A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Cooke, Mervyn. “Britten and Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream?” In
Cambridge Companion(#617), 129–146.
Describes the libretto adaptation, which reduced the play to half its length,
with resulting confusions in the story. For example, because of omissions, the
lovers “go to bed unmarried, and the fairies conclude the work by blessing
pleasures which are in fact illicit.” Goes on to technical analysis, covering
motifs, key symbolism, and formal elements. Finds musical and dramatic
structures to have “equal status.” - Bach, Jan Norris. “An Analysis of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
D.M.A. diss., U. of Illinois, 1971. 424p. - Godsalve, William H. L. Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: Making an
Opera from Shakespeare’s Comedy. Madison, N.J.: Farleigh Dickinson U., - 237p.
Based on the author’s Ph.D. dissertation, U. of Saskatchewan, 1990. Genesis
of the libretto, with an explanation of the omitted first Shakespeare scene; then
musical analysis (motifs, tonal sets, vocal passages). Bibliography, index.
Owen Wingrave
ASO 173 (1996).
Paul Bunyan
- Mitchell, Donald. Benjamin Britten: “Paul Bunyan.”London: Faber & Faber,
- 96p. ISBN 0-591-15142-6. ML50 .B865 P3.
Text of W. H. Auden’s libretto, with a genesis essay by Mitchell.
Peter Grimes
ASO31 (1980), COH (1983), ENOG 24 (1983).
641.The Making of “Peter Grimes.”Ed. Paul Banks. Rochester, N.Y.: U. of
Rochester Press, 1996. 2v. ISBN 0-85115-632-0. ML96.5 .B74 P42.
V.1 is a reproduction of Britten’s sketchbook; v.2 is a collection of essays, pic-
tures of set designs, and miscellaneous documents.- Allen, Stephen Arthur. “‘He Descended into Hell’: Peter Grimes,Ellen Orford
and Salvation Denied.” In Cambridge Companion(#617), 81–94.
The story is derived from the poem “The Borough,” by George Crabbe. In the
poem Ellen Orford is only a spiritual essence, but in the opera she also loves
Grimes. Allen analyzes her part in the opera from a technical viewpoint, with
musical examples. Two “Ellen motifs” are identified. - Deavel, R. Gary. “A Study of Two Operas by Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes
and Turn of the Screw.” Ph.D. diss., Eastman School of Music, U. of
Rochester, 1970. 344p.
Benjamin Britten 137