Curlew River

Curlew River
Opera by Benjamin Britten
The composer in 1968
DescriptionA Parable for Church Performance
LibrettistWilliam Plomer
Based onSumidagawa
by Juro Motomasa (ja:隅田川 (能))
Premiere
13 June 1964 (1964-06-13)
Church of St Bartholomew, Orford, Suffolk

Curlew River – A Parable for Church Performance (Op. 71) is an English music drama, with music by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by William Plomer.[1] The first of Britten's three 'Parables for Church Performance', the work is based on the Japanese noh play Sumidagawa (Sumida River) by Kanze Jūrō (1395–1431), which Britten saw during a visit to Japan and the Far East in early 1956. Beyond the noh source dramatic material, Britten incorporated elements of noh treatment of theatrical time into this composition.[2] Curlew River marked a departure in style for the remainder of the composer's creative life, paving the way for such works as Owen Wingrave, Death in Venice and the Third String Quartet.

Plomer translated the setting of the original into a Christian parable, set in early medieval times near the fictional Curlew River, in the fenlands of East Anglia. Peter F. Alexander has investigated in detail the librettist's contribution to the work, through study of the letters between Plomer and Britten.[3] Mikiko Ishi has done a comparative study of the 'weeping mother' figures in Sumidagawa, Curlew River, and various religious plays from medieval Europe.[4] Daniel Albright has examined Britten's and Plomer's adaptations of aspects of the Sumidagawa original into the context of their own cultural and religious backgrounds in the creation of Curlew River.[5]

Under Colin Graham's direction,[6] the work was premiered on 13 June 1964 at St Bartholomew's Church, Orford, Suffolk, England, by the English Opera Group. The original cast included Britten regulars Peter Pears and Bryan Drake. The United States premiere was presented at the Caramoor Summer Music Festival on 26 June 1966, with Andrea Velis as the Madwoman.[7]

  1. ^ Warrack, John (Autumn 1964). "Britten's Curlew River". Tempo. New Series (70): 19–22. JSTOR 943936.
  2. ^ Bayan Northcott (1 March 2002). "Schoenberg and after". The Independent. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  3. ^ Alexander, Peter F. (April 1988). "A Study of the Origins of Britten's Curlew River". Music & Letters. 69 (2): 229–243. doi:10.1093/ml/69.2.229. JSTOR 855218.
  4. ^ Ishii, Mikiko (2005). "The Weeping Mothers in Sumidagawa, Curlew River, and Medieval European Religious Plays". Comparative Drama. 39 (3/4, Fall/Winter 2005–06): 287–305. doi:10.1353/cdr.2005.0025. JSTOR 41154286.
  5. ^ Albright, Daniel (2006). "The River That Flows from Japan to England: Curlew River". Journal of Irish Studies. 21: 3–13. JSTOR 20538997.
  6. ^ Alan Blyth (10 April 2007). "Colin Graham". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  7. ^ Allen Hughes (27 June 1966). "'Curlew River' Presented at Caramoor Festival; Britten's 'Parable' Is Based on Japanese Noh Play Andrea Velis, as Madwoman, Heads Excellent Cast". The New York Times. p. 40.