"grandfather. The opera is Billy Budd. Will is struck almost to tears by the homoerotic and emotional power of the work. During the conversation afterwards, the subject of Benjamin Britten’s own homosexuality arises and they talk about his relationship with E. M. Forster, who co-wrote the libretto. The relationship between gay sexual expression and art is gently explored. Will continues reading Charles's diaries. On the way to a boxing club patronised by Nantwich, Will has an unpleasant encounter with a working class boy, who offers him sex for money. Will refuses; there are undertones of fear and violence. At the"
"of the last poems he published, ""Nightsong"" (1983), was featured in the anthology ""Fifty Years of American Poetry"". Louis O. Coxe Louis Osborne Coxe (April 15, 1918 – May 25, 1993) was an American poet, playwright, essayist, and professor who was recognized by the Academy of American Poets for his ""long, powerful, quiet accomplishment, largely unrecognized, in lyric poetry."" He was probably best known for his dramatic adaptation of Herman Melville's ""Billy Budd"", which opened on Broadway in 1951. Born in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1918 but raised in Salem, Massachusetts (where his family had lived since 1640), Coxe was"
"opera ""The Rape of Lucretia"" at Glyndebourne, and later succeeded Peter Pears as director of the Aldeburgh Festival. He was appointed OBE in the 1991 New Year Honours. Eric Crozier's first opera libretto for Britten was ""Albert Herring"" (1947), and he later wrote and/or directed several other Britten operas. Crozier's and Nancy Evans' archives are preserved at Aldeburgh. He died at Granville, France. Eric Crozier Eric Crozier OBE (14 November 1914 - 7 September 1994) was a British theatrical director and opera librettist, long associated with Benjamin Britten. Crozier was born in London, and after an apprenticeship at the Old"
"Louis O. Coxe Louis Osborne Coxe (April 15, 1918 – May 25, 1993) was an American poet, playwright, essayist, and professor who was recognized by the Academy of American Poets for his ""long, powerful, quiet accomplishment, largely unrecognized, in lyric poetry."" He was probably best known for his dramatic adaptation of Herman Melville's ""Billy Budd"", which opened on Broadway in 1951. Born in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1918 but raised in Salem, Massachusetts (where his family had lived since 1640), Coxe was educated at St. Paul's School. He graduated from Princeton University in 1940, writing his senior thesis on Edwin"
"Eric Crozier Eric Crozier OBE (14 November 1914 - 7 September 1994) was a British theatrical director and opera librettist, long associated with Benjamin Britten. Crozier was born in London, and after an apprenticeship at the Old Vic theatre, he joined the Sadlers Wells Opera Company in London during the Second World War, and directed Britten's first opera, ""Peter Grimes"", at Sadler's Wells in 1945. He founded the English Opera Group in 1947, and co-founded (with Britten) the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948. He directed his second wife, Nancy Evans, in the role of Lucretia in the 1946 premiere of Britten's"
"in 1949. Orchestral Piano Operas Film scores Giorgio Federico Ghedini Giorgio Federico Ghedini (11 July 189225 March 1965) was an Italian composer. In addition to orchestral works, in 1949 he premiered a one-act opera based on the American novella, ""Billy Budd"", by Herman Melville. Ghedini was born in Cuneo in 1892. He studied organ, piano and composition in Turin, then graduated in composition from the Bologna Conservatory under Marco Enrico Bossi in 1911. He worked as conductor for a certain time, then he gave up to devote himself to teaching. He worked as a teacher of composition in Turin (1918–1937),"
"opera, perhaps owing to the composer's own homosexuality. Adaptations for cinema and television: Billy Budd Billy Budd, Sailor is the final novel by American writer Herman Melville, first published posthumously in London in 1924 as edited by Raymond M. Weaver, a professor at Columbia University. Other versions were later published. Melville had begun writing the original work in November 1888, but left it unfinished at his death in 1891. Acclaimed by British critics as a masterpiece when published in London, it quickly took its place as a classic literary work in the United States. The novella was discovered in manuscript"
"Billy Budd Billy Budd, Sailor is the final novel by American writer Herman Melville, first published posthumously in London in 1924 as edited by Raymond M. Weaver, a professor at Columbia University. Other versions were later published. Melville had begun writing the original work in November 1888, but left it unfinished at his death in 1891. Acclaimed by British critics as a masterpiece when published in London, it quickly took its place as a classic literary work in the United States. The novella was discovered in manuscript form in 1919 by Weaver, who was studying Melville's papers as his first"
"asked him to copy out the full score of his new opera ""Billy Budd"" for his publishers Boosey & Hawkes, inviting him to stay at his home in Aldeburgh. He went to the opera's opening night with Benjamin Britten's housekeeper and the librettist, E. M. Forster. Paul Dehn, by now a writer and critic, asked Bernard to collaborate with him on the original screenplay for the Boulting Brothers film ""Seven Days to Noon"" (1950). For this Paul Dehn and James Bernard shared the 1952 Academy Award for the Best Writing, Motion Picture Story. Then in 1953 Bernard received his first"
"Giorgio Federico Ghedini Giorgio Federico Ghedini (11 July 189225 March 1965) was an Italian composer. In addition to orchestral works, in 1949 he premiered a one-act opera based on the American novella, ""Billy Budd"", by Herman Melville. Ghedini was born in Cuneo in 1892. He studied organ, piano and composition in Turin, then graduated in composition from the Bologna Conservatory under Marco Enrico Bossi in 1911. He worked as conductor for a certain time, then he gave up to devote himself to teaching. He worked as a teacher of composition in Turin (1918–1937), Parma (1937–1941), and finally Milan, where he"
"curly blond locks and good looks. In his later years he became a professor of voice, teaching at both Mannes College of Music (from 1977) and the Manhattan School of Music (from 1988) until his death. Uppman married Jean Seward in 1943. The couple had two children. Theodor Uppman Theodor Uppman (12 January 1920 – 17 March 2005) was an American operatic baritone. He is best known for his creation of the title role in Benjamin Britten's opera ""Billy Budd"". Uppman, of Swedish descent, was born in San Jose, California, and studied voice at the Curtis Institute of Music in"
"Ronald Lewis (baritone) Ronald Lewis (16 January 1916 – 30 December 1967) was a Welsh opera singer who sang leading baritone roles at the Royal Opera House, where he was a Principal Baritone in the company from 1951 to 1967, and the Welsh National Opera. He created the roles of Jean in Arthur Bliss's ""The Olympians"", Bosun in Benjamin Britten's ""Billy Budd"", and Henry Cuffe in Britten's ""Gloriana"". Lewis was born in Pengam, a coal village in the Rhymney Valley in Wales and studied singing, piano and violin with his father Wyndham Lewis who was a choirmaster and organist at"
"Theodor Uppman Theodor Uppman (12 January 1920 – 17 March 2005) was an American operatic baritone. He is best known for his creation of the title role in Benjamin Britten's opera ""Billy Budd"". Uppman, of Swedish descent, was born in San Jose, California, and studied voice at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and privately with Beverley Peck Johnson in New York City. He made his professional debut in 1941 with the Northern California Symphony Orchestra. His career was sparked by his 1947 concert performance as Pelléas in Debussy’s ""Pelléas et Mélisande"", with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under"
"of F6"" in 1937, he first met the composer in October 1942 when he heard Peter Pears accompanied by Britten perform the ""Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo"" at the National Gallery. In 1948, Britten and Forster discussed whether Forster might write an opera libretto, and by that November, Britten seems to have mentioned ""Billy Budd"" as a possible work to be adapted. Forster agreed to this project, and worked with Eric Crozier, a regular Britten collaborator, to write the opera's libretto. While Britten was composing the music, the Italian composer Giorgio Federico Ghedini premiered his one-act operatic setting of ""Billy Budd"""
"2010 in Perth. Adrian Eröd Adrian Eröd () (born 1970) is an Austrian operatic baritone. He is the son of composer Iván Erőd. After his studies with Walter Berry and Franz Lukasovsky at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Adrian successfully participated in several competitions. He won the George London scholarship, and 1998 he was awarded the Eberhard-Wächter-Medal for his interpretations of the title role in Benjamin Britten's ""Billy Budd"" and of Count Almaviva in Mozart's ""Le nozze di Figaro"". Since 2003, Adrian Eröd is employed at Wiener Staatsoper, where he debuted in 2001 as Mercutio in"
"Adrian Eröd Adrian Eröd () (born 1970) is an Austrian operatic baritone. He is the son of composer Iván Erőd. After his studies with Walter Berry and Franz Lukasovsky at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Adrian successfully participated in several competitions. He won the George London scholarship, and 1998 he was awarded the Eberhard-Wächter-Medal for his interpretations of the title role in Benjamin Britten's ""Billy Budd"" and of Count Almaviva in Mozart's ""Le nozze di Figaro"". Since 2003, Adrian Eröd is employed at Wiener Staatsoper, where he debuted in 2001 as Mercutio in ""Roméo et Juliette""."
"College in Brunswick, Maine in 1956, where he remained (except for brief appointments at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, and the University of Aix-Marseilles, France) as head of the English department until his death in 1993 after 11 years suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Coxe received his largest critical recognition for his dramatic adaptation, with Robert Chapman, of Herman Melville's morality tale Billy Budd, which opened to critical acclaim on Broadway in 1951, winning both the Donaldson Awards and the Outer Critics Circle Award for best play. The New York Times' Brooks Atkinson called it ""extraordinarily well done,"" and said that ""the"
"This production was received enthusiastically, and was repeated the following year; thereafter it became a regular feature and tourist attraction. By the late 1940s Benjamin Britten had established himself as a leading composer of English opera, with several major works to his credit. In 1947 he suggested to his librettist Eric Crozier that they should create a children's opera, based on a bible story. Crozier gave Britten a copy of Pollard's book, as a possible source of material. Nothing came of this project immediately; instead, Britten and Crozier wrote the cantata ""Saint Nicolas"" (1948), the first of several works in"
"Fred Thompson (writer) Frederick A. Thompson, usually credited as Fred Thompson (24 January 1884 – 10 April 1949) was an English writer, best known as a librettist for about fifty British and American musical comedies in the first half of the 20th century. Among the writers with whom he collaborated were George Grossmith Jr., P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Ira Gershwin. Composers with whom he worked included Lionel Monckton, Ivor Novello and George Gershwin. Many of Thompson's shows became popular hits, including ""To-night's the Night"" (1914), ""The Bing Boys are Here"" (1916), ""The Boy"" (1917), ""Lady, Be Good!"" (1924),"
"not his own in which Britten was a somewhat dazzled accomplice"". The American public liked it, but the critics did not, and it fell into neglect until interest revived near the end of the composer's life. Britten's subsequent operas range from large-scale works written for full-strength opera companies, to chamber operas for performance by small touring opera ensembles or in churches and schools. In the large-scale category are ""Peter Grimes"" (1945), ""Billy Budd"" (1951), ""Gloriana"" (1953), ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"" (1960) and ""Death in Venice"" (1973). Of the remaining operas, ""The Rape of Lucretia"" (1946), ""Albert Herring"" (1947), ""The Little"
"Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood, (born Ronald Horwitz; 9 November 1934) is an author, playwright and screenwriter. He is most noted for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for ""The Dresser"" (for which he was nominated for an Oscar) and ""The Pianist"", for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for ""The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"" (2007). Harwood was born Ronald Horwitz in Cape Town, South Africa, the son of Isobel (née Pepper) and Isaac Horwitz. Harwood moved from Cape Town"
"Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood, (born Ronald Horwitz; 9 November 1934) is an author, playwright and screenwriter. He is most noted for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for ""The Dresser"" (for which he was nominated for an Oscar) and ""The Pianist"", for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for ""The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"" (2007). Harwood was born Ronald Horwitz in Cape Town, South Africa, the son of Isobel (née Pepper) and Isaac Horwitz. Harwood moved from Cape Town"
"Randy Blair Randy Blair is an American musical theatre actor and writer, best known for originating the role of Hipolito/Elton John in the Broadway musical ""Amelie"". His work as a bookwriter and lyricist includes ""Gigantic"" (Vineyard Theatre), """" (Barrow Street Theatre), ""Spidermusical"" (Mint Theatre), ""Haute Mess"" (Ars Nova), ""#RUFF"" (serials at (The Flea Theatre)), and Leslie Kritzer's ""Beautiful Disaster"" at Joe's Pub. He has also served as a creative consultant writer on Funny Or Die's ""Billy on the Street"". As an actor, Blair originated the role of Hipolito/Elton John in the world premiere of ""Amelie"" at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and"
"and would often be approached by fans of the comedian. Among the books he authored was ""The hero of the Slocum disaster"", an historical novel exploring the infamous 1904 sinking of the ""General Slocum"". He received the Edgar Allan Poe Award for the mystery novel ""The Keys to Billy Tillio"". Blau was introduced to the music of Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel by his wife, Elly Stone, who had first heard Brel's music through an acquaintance at a record company. Blau became infatuated with Brel's work and started translating his songs. Some of Blau's initial work appeared in ""O, Oysters!"", a"
"of events following Houghton's receipt of a manuscript dramatizing Herman Melville's ""Billy Budd, Foretopman"" co-authored by his fellow Princetonian Robert Chapman. Successfully finding backing for a production of Louis O. Coxe and Chapman's ""Billy Budd"", with restaging by Josh Logan, the show opened on Broadway on February 10, 1951. Despite laudatory reviews by Brooks Atkinson and the attempt of others to prolong the run, the play was posted for closing on its third week. With financial sacrifices by the company, the show continued for two more months. Houghton learned that the Pulitzer Prize panel had selected this drama for its"
"in 2009 for US$21,250. In 2009, Neil Pearson, an antiquarian books expert, said, ""A Black Sun book is the literary equivalent of a Braque or a Picasso painting—except it's a few thousand pounds, not 20 million."" A new collection of Harry Crosby's poetry, ""Ladders to the Sun: Poems by Harry Crosby"" was published by Soul Bay Press in April 2010. In 2004, Fine Line Features optioned Andrea Berloff's first screenplay ""Harry and Caresse."" Lasse Hallström was initially attached to direct and Leslie Holleran was attached as a producer. Harry Crosby Harry Crosby (June 4, 1898 – December 10, 1929) was"
"Robert Wright (writer) Robert (Bob) Craig Wright (September 25, 1914 – July 27, 2005) was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film ""Kismet"", for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics. ""Kismet"" was one of several Wright and Forrest creations that was commissioned by impresario Edwin Lester for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. ""Song of Norway"", ""Gypsy Lady"", ""Magdalena"", and their adaptation of ""The Great Waltz"" were also commissioned by Lester for the LACLO. The LACLO then exported most"
"Julian Budden Julian Medforth Budden (9 April 1924 in Hoylake, Wirral – 28 February 2007 in Florence, Italy) was a British opera scholar, radio producer and broadcaster. He is particularly known for his three volumes on the operas of Giuseppe Verdi (published in 1973, 1978, & 1981), a single-volume biography in 1982 and a single-volume work on Giacomo Puccini and his operas in 2002. He is also the author of numerous entries in the ""Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians"". His parents were the then professor of architecture at Liverpool University, Lionel Budden, and a poet, writer and journalist Maud,"
"Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ""The Merry Widow"". He embarked on a career in the British Army, rising to the rank of captain, while writing theatrical pieces in his spare time. After some modest success, Hood and his collaborator, the composer Walter Slaughter, had a major hit with their long-running show, ""Gentleman Joe"", in 1895. Another long-running success was ""The French Maid"" (1896). Hood then"
"Donald Ogden Stewart Donald Ogden Stewart (November 30, 1894 - August 2, 1980) was an American author and screenwriter, best known for his sophisticated golden era comedies and melodramas, such as ""The Philadelphia Story"" (based on the play by Philip Barry), ""Tarnished Lady"" and ""Love Affair"". Stewart worked with a number of the great directors of his time, including George Cukor (a frequent collaborator), Michael Curtiz and Ernst Lubitsch. Stewart was also a member of the Algonquin Round Table, and the model for Bill Gorton in ""The Sun Also Rises"" by Ernest Hemingway. His 1922 parody on etiquette, ""Perfect Behavior"","
"Oliver Bell Bunce Oliver Bell Bunce (February 8, 1828 – May 15, 1890) was an American author, editor, and playwright. He was born in New York City, in his youth he joined his uncle's stationery house Jansen & Bell. While connected with this house he began writing plays, several of which were brought out. ""Fate or the Prophecy"", a tragedy in blank verso, and ""Marco Bozzaris"" were played by James W. Wallack, and ""Love in '76"", a comedy, was played by Laura Keene in the leading woman's role. He also wrote a series of historical sketches which were afterward collected"
"and arranging ""Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge"" for full orchestra for the Frederick Ashton ballet ""Le Rêve de Léonor"" (1949), but he later described the teacher–pupil relationship as ""beneficial five per cent to [Britten] and ninety-five per cent to me!"" Throughout the 1950s Britten continued to write operas. ""Billy Budd"" (1951) was well received at its Covent Garden premiere and was regarded by reviewers as an advance on ""Peter Grimes"". ""Gloriana"" (1953), written to mark the coronation of Elizabeth II, had a cool reception at the gala premiere in the presence of the Queen and the British Establishment"
"Barré Lyndon Barré Lyndon (pseudonym of Alfred Edgar) (12 August 1896 – 23 October 1972) was a British playwright and screenwriter. The pseudonym was presumably taken from the title character of Thackeray's novel. Born in London, he may be best remembered for three screenplays from the 1940s: ""The Lodger"" (1944), ""Hangover Square"" (1945) and ""The Man in Half Moon Street"" (1945). The last was remade by Hammer Film Productions in 1959 as ""The Man Who Could Cheat Death"". Lyndon began his writing career as a journalist, particularly about motor-racing, and short-story writer before becoming a playwright. His first play, ""The"