The Music of Benjamin Britten

This comprehensive guide to Britten´s musical achievement discusses all the published compositions in subdivisions of genre and period, and devotes a separate chapter to each opera. With the help of over 300 music examples and diagrams, Evans demonstrates Britten´s mastery of the art of composition. Since this book´s first appearance in 1979, Britten´s publishers have made available a considerable number of works withheld during the composer´s lifetime; some are juvenilia, but others date from as late as the Peter Grimes period. In a postscript to this edition, Peter Evans assesses the creative stature of these works and their significance in Britten´s development. The catalogue of works now includes these additional titles, and the selective bibliography has been revised.