Owen Wingrave is an opera for television in two acts with music by Benjamin Britten, his Opus 85, and a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, after a short story by Henry James.
Britten had been aware of the story since his work with Piper on the previous opera, The Turn of the Screw in 1954. BBC television commissioned an opera for television from him in 1966 and, in 1968, he and Piper started working on the libretto. The work was completed by August 1970.
The premiere was recorded at Snape Maltings in November 1970 and first broadcast on BBC2 on 16 May 1971. The music is influenced by Britten's interest in 12-tone serialist techniques. A large tuned percussion sections heralds the treatment in his next (and last) opera, Death in Venice. In addition to being an expression of Britten's own pacifism, he was reported as saying that this opera was partly a response to the Vietnam War.
Read more about Owen Wingrave: Performance History, Roles, Recordings
Famous quotes containing the word owen:
“We only know war lasts, rain soaks, and clouds sag stormy.”
—Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)