Peter Grimes Lecture Prof. Stephen Arthur Allen

Professor Stephen Arthur Allen (Rider University), a Benjamin Britten scholar (DPhil/PhD Oxford University) talks to the Princeton Opera Festival about "Peter Grimes and Ellen Orford: Musical Relations - Apocalyptic Outcomes" in June of 2016 at the Princeton Library. [READ MORE BELOW:] www.rider.edu/f...
The lecture is related to his chapter on Grimes in The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Britten (1999, edited Mervyn Cooke). universitypubli...
The content of the hand-out is provided below:
PETER THEME
(descending diminished triad [Devil tritone] and perfect 5th within the octave, thus: Bb G E F Bb)
ACT I (scenes are marked in square brackets)
1. ‘Leviathan’ in the 3rd (brass) level chords of ‘Dawn’ stemming from the Love Duet [1]
2. “Old Joe has gone fishing” pub round song-where Peter is the Leviathan [2]
ACT II
3. THEME: “So be it! And God have mercy upon me” [1]
4. “Grimes is at his exercise” (Crabbe) [1]
5. Passacaglia (Interlude IV-combines 3. and 4. in ground bass)
ACT III
6. “We shall be there with him” (Ellen and Balstrode duet) [1]
7. “Peter Grimes” - the great choral shouts of Act III (embedded) [1]
8. [‘Mad’] Interlude IV and Peter: “God have mercy upon you” in aria [in 2]
9. The ‘Leviathan’ brass of Interlude I as Peter drowns out at sea [2 as in I.1]
ELLEN THEME
(all related to the first three orchestral interludes)
I. ‘Dawn’ (A major): Leviathan brass in ‘Dawn’ lifted up by the ‘Ellen’ triplet rhythm
II. ‘Storm’ (Eb minor): first episode brass, Ellen/Grace is killed psychologically by Peter
III. ‘Sunday Morning’ (Lydian D): THEME
Glitter of Waves and glitter of sunlight
Bid us rejoice and lift our hearts on high
Man alone has a soul to save
And goes to Church on a Sunday
INTERLUDES (Allen’s designations to Peter and Ellen in square brackets)
I. ‘Dawn’: 3 layers (strings ‘medium’ winds ‘fast’ brass ‘slow’) [Ellen]
II. ‘Storm’: highly chromatic and ‘Satanic’ with gossiping implicated [Peter]
III. ‘Sunday Morning’: 3 layers (horns ‘bells’; winds ‘chirping’; gong/Bali [Ellen]
IV. Passacaglia (obsession with Peter Theme in the bass) [Peter]
V. ‘Moonlight’: chorale-like luminous triads, sobbing and weeping [Ellen]
VI. [‘Mad Interlude’] mixed-up recapitulation of earlier themes [Peter]

[@ftumschk]

A thought-provoking and entertaining lecture. I'm so glad I stumbled on it!