Excerpts from Britten
TATION 4YA lately gave listeners a small taste of Peter Grimes in Britten’s "Four Sea Interludes" from this opera, presented with the accompaniment of a commentary. I was pleased that the commentator didn’t find it necessary to talk during the music, a fault too common in opera programmes; pleased, too, that the comments were mainly confined to a resume of the theme of the opera, and that we didn’t have to listen to a long dissertation on Britten’s musical history, style, and technique. Comment of the latter sort has been rather overdone from Dunedin stations lately (I don’t know whether such is the case farther north), and descriptions of thematic material, orchestral effects and entries, etc., have taken up too much time before the playing of major works; such comments, unless they occur in a special session devoted to musical analysis and appreciation, should be cut to a minimum, Regarding the works of Britten, by the way (I don’t refer here to the Peter Grimes excerpts, which can do with a little explanation regarding the opera itself, but to this composer’s orchestral and other works) is it still necessary for us to be told that he is a young newcomer with a fresh and different musical vocabulary which we, poor ignorant savages, are likely:to find a bit weird and difficult to understand?
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19480604.2.18.5
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 467, 4 June 1948, Page 9
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225Excerpts from Britten New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 467, 4 June 1948, Page 9
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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