Benjamin Britten
Bibliography
 • new additions
Biographies
 • Blyth, Alan : Remembering Britten : London : Hutchinson, 1981. 181 p. , [8]p. of plates : ill. ; 23 cm. • 0091449502
 • Britten, Beth : My brother Benjamin : Abbotsbrook, Bourne End, Buckinghamshire : Kensal Press, c1986. xiii, 209 p. : ports. ; 24 cm. • 0946041407
 • Carpenter, Humphrey : Benjamin Britten: A Biography : New York : C. Scribner's Sons, c1992. x, 677 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. • 0684195690
 • Craggs, Stewart R : Benjamin Britten : a bio-bibliography : Westport, Conn. ; Greenwood Press, c2002. 300 p.• 031329531X
 • Duncan, Ronald Frederick Henry : Working with Britten : a personal memoir : Bideford, Devon, England : Rebel Press, 1981• 0900615303
 • Felsenfeld, Daniel : Benjamin Britten & Samuel Barber: Their Lives and Their Music : Amadeus Press; 180 p.• 1574671081
 • Headington, Christopher : Britten : New York : Holmes & Meier, 1982, c1981. x, 166 p. , [8] p. of plates : ill. ; 19 cm. OR London : Methuen, 1981. x, 166 p. : ill. ; 20 cm. ISBN:0841908028 or • 0841908036
 • Holst, Imogen : Britten : 3d ed. London ; Boston : Faber & Faber, 1980. 96p. : ill. ; 23 cm. (2nd ed. London, Faber, 1970. = ISBN:0571066011)• 0571180000
 • Kendall, Alan : Benjamin Britten : Introduction by Yehudi Menuhin. [London] Macmillan [1973]112 p. illus. 28 cm. • 0333152263
 • Kennedy, Michael : Britten : London : Dent, 1981. xi, 356 p. , [12] p. ofplates : ill. ; 22 cm. • 0460031759
 • Mitchell, Donald : Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976 : a pictorial biography : (Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976: Pictures from a Life) with the assistance of John Evans. London ; Boston : Faber and Faber, 1978. viii, [193], 16 p. : chiefly ill. ; 26 cm. • 0684159740
 • Mitchell, Donald : Britten and Auden in the Thirties, the Year 1936 : Seattle : University of Washington Press, c1981. 176 p. , [4] leaves of plates: ill. ; 22 cm. • 0295958146
 • Oliver, Michael : Benjamin Britten : Chronicle Books, 240 p. • 0714832774
 • Tippins, Sherrill : February House: The Story of W. H. Auden, Carson McCullers, Jane and Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten, and Gypsy Rose Lee, Under One Roof In Wartime America : Houghton Mifflin, 224 p. • 061841911X
 • White, Eric Walter : Benjamin Britten, his life and operas : 2nd ed. edited by John Evans. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1983. 322p. : ill. , music ; 26 cm. OR [New ed. ]London, Faber, 1970. 256p. , 24 plates. illus., music, ports. 26 cm. ISBN:0571091512 or • 0520048946
Criticism and Interpretation
Britten's Music in General
 • Benjamin Britten: A Commentary on His Works from a Group of Specialists : Edited by Donald Mitchell and Hans Keller. Westport, Conn. , Greenwood Press[1972, c1952]xvi, 410 p. illus. 23 cm. • 0837156238
 • Britten Companion : edited by Christopher Palmer. Cambridge[Cambridgeshire] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1984. 485 p. :ill. , music ; 23 cm. or ISBN:0521278449 [Faber and Faber ISBN 0571131476 (hard) 0571131689 (pbk)]• 052126121X
 • The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten : Edited by Mervyn Cooke. Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN: 052157384X or • 0521574765
 • On Mahler and Britten: Essays in Honour of Donald Mitchell on his Seventieth Birthday : Edited by Philip Reed. Britten-Pears Library, 1995. (Reprint Boydell & Brewer, 1998 )• 0851156142
 • Elliott, Graham : Benjamin Britten : the spiritual dimension : Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006. 169 p.• 0198162588
 • Evans, John : A Britten source book : compiled by John Evans, Philip Reed, Paul Wilson. Rev ed. Alderburgh, Suffolk : Published for the Britten-Pears Library,Aldeburgh by the Britten Estate, 1987. 328 p. ; 23 cm. • 0951193902
 • Evans, Peter : Music of Benjamin Britten : London : J. M. Dent, 1979. vii, 564 p. : music ; 24 cm. ISBN:0460043501 OR Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press,1979. vii, 564 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. ISBN:0816608369 • 0198165900
 • Hodgson, Peter John : Benjamin Britten: A Guide to Research : Peter John Hodgson, edited by Guy A. Marco. Garland Publishing, Inc. 1996. 264 p. • 0815317956
 • Johnson, Graham : Britten, voice, & piano : lectures on the vocal music of Benjamin Britten : Aldershot : Ashgate, 2003. 270 p.• 0754638723
 • Mark, Christopher : Early Benjamin Britten: A Study of Stylistic and Technical Evolution : New York : Garland, 1995. xi, 350 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. • 0815318707
 • Rupprecht, Philip : Britten's Musical Language : Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2001. 372 p.• 0521031036
 • Whittall, Arnold : Music of Britten and Tippett: Studies in Themes and Techniques : 2nd ed. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1990. vii, 325 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. or ISBN:0521235235 (hard) 0521386683 (pbk. )• 0521385016
The Operas - General
 • The Operas of Benjamin Britten : the complete librettos illustrated with designs of the first productions : edited by David Herbert ; preface by PeterPears. London : H. Hamilton, 1979. xxxi, 384 p. : ill. (some col. ) ; 29 cm. OR contributions by Janet Baker . . . [et al. ]. New York : Columbia University Press, 1979. xxxi, 382 p. : ill. ; 29 cm. • 0231048688
 • Albright, Daniel : Musicking Shakespeare : a conflict of theatres : Rochester : University of Rochester Press, 2007. 317 p.• 1580462553
 • Corse, Sandra : Opera and the uses of language : Mozart, Verdi, and Britten : Rutherford [N.J.] : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, c1987. 163 p.• 0838633005
 • Howard, Patricia : Operas of Benjamin Britten; An Introduction : Patricia Howard. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1976, c1969. 236 p. : music ; 22 cm. OR London, Barrie & Rockliffthe Cresset P. , 1969. x, 236 p. music. 23 cm. ISBN:0214660559 OR New York, F. A. Praeger[1969]236 p. music. 23 cm.• 0837188679
 • Seymour, Claire : The operas of Benjamin Britten : expression and evasion : Woodbridge, Suffolk : Boydell Press, 2004. 358 p.• 085115865X
 • Sutcliffe, James Helme : Die Buhnenwerke Benjamin Brittens : James Helme Sutcliffe. [S. l. ] : J. H. Sutcliffe, c1983. ix, 64 leaves ; 21 cm.
The Operas - Specific Works
 • Benjamin Britten, The turn of the screw : edited by Patricia Howard. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1985. 164 p.• 0521283566
 • Britten's Gloriana : essays and sources : edited by Paul Banks. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK ; Rochester, N. Y. : Boydell Press ; Aldeburgh [England] : Britten-Pears Library, 1993. xi, 193 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. • 0851153402
 • Death in Venice : compiled and edited by Donald Mitchell. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1987. xvi, 229 p. : ill. , music, port. ; 23 cm. • 0521265347
 • Making of Peter Grimes: The Facsimile of Britten's Composition Draft : edited by Paul Banks. Boydell and Brewer, Inc. 1996, 256 p. • 0851156320
 • The making of Peter Grimes. : [Woodbridge, Suffolk] : The Britten Estate Ltd. ; The Boydell Press, [1996]• 0851156320
 • Peter Grimes : Gloriana : Peter Grimes ; Gloriana / Benjamin Britten. London : J. Calder ; New York : Riverrun, 1983. Series title: Opera guide ; 24. • 0714538566
 • Peter Grimes; essays by Benjamin Britten, E. M. Forster, Montagu Slater [and] Edward Sackville-West : designs by Kenneth Green. London, Published for the governors of Sadler's Wells Foundation by John Lane, 1945. 55 p. illus. ,port. , music. 19 cm.
 • Peter Grimes : compiled by Philip Brett. Cambridge,[Cambridgeshire] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1983. xiii, 217 p. :ill. , music ; 22 cm. • 0521297168
 • The Rape of Lucretia, a symposium by Benjamin Britten [and others] : London, Bodley Head [1948].
 • The Turn of the screw : edited by Patricia Howard. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1985. xi,164 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. • 0521283566
 • Auden, W. H. : Paul Bunyan : the libretto of the operetta by Benjamin Britten : Paul Bunyan W.H. Auden ; the libretto of the operetta by Benjamin Britten ; with an essay by Donald Mitchell. London ; Boston : Faber and Faber, 1988 • 0571151426
 • Cooke, Mervyn : Benjamin Britten: "Billy Budd" : Mervyn Cooke and Philip Reed. Cambridge[England] ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 1993. xii, 180 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. ISBN:0521440890 or • 0521387507
 • Fougerousse, James : Billy Budd from novel to opera : 1975.
 • Godsalve, William L. H. : Britten's a Midsummer Night's Dream : making an opera from Shakespeare's comedy : William H. L. Godsalve. Rutherford [N. J. ] : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press ; London : Associated University Presses, 1995. p. cm. • 0838635512
 • Schmidgall, Gary : Literature as opera : Gary Schmidgall. Oxford ; New York : OxfordUniversity Press, 1980, c1977. xi, 431 p. : music ; 21 cm. SUBJECTS:Opera--Dramaturgy. Music and literature. Benjamin Britten: Death in Venice. • 0195022130
Miscellaneous Specific Works
 • Cooke, Mervyn : Britten, War Requiem : Mervyn Cooke. Cambridge[England]: Cambridge University Press, 1997.125 p. • 0521446333
Britten's Writings
 • Britten, Benjamin : Letters from a Life; The Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976 : edited by Donald Mitchell ; assistant editor, Philip Reed ;associate editors, Rosamund Strode, Kathleen Mitchell, Judy Young. Berkeley :University of California Press, 1991. 2 v. (xxx, 1403 p. ) : ill. ; 24 cm. • 0520065204
 • Britten, Benjamin : Journeying Boy: The Diaries of the Young Benjamin Britten, 1928-1938 : edited by John Evans• 0571238831
 • Britten, Benjamin : "A Note on the Spring Symphony" : in Music Survey Spring 1950
 • Britten, Benjamin : "An English composer sees America" : in Tempo i, 1940
 • Britten, Benjamin : "Benjamin Britten" : in British Composers in Interview M. Schafer
 • Britten, Benjamin : "Britten Looking Back" : in Sunday Telegraph 17 November 1963
 • Britten, Benjamin : "Conversation with Benjamin Britten" : in Tempo 1944
 • Britten, Benjamin : "Early influences: a tribute to Frank Bridge" : in Composer 19
 • Britten, Benjamin : "Frank Bridge 1899-1941" : in Faber Music News
 • Britten, Benjamin : "On behalf of Gustav Mahler" : in Tempo ii, 1942
 • Britten, Benjamin : "On realising the continuo in Purcell's songs" : in Henry Purcell 1659 1695
 • Britten, Benjamin : "On Receiving the First Aspen Award" : Faber and Faber 1964 • 0571100236
 • Britten, Benjamin : "On writing English opera" : in Opera 12 1961
 • Britten, Benjamin : "Three Premieres" : in Kathleen Ferrier, as Memoir
 • Britten, Benjamin : "Variations on a critical theme" : in Opera March 1952
 • Britten, Benjamin : Contribution to "Verdi: a symposium" : in Opera February 1951
 • Britten, Benjamin and Imogen Holst : The wonderful world of music : collages by Ceri Richards. London, Macdonald & Co. , 1968. 96 p. illus. (somecol. ), facsims. , music (incl. 2 col. ), ports. 28 cm. OR N. Y. , Doubleday [1968]96 p. illus. (part col. ), facsims. (part col. ), music, ports. 28 cm.
 • Gishford, Anthony : Grand opera: the story of the world's leading opera houses and personalities : edited by Anthony Gishford; introduced by Benjamin Britten. London,Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972. 272 p. illus. (some col. ), facsims. , ports. (some col. ). 26 cm. ISBN:0297994727 OR New York, Viking Press [1972]272 p. illus. 26 cm. • 0670347493
 • Holst, Imogen : An ABC of Music : a short practical guide to the basic essentials of rudiments, harmony, and form : by Imorgen Holst ; with a foreword by Benjamin Britten. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1985 printing, c1963. xiii, 189 p. : music ; 20 cm. • 0193171031
 • Nordoff, Paul : Therapy in music for handicapped children : [by] Paul Nordoff and CliveRobbins; with a foreword by Benjamin Britten. [New ed. ]London, Gollancz,1971. 176 p. illus. 21 cm. OR New York, St. Martin's Press[1972, c1971] 144 p. illus. 21 cm.• 1891278193
 • Pettitt, Stephen J. : Dennis Brain : a biography; with an appreciation by Benjamin Britten : London : Hale, 1976. 192 p. , [4] leaves of plates : ill. ;23 cm. • 070915772X
 • Stein, Erwin : Form and Performance : with a foreword by Benjamin Britten. 1st Limelight ed. New York : Limelight Editions, 1989, c1962. 183 p. : ill. ;22 cm. • 0879100613
 • White, Eric Walter : The rise of English opera : Introd. by Benjamin Britten. New foreword by theauthor. New York, Da Capo Press, 1972. vi, 335 p. illus. 22 cm. OR London, J. Lehmann, 1951. 335 p. illus. , ports. , facsims. , music. 23 cm. • 0306717093
Catalogues and Discographies
 • Boosey & Hawkes, Ltd, London : Benjamin Britten; a complete catalogue of his published works : Boosey & Hawkes, ltd. , London. . [Rev. ed. ]London, 1973. 52 p. facsims. , port. 26 cm.
 • Parsons, Charles H. : Benjamin Britten Discography : compiled by Charles H. Parsons. Lewiston :E. Mellen Press, 1990. 247 p. ; 24 cm. • 0889464863
 • Weber, J. F. : Benjamin Britten : J. F. Weber. Utica, N. Y. : Weber, 1975. vi, 58 p. ; 28cm. :Discography series
Other Books
 • Benjamin Britten's poets : the poetry he set to music : edited by Boris Ford. Manchester, England : Carcanet, 1994. • 1857540220
 • Barnes, Jennifer : Television opera : the fall of opera commissioned for television : Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK ; Rochester, NY : Boydell Press, 2003. 124 p.• 0851159125
 • Brett, Philip : Music and sexuality in Britten : selected essays : Berkeley : University of California Press, c2006. 280 p.• 0520246101
 • Bridcut, John : Britten's Children : Faber and Faber. 288 p.• 0571228399
 • Cooke, Mervyn : Britten & the Far East : Mervyn Cooke. Boydell and Brewer, Inc., 1998. 256 p. • 0851155790
 • Godfrey, Paul : Once in a while the Odd Thing Happens: A Play from the Life of Benjamin Britten : Paul Godfrey. London : Methuen Drama ; Portsmouth, NH : distributed by HEB, 1990. Series title: A Methuen new theatre script • 0413644804
 • Headington, Christopher : Peter Pears: A Biography : Christopher Headington. Faber and Faber, 1993. 368 p. • 0571170722
 • Pears, Peter : The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears, 1936-1978 : edited by Philip Reed• 0851157416
Dissertations
 • Allen, Debra K. (Debra Kaye) : Drama and characterization in opera settings of A midsummer nights dream by Britten and Siegmeister : 1982.
 • Bach, Jan : An analysis of Britten's "A Midsummer Nights's Dream" : 1971. UCLA
 • Boos, Kenneth G. : A study of the relationship between text and music in five selected choral works of Benjamin Britten : 1986. UCLA
 • Boubel, Karen Brandser : The conflict of good and evil : a musical and dramatic study of Britten's "Billy Budd" : c1985. UCLA
 • Brewster, Robert Gene : The relationship between poetry and music in the original solo-vocal works of Benjamin Britten through 1965 : 1967. Series title: Doctoral series ; no.5122. UCLA
 • Cooke, M. : Oriental influences in the music of Benjamin Britten : 1989 University of Cambridge
 • Deavel, R. Gary : A study of two operas by Benjamin Britten : Peter Grimes and The turn of the screw : 1970. UCLA
 • Elliot, Graham : Benjamin Britten: the things spiritual : 1985 The University of Wales
 • Evans, John : Benjamin Britten, Death in Venice : perspectives on an opera : 1984. University of Wales
 • Feldman, James Allen : The musical portrayal of Gustav von Aschenbach in Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice : 1987. UCLA
 • Hall, William Dawson : The requiem mass: a study of performance practices from the baroque era to the present day as related to four requiem settings by Gilles, Mozart, Verdi and Britten : 1970. UCLA
 • Hwang, Der-Shin : Performance practice problems in Benjamin Britten's song cycle A charm of lullabies, op. 41, for mezzo-soprano : 1988. UCLA
 • Jennings, John Wells : The influence of W. H. Auden on Benjamin Britten : 1979. UCB
 • Lewin, Ann Rebekah : Text setting in the songs of Benjamin Britten : 1964. UCI
 • Mark, Christopher : Stylistic and technical evolution in the early music of Britten : 1989 University of Southampton
 • Marsh, M. : The Turn of the Screw: Britten's and Piper's operatic fulfillment of Henry James's Novella : 1983 University of London, Royal Holloway College
 • Mayer, Mark : A structural and stylistic analysis of the Benjamin Britten Curlew River : 1983. UCLA
 • McGiffert, G. : The Musico-dramatic techniques of Benjamin Britten: a detailed study of Peter Grimes : 1980 University of Denver
 • Meister, Barbara : The interaction of music and poetry : a study of the poems of Paul Verlaine as set to music by Claude Debussy and of the song cycle Songs and proverbs of William Blake by Benjamin Britten : c1987. UCLA
 • Mertz, Margaret Stover : History, criticism and the sources of Benjamin Britten's opera The Rape of Lucretia : 1990. UCLA
 • Novak, Elizabeth Gay Moore : A ceremony of carols : a program of liturgical dance : 1982. UCLA
 • Oosting, Stephen : Text-music relationships in Benjamin Britten's Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings : 1985. University of Rochester
 • Packales, Joseph : Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes : an analysis : 1984.
 • Phillips, Betty Lou : Relationships between text and music in Benjamin Britten's song cycle, Les illuminations, opus 18 : 1989. UCLA
 • Scherr, Suzanne Colette : Non-determined temporal devices in post-1960 Britten : an analytical investigation ... : 1981. UCLA