- Hindley, Clifford. “Eros in Life and Death: Billy Buddand Death in Venice.”
In Cambridge Companion(#617), 147–166.
Both operas “are concerned with love between males.” That attraction
appears “in coded form” in Billy Buddbecause of the censorship of the times.
But the later opera, appearing after the abolishment of censorship in 1968, is
more open about it. Genesis and technical notes are given as well as this sexual
aspect of the stories, but the homosexual idea is pervasive. Even the musical
structure shows “different ways Claggart and Vere love Billy.” And Hindley
notes that Britten had described Death in Veniceas “all that Peter [Pears] and I
have stood for.” - Boubel, Karen A. “The Conflict of Good and Evil: A Musical and Dramatic
Study of Britten’s Billy Budd.” Ph.D. diss., U. of Wisconsin, 1985. 236p.
Death in Venice
COH (1987).
- Evans, John. “Death in Venice: The Apollonian/Dionysian Conflict.” OQ4-3
(Autumn 1986): 102–115.
The two sides of Aschenbach’s nature are musically portrayed by key relations.
The key of F is the Apollonian realm, and E is the opposing Dionysian. The
tension between the realms is left unresolved at the end of the opera, as the
orchestra sounds a high A above a G-sharp in the bass: “a question mark.” - Evans, John. “Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice:Perspectives on an Opera.”
Ph.D. diss., U. of Wales, 1984. - Feldman, James. “The Musical Portrayal of Gustav von Aschenbach in Ben-
jamin Britten’s Death in Venice.” Ph.D. diss., Kent State U., 1987. 255p. - Milliman, Joan Ann. “Britten’s Symbolic Treatment of Sleep, Dream, and
Death in His Opera Death in Venice.” Ph.D. diss., U. of Southern California,
Gloriana
635.Britten’s “Gloriana”: Essays and Sources. Ed. Paul Banks. Aldeburgh Studies
in Music, 11. Woodbridge, England: Britten Estate; Rochester, N.Y.: U. of
Rochester Press, 1993. xi, 193p. ISBN 0-85115-340-2. ML410 .B853 B75.
Seven studies, including a list of sources, accounts of genesis and reception,
and a bibliography. Indexed. Contents in Hodgson (#614), 175–176.- Malloy-Chirgwin, Antonia. “Gloriana: Britten’s ‘Slighted Child.’” In Cam-
bridge Companion(#617), 113–128.
The opera was condemned at its premiere, during the coronation events of
1953 (“inharmonious and wearisome” was one comment), but only because
of “misunderstanding and ignorance.” Later performances were in fact better
received. Genesis, including some of the correspondence between the com-
poser and librettist William Plomer.
136 Opera