I now recognise the voice, it is that of John Evans, a colleague of Donald Mitchell's, a musicologist, a professor (in the US), & a fixture at Aldeburgh & the Britten-Pears Music Centre, Library...He writes & co-writes about Britten. A real Britten expert.
The fear of being inappropriate does not necessarily mean that you are homophobic. It means that you are protecting yourself from others who ARE homophobic. The insult is that anyone should have to be afraid of talking about it, gay or straight.
This speaking voice resembles the voice of Britten! By the way, did you know that Nobel Laureate 2011 poet Tomas Tranströmer´s summer house on Runmarö is called The Blue House? (I´m a friend of his.)
Co-incidentally, I put together a short TH-cam film recently about BB and, though my effort is a little longer that this (a little shy of 9 minutes) I did feel I had a duty to mention Britten's homosexuality and - even more importantly - his lifelong preoccupation with adolescent boys. To ignore these things, even in a very short item like this, invites the sort of accusations of dishonesty which this film has attracted. (Part 2 coming up!)
(Part 2!) It's impossible to understand much of BB's music without knowing about his sexuality. "Peter Grimes", "The Turn of the Screw" and "Death in Venice" were all, all sprang, in their different ways, from his deepest emotional and sexual preoccupations. Incidentally, this thing I find most hard to take about BB is how spiteful he was about Vaughan Williams! :o)
I'm not trying to imply that the people from the Aldeburgh festival are homophobic for not mentioning Britten and Pear's relationship. I'm sure they're not. But I am implying that there seems to be a reluctance to mention these things for fear of seeming inappropriate. It's not like they would have needed to go into great detail about their relationship in order to convey that they were partners - one word.
If a full length documentary about Britten didn't mention his personal life, I would find that strange. But a 6 minutes video? This video was made by the Aldeburgh Festival and to say that they left it out because it was a gay relationship and it's an insult to the gay community but you're not calling them homophobic? What are you saying? Btw, if's not exactly a secret that Britten way gay and I don't think anyone at the Aldeburgh Fest. has a problem with that or is trying to cover that up.
That's fine & I'm sure you don't care what I think, but looking for insults or slights where they clearly don't exist is a bit silly. The people at the Aldeburgh Festival have dedicated their lives to promoting Britten & I imagine they're pretty comfortable with his sexuality & I doubt they feel a need to protect (?) themselves from homophobes. Really what would they need to protect themselves from? He wrote fantastic music & I don't think anyone is bothered that he was gay. Have a great day
It was a good documentary but leaving out the nature of their relationship was an insult to their memories and to the gay community. If they were man and women it would have been mentioned.
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I now recognise the voice, it is that of John Evans, a colleague of Donald Mitchell's, a musicologist, a professor (in the US), & a fixture at Aldeburgh & the Britten-Pears Music Centre, Library...He writes & co-writes about Britten. A real Britten expert.
Straightforwardly interesting.
@aldeburghmusic fantastic video and very well said about the sightly blinkered comments about their relationship
The fear of being inappropriate does not necessarily mean that you are homophobic. It means that you are protecting yourself from others who ARE homophobic. The insult is that anyone should have to be afraid of talking about it, gay or straight.
This speaking voice resembles the voice of Britten! By the way, did you know that Nobel Laureate 2011 poet Tomas Tranströmer´s summer house on Runmarö is called The Blue House? (I´m a friend of his.)
Britten's voice was MUCH deeper & plummy. A real basso.
Co-incidentally, I put together a short TH-cam film recently about BB and, though my effort is a little longer that this (a little shy of 9 minutes) I did feel I had a duty to mention Britten's homosexuality and - even more importantly - his lifelong preoccupation with adolescent boys. To ignore these things, even in a very short item like this, invites the sort of accusations of dishonesty which this film has attracted. (Part 2 coming up!)
(Part 2!) It's impossible to understand much of BB's music without knowing about his sexuality. "Peter Grimes", "The Turn of the Screw" and "Death in Venice" were all, all sprang, in their different ways, from his deepest emotional and sexual preoccupations. Incidentally, this thing I find most hard to take about BB is how spiteful he was about Vaughan Williams! :o)
I'm not trying to imply that the people from the Aldeburgh festival are homophobic for not mentioning Britten and Pear's relationship. I'm sure they're not. But I am implying that there seems to be a reluctance to mention these things for fear of seeming inappropriate. It's not like they would have needed to go into great detail about their relationship in order to convey that they were partners - one word.
If a full length documentary about Britten didn't mention his personal life, I would find that strange. But a 6 minutes video? This video was made by the Aldeburgh Festival and to say that they left it out because it was a gay relationship and it's an insult to the gay community but you're not calling them homophobic? What are you saying? Btw, if's not exactly a secret that Britten way gay and I don't think anyone at the Aldeburgh Fest. has a problem with that or is trying to cover that up.
I can't hear it at all and i don't think so. Britten's voice was much deeper, a real basso voice. Also, the accent is not Britten's.
That's fine & I'm sure you don't care what I think, but looking for insults or slights where they clearly don't exist is a bit silly. The people at the Aldeburgh Festival have dedicated their lives to promoting Britten & I imagine they're pretty comfortable with his sexuality & I doubt they feel a need to protect (?) themselves from homophobes. Really what would they need to protect themselves from? He wrote fantastic music & I don't think anyone is bothered that he was gay. Have a great day
Exactly what I thought: Oh God, that man sounds like him.
It was a good documentary but leaving out the nature of their relationship was an insult to their memories and to the gay community. If they were man and women it would have been mentioned.
Not a single mention of the nature of the relationship between Britten and Pears which was central to both their lives. Shame on you.
Who cares?