Selling Britten : music and the market place

Author(s)

    • Kildea, Paul Francis

Bibliographic Information

Selling Britten : music and the market place

Paul Kildea

Oxford University Press, 2002

Available at  / 3 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [233]-238) and indexes

Description and Table of Contents

Description

At the end of the nineteenth century Britain was a country without an opera culture, and in the concert halls the Austro-Germanic symphonic repertory reigned supreme. In the following fifty years the art-music culture changed dramatically. Radio, the gramophone and the recording industry, government arts subsidies, Covent Garden, and a post-war resurgence in national and civic pride which contributed to the spread of music festivals, were the agents of change. Born in 1913, Benjamin Britten was well placed to take advantage of these market forces, which he did consistently and skilfully from the 1930s onwards. His relationships with Boosey & Hawkes, Decca, Covent Garden, the Aldeburgh Festival, the English Opera Group, and the Arts Council, had a huge influence on the music he wrote. This book explores the effect of these commercial and national institutions on the music of one of the foremost British composers of the twentieth century.

Table of Contents

  • List of Illustrations and Tables
  • List of Abbreviations
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • 1. Carrying Music to the Masses
  • 2. Britten and the BBC
  • 3. The Impresario and the English Opera Group
  • 4. The Arts Council's Pursuit of 'Grand Opera'
  • 5. Aldeburgh's Court Composer
  • 6. Recording a Reputation
  • Bibliography
  • Index

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

Page Top