|
|
Article: BOOK REVIEW
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- June 26, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
WATCHING the intent audience of Peter Grimes at Sadler's Wells
in 1945, Edmund Wilson felt they were "petrified and held in
suspense" by Benjamin Britten's harmonising of "the harsh, helpless
emotions of wartime". For Wilson, the opera spoke for "the blind
anguish, the hateful rancours and the will to destruction of these
horrible years". Yet Grimes also dramatises Britten's inner
disquiet as a misfit in society. National context fuses with
personal content.
Despite its comprehensive subtitle, London's Burning tells the
story of only a select few: Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland and Henry
Moore, Humphrey Jennings and Benjamin Britten. Through their work
we see how the political and aesthetic ...