The Turn of the Screw (opera)
Opera by Benjamin Britten / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Turn of the Screw is a 20th-century English chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper,[1] based on the 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.[2]
The Turn of the Screw | |
---|---|
Chamber opera by Benjamin Britten | |
Librettist | Myfanwy Piper |
Language | English |
Based on | The Turn of the Screw by Henry James |
Premiere |
It concerns a young, inexperienced Governess sent to a country house to care for two children, whom she is gradually convinced have been corrupted by the ghosts of a previous manservant and governess. The drama grows increasingly tense, with a tragic outcome.
It was described by the "Guardian" as one of the most dramatically appealing of Britten's operas,[3] and by music professor Peter Evans as "Britten's most intricately organized opera".[4] It is in two acts of eight scenes each, with a prologue that ends with the introduction of a twelve-note 'Screw' theme. Each scene is preceded by a variation on that theme. Several other related leitmotifs occur through the opera. Typically of Britten, the music mixes tonality and dissonance.