No Machos or Pop Stars: When the Leeds Art Experiment Went Punk by Gavin Butt (review)

Abstract

a guided tour through a wide variety of approaches in Britten scholarship. Such a book can serve as an effective introduction to the composer for music students and as a valuable resource for professional scholars searching for a new perspective on the composer. Also included are excellent summaries of British musical life before and during Britten’s life, which are helpful to both groups. That said, this broad approach resulted in a relative lack of in-depth score analysis of his works, but, as indicated earlier, this was not part of the editors’ expressed intent. By focusing on context, the volume does not examine the music itself, instead focusing on extramusical, societal aspects. With Benjamin Britten in Context, Stroeher and Vickers have provided a platform from which new researchers can embark in order to further explore Britten’s life, work, and the world in which he lived. In doing so, they have proven to be among the foremost advocates for the continued study of the composer and his music in what they have dubbed the second century of Britten scholarship.