Essays on Britten

For the first two minutes of Moonrise Kingdom, there is an intense focus on sound and then at the two-minute mark, a crescendo occurs with loud orchestral music. There is a narrative that explains the specific sections of the orchestra that are in the piece, “Noye's Fludde,” which was created by composer, Benjamin Britten. Set in the mid-1960's, it would seem as though the structure of the opening sequence is to showcase children, particularly a 12-year old girl named Suzy, and her three younger brothers. In addition to these kids, the film displays another individual, Sam, who is the ...

National Recovery Act Invigorates the Working Man

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Fireside Chat on July 24, 1993 introduced working class Americans to the general purpose of the National Recovery Act (NRA). During his Chat, he promised us “the codes and the agreements already approved, or about to be passed upon, prove that the plan does raise wages, and that it does put people back to work” (Roosevelt 1933). Since July, this great stride for the American worker has improved our wages, working hours, and standard of living. Before the advent of the NRA, Americans were ready for change, any change to halt the downward spiral ...

In this essay, I will approach one of the most relevant global issues that is it immigration and its relationship with music. To support my arguments I will start with a brief history of United Kingdom and some geographical details regarding the country that will help the reader to understand better the context of the cause. Furthermore I will highlight my point of view by presenting a brief history of music and approaching the issue of immigration and how this changing and mixing of people on the continent lead to a mix of multicultural music with difference influences, and also helped the ...

The Purcell theme is clearly shown in the orchestra at the outset and there is also a great set of interesting variations which have been stated section by section. At the end, there is fugue which is an overlaying of the initial Purcell theme just before the last coda. There is terrific fugue and fantastic variations. Benjamin Britten has used theme and variations while Bach has used fugue. Theme and variations simply indicate after the theme, the composer utilizes the different elements of music in various ways for each variation . For example, the composer can vary the meter, tonal centers, ...

Purcell: Dido and Aeneas

Introduction: Purcell’s opera is one of the classic works which includes singing of the highest level together with instrumentation which also shows the composer’s skill at high level opera production. The opera which deals with Ancient Greece is based on a libretto by Nahum Tate who adapted the story of Dido and Aeneas in Carthage in quite a masterful way also including parts which could be said to be tribute to marriage between two monarchs with an allegory to the present manage between Queen Mary and Prince William. Purcell’s score is richly imbued with several fine ...