Benjamin Britten (1960) 54: A New Britten Opera (1960) 55: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960) 56: Brighton Philarmonic Society (1960) 57: Discussion with Billy Budd (1960) 58: On Writing English Opera (1960) 59: Britten and Pears in Canada (1961) 60: Speech on Receiving Honorary Degree at Hull University (1962) 61: Freedom of Borough of Aldeburgh (1962) 62: Erwin Stein: Form and Performance (1962) 63: A Tribute to Wilfrid Owen (?1963) 64: Imogen Holst: An ABC of Music (1963) 65: British Composers in Interview: Benjamin Britten (1963) 66: The Artist - to the People (1963) 67: On Pravda, Art and Criticism (1963) 68: Address to Kesgrave Heath School, Ipswich (1963) 69: An Interview (1963) 70: Britten Looking Back (1963) 71: Francis Poulenc 1899-1963 (1964) 72: On Receiving the First Aspen Award (1964) 73: Musician of the Year (1964) 74: British Music in the World Today (1964) 75: Tribute to Michael Tippett (1965) 76: Tribute to Zoltan Kodaly (1965) 77: Tribute to Jean Sibelius (1965) 78: Sibelius (II) (1965) 79: Dreams (?1965) 80: A Composer in Russia (1965) IV. 1966-76 'My mind beats on' 81: Sir Arthur Bliss at 75 (1966) 82: Benjamin Britten talks to Edmund Tracey (1966) 83: Tribute to Dmitri Shostakovitch (1966) 84: Tribute to Zoltan Kodaly (1967) 85: An interview with Benjamin Britten (1967) 86: Britten and Pears (1967) 87: The Moral Responsibility of the Artist Toward his Fellow Man (1968) 88: Britten on Aldeburgh and the Future (1968) 89: On Receiving the Sonning Prize (1968) 90: Some Notes on Forster and Music (1969) 91: Mapreading (1969) 92: No Ivory Tower (1969) 93: Snape Maltings Fire (1969) 94: Idomeneo in Performance (1969) 95: Radcliffe Music Award (1969) 96: Money for the Maltings (1970) 97: Aaron Copland: Seventieth-Birthday Tribute (1970) 98: James Blades: Percussion Instruments and their History (1970) 99: Artist's Choice: Cecil Aronowitz (1970) 100: Therapy in Music For Handicapped Children (1971) 101: Anthony Gishford: Grand Opera (1972) 102: John Bird: Percy Grainger (1976) 103: Tribute to Paul Sacher (1976) V. Introductory Notes to Britten's Music VI. Introductory Notes to the Music of Other Composers

About the Author

Paul Kildea is a conductor who has written widely on music and culture.

Reviews

`Review from previous edition ... indispensable collection of writings and transcripts.' Ian Bostridge, Times Literary Supplement `This is a book that needed to be published and Britten fans will be delighted that it has been done so well.' Alexander Waugh, Literary Review