Harrison Birtwistle's Operas and Music Theatre

Contents

• 1. The roots of Birtwistle's theatrical expression: from Pantomime to Down by the Greenwood Side;
• 2. Punch and Judy: parody, allusion, and the grotesque;
• 3. The Mask of Orpheus: 'lyrical formalism', time and narrative;
• 4. Yan Tan Tethera: pastoral labyrinths and the scene-agent ratio;
• 5. The shadow of opera: dramatic narrative and musical discourse in Gawain;
• 6. 'A face like music': shaping images into sound in The Second Mrs Kong;
• 7. Corporeal music: Bow Down, The Io Passion and The Corridor;
• 8. The Last Supper and The Minotaur: eyes 'half filled and half deserted'; Bibliography.