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The Specter of Peter Grimes: Aesthetics and Reception in the Renascence of English Opera, 1945-53

McBrayer, Benjamin Marcus
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1216694339

Abstract Details

2008, M.M., University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music : Music History.
In 1945 Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes contributed to a renascence of English opera. Critics praised Grimes for its realization of many aesthetic ideals of the traditional canon of opera, including musical depiction of character, innovation, and unification of music and drama. Subsequent English operas, however, failed to achieve the same success. Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Pilgrim’s Progress and Britten’s Gloriana, especially, became subjects of critical disapproval. Scholars have examined the reception histories of these operas, but none has attempted to show a connection between them. This thesis explores the ways in which the success of Peter Grimes affected the reception of The Pilgrim’s Progress and Gloriana. Reviews in English newspapers, magazines, and journals serve as the primary sources for this investigation. Expressly, critics found fault with the characterization, originality, and integration of The Pilgrim’s Progress and Gloriana, i.e., the very same areas in which Grimes had excelled.
Dr. bruce d. mcclung, PhD (Committee Chair)
Dr. Mary Sue Morrow, PhD (Committee Member)
Kenneth R. Griffiths, MM (Committee Member)
113 p.
Music
Benjamin Britten; Ralph Vaughan Williams; Peter Grimes; The Pilgrim&8217; s Progress; Gloriana; Aesthetics; Reception; Reception History; English Opera; Twentieth-Century English Opera

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McBrayer, B. M. (2008). The Specter of Peter Grimes: Aesthetics and Reception in the Renascence of English Opera, 1945-53 [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1216694339

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McBrayer, Benjamin. The Specter of Peter Grimes: Aesthetics and Reception in the Renascence of English Opera, 1945-53. 2008. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1216694339.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McBrayer, Benjamin. "The Specter of Peter Grimes: Aesthetics and Reception in the Renascence of English Opera, 1945-53." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1216694339

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1216694339
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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.