Letters From a Life. Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten. Volume Two. 1939-45

Paperback. Letters From a Life. Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten. Volume Two. 1939-45. Message to previous owner to inside cover. Very slight wear to spine. In May 1939 Britten and Pears disembarked at Montreal at the start of their American visit, which wasd to be a period of intense musical activity and new personal relationships. At the same time, the relationship between Britten and Pears deepened into a partnership that was to endure for almost forty years. Their absense from England during the first years of the war led to sharp public comment and controversy, much of it documented here. On their return from America in 1942, hostility to their pacifist convictions and to their homosexuality resurfaced. Prejudice and subterfuge even affected the premiere of Peter Grimes in 1945, although it could not prevent the opera from being an unprecedented success. The letters in this second volume from the years 1939 to 1945 are among the most fascinating of the correspondence, and - supplemented by the editors' detailed commentary and by exhaustive contemporary documentation - offer a unique insight into American history, politics and culture during the Second World War.Illustrated. 1340+ pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. Academic and Scholarly books and Modern First Editions ,and all types of Educational Reference Literature.).…