This is a double volume dedicated to two masterpieces by Benjamin Britten. While Peter Grimes established Britten as a composer of international standing, Gloriana, composed for the coronation of Elizabeth II, has never enjoyed a comparable fame. The variety of mood, characterization and pace, in each, illustrates Britten’s exceptional gift for theatre. Commentaries on the scores reveal, for instance, how much the popular concert extracts gain from their context in the dramas. The essay by E.M. Forster – the inspiration for Peter Grimes – is reprinted here, and Michael Holroyd discusses Lytton Strachey’s controversial Elizabeth and Essex – the source for Gloriana.

Contents: Benjamin Britten’s Librettos, Peter Porter; George Crabbe: The Poet and the Man, E.M. Forster; ‘Peter Grimes’: A Musical Commentary, Stephen Walsh; Peter Grimes: Libretto by Montagu Slater; ‘Peter Grimes’ and ‘Gloriana’, Joan Cross, Peter Pears and John Evans; Some Reflections on the Operas of Benjamin Britten, Buxton Orr; ‘A daring experiment’, Michael Holroyd; The Librettist of ‘Gloriana’, Rupert Hart-Davis; The Music of ‘Gloriana’, Christopher Palmer; Notes on the Libretto of ‘Gloriana’, William Plomer; Gloriana: Libretto by William Plomer