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Musikale narratief in Benjamin Britten se opera Billy Budd/musikale narratief in Benjamin Britten se opera Billy Budd.(text in Afrikaans, South Africa)(Critical essay)

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From: Literator: Journal of Literary Criticism, comparativelinguistics and literary studies
Date: 20070401
Author:Spies, Bertha; Vermeulen, Karen

Abstract

Musical narrative in Benjamin Britten's opera Billy Budd

In Herman Melville's story, which is set on a British warship during the Napoleonic wars, Billy Budd becomes the object of a jealous master-at-arms, John Claggart. When the young Billy faces Captain Vere about Claggart's false accusation of mutiny, he stutters and in a moment of despair, kills Claggart with one blow. The death sentence is inevitable. The discrepancy between the nature of the three main characters and their actual deeds results in ambiguity. Billy, the innocent boy, kills. Vere, the father ...

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