Harrison Birtwistle's operas and music theatre

Beard, David Jason ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3892-843X 2012. Harrison Birtwistle's operas and music theatre. Music Since 1900, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Abstract

David Beard presents the first definitive survey of Harrison Birtwistle's music for the opera house and theatre, from his smaller-scale works, such as Down by the Greenwood Side and Bow Down, to the full-length operas, such as Punch and Judy, The Mask of Orpheus and Gawain. Blending source study with both music analysis and cultural criticism, the book focuses on the sometimes tense but always revealing relationship between abstract musical processes and the practical demands of narrative drama, while touching on theories of parody, narrative, pastoral, film, the body and community. Each stage work is considered in terms of its own specific musico-dramatic themes, revealing how compositional scheme and dramatic conception are intertwined from the earliest stages of a project's genesis. The study draws on a substantial body of previously undocumented primary sources and goes beyond previous studies of the composer's output to include works unveiled from 2000 onwards.

Item Type:	Book
Book Type:	Authored Book
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Music
Subjects:	M Music and Books on Music > ML Literature of music
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISBN:	9780521895347
Funders:	British Academy, AHRC, Cardiff University
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	18 Oct 2022 13:46
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/15327

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