Songlines

摘要

Benjamin britten's public profile is in poor shape, three years ahead of the centenary of his birth in 1913. Mauled by prurient biographers and television docu-mentarists, the most successful composer of operas in the English language stands accused of paedophilia, pro-Sovietism and disloyalty to friends, whom he referred to as "corpses" after they were dumped. Britten, according to the prevalent view, was a small-minded, provincial music maker, concerned chiefly with his own advancement.