The British Library is pleased to announce the launch of a new
exhibition on Benjamin Britten, running from 31 May to 15 September
2013. This free exhibition explores the literary influences on Britten's
music, from Shakespeare and Jonson to Auden and Isherwood, as well as
some of the political and musical influences that shaped his work.
Included are:
* the draft score of Britten's music for Instruments of the Orchestra
(repurposed as The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra), acquired by
the British Library in 2012
* other autograph manuscripts, including the music for Night Mail, A
Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
* photographs, concert programmes and archival material drawn from the
Muir Mathieson, Malcolm Sargent and Donald Mitchell archives at the
British Library
* extracts from rare or unique sound recordings, including the first
productions of Paul Bunyan (1941) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960),
the whole of the first broadcast performance of Curlew River (1964), and
unpublished test pressings of 'Funeral Blues' and 'Tell me the truth
about love' performed by Britten and Peter Pears.
To mark Britten's centenary, the British Library has also digitised all
of its Britten manuscripts, which are now available online at
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts in a special arrangement with the rights
holders. Many of the manuscripts are on permanent loan to the
Britten-Pears Library in Aldeburgh, under the terms of Britten's will,
so we hope the digital facsimiles will make it easy for researchers to
study Britten's music wherever they are.
In addition, a number of talks and performances have been arranged. For
further details, please see
http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/britten/events/index.html
Dr Sandra Tuppen
Curator of Music Manuscripts
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
Tel: 020 7412 7500
Email: [log in to unmask]
Twitter: @sandratuppen
Blog: http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/music/
|