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SUMMARY:Ambiguous Venice: Britten's final opera - John Hopkins (Homerton C
 ollege and Faculty of Music)
DTSTART:20141104T180000Z
DTEND:20141104T190000Z
UID:TALK56045@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:20337
DESCRIPTION:In his final opera\, Death in Venice\, music and literature ar
 e intertwined to an extent that is perhaps unique in even the literary Bri
 tten’s output. The main protagonist\, Gustav von Aschenbach\, is not jus
 t himself a writer\, much of what he communicates is about the writer’s 
 art and craft\, its meaning and its significance. Indeed\, it might be pos
 sible to go further and to suggest that whole trajectory of the opera is a
 bout the progressive disintegration of an individual whose literary gifts 
 and vocation have deserted and destroyed him.\n\nThis paper will attempt t
 o explore the wider significance for Britten of the many forces at play in
  this magnificent final opera. In particular\, it will examine the impact 
 of removing the device of the narrator\, and whether this allowed Britten 
 to reveal more of himself in this work than had Thomas Mann in the origina
 l novella about Aschenbach. I will also compare Aschenbach’s views on wr
 iting to those of Britten about composition\, by considering the various r
 elationships between verbal and musical forms\, processes and techniques a
 t work in this piece.\n\nEveryone welcome!
LOCATION:Paston Brown Room\, Homerton College
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