Research Catalog

Title

Libretti : and other dramatic writings by W.H. Auden, 1939-1973 / W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman ; edited by Edward Mendelson.

Author

Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973.

Publication

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1993.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Kallman, Chester, 1921-1975.
• Mendelson, Edward.

Description

xxxvi, 758 pages; 25 cm.

Summary

"W. H. Auden called opera the "last refuge of the High Style," and considered it the one art in which the grand manner survived the ironic levelings of modernity. He began writing libretti soon after he arrived in America in 1939 and abandoned his earlier attempts to write public, political drama. Opera gave him the opportunity to rise to the high style in public, not in an attempt to elevate his own status as a poet, but in service of the heroic voice of the singers. These works present their mythical actions with a direct intensity unlike anything in even his greatest poems. In this volume of Auden and Chester Kallman's libretti, extensive historical and textual notes trace the history of the production and revision of the works and provide full texts of early scenarios, as well as abandoned and rewritten scenes." "Almost all the works included here were previously published in incomplete and often inaccessible editions - or were never published at all. The book prints for the first time the full text of Paul Bunyan, Auden's first libretto, which he wrote for music by Benjamin Britten. It also includes Auden and Kallman's The Rake's Progress, written for Igor Stravinsky, and Delia, written for Stravinsky but never set to music. The work continues with Auden and Kallman's two libretti written for music by Hans Werner Henze, Elegy for Young Lovers and The Bassarids, and their adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost, composed by Nicolas Nabokov. It also contains their translation of The Magic Flute, with its scenes reordered for greater dramatic coherence and added dialogue for sharper mythical significance, and their antimasque, The Entertainment of the Senses, for music by John Gardner." "The book contains two radio plays - The Dark Valley, a monologue written by Auden alone, and The Rocking Horse Winner, written with James Stern and based on a story by D. H. Lawrence. Also included are the unpublished masque that Auden wrote for Kallman's twenty-second birthday, the unpublished versions of The Duchess of Malfi that Auden prepared with Bertolt Brecht, scenarios for a film script and a libretto that were never completed, Auden's narrative for the medieval Play of Daniel, two narratives for documentary films, and his song lyrics written for Man of La Mancha before the producer decided to use a different lyricist."--BOOK JACKET.

Series Statement

• The complete works of W.H. Auden ; [v. 2]
• Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973. Works. 1988 ; v. 2.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Paul Bunyan (1939-1941) / W. H. Auden -- The Rake's Progress (1947-1948) / W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman -- Delia (1952) / W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman -- The Magic Flute (1955) / W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman -- Elegy for Young Lovers (1959-1960) / W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman -- The Bassarids (1963) / W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman -- Love's Labour's Lost (1969) / W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman -- The Entertainment of the Senses (1973) / W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman -- The Dark Valley (1940) / W. H. Auden -- The Rocking Horse Winner (1941) / W. H. Auden and James Stern -- The Play of Daniel (1957) -- Runner (1962) -- US (1967?) -- App. I "The Life of an American": A Scenario (1939?) / W. H. Auden / Isherwood -- App. II "The Queen's Masque" (1943?) -- App. III Auden and Brecht's Versions of "The Duchess of Malfi" / Edited by A. R. Braunmuller -- App. IV "On the Way": A Scenario for an Unwritten Libretto (1949) -- App. V Auden's Contributions to Dramatic Works by Others -- App. VI Auden's Lyrics for "Man of La Mancha" (1963) -- App. VII Auden's Dramatic Translations -- Textual Notes -- Paul Bunyan -- The Rake's Progress -- Delia -- The Magic Flute -- Elegy for Young Lovers -- The Bassarids -- Love's Labour's Lost -- The Entertainment of the Senses -- Radio Plays -- Liturgical Drama and Film Narratives.

ISBN

0691033013 (CL : acid-free paper) :

LCCN

92018681

OCLC

• 613586407
• ocn613586407

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries