opera "Billy Budd"

E533661

The opera "Billy Budd" is Benjamin Britten’s English-language adaptation of Herman Melville’s novella, focusing on moral conflict and injustice aboard a British warship.

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opera "Billy Budd" canonical 1

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf opera
actCount four (original version)
two (revised version)
basedOn Billy Budd, Sailor
linked to: Billy Budd
basedOnAuthor Herman Melville
catalogueNumber Op. 50
commissionedBy Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
composer Benjamin Britten
genre 20th-century opera
opera
language English
librettist E. M. Forster
Eric Crozier
nationalityOfComposer British
notableFeature all-male cast
psychological drama
sea-faring setting
orchestration large orchestra
premiereCity London
linked to: London, England
premiereCountry United Kingdom
premiereDate 1951-12-01
premierePlace Royal Opera House, London
principalCharacter Billy Budd
Captain Edward Fairfax Vere
John Claggart
principalVoiceType baritone (Billy Budd)
bass (Claggart)
linked to: John Claggart

tenor (Captain Vere)
revisedVersionPremiereDate 1964-01-13
setting British Royal Navy warship
HMS Indomitable
settingEventContext French Revolutionary Wars
settingTime 1797
structure Act I
Act II
Epilogue
Prologue
style 20th-century British opera
subject capital punishment
military law
naval discipline
theme abuse of power
good and evil
injustice
innocence and guilt
moral conflict
vocalForces boys’ voices (offstage or separate chorus)
male voices only
men’s chorus

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Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Billy Budd adaptedAs opera "Billy Budd"