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Music
/ Biography
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Boy as
Muse:
Benjamin
Britten
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by M.S.
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AT FIRST, I THOUGHT
I had no business reviewing a biography of a modern
classical composer -- my competence in music being limited to early
Stones, early Beatles, and early Michael Jackson. But I found so much
so familiar to me reading this life of Lord Benjamin Britten (Benjamin
Britten, A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter; New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1992) that I pressed ahead anyway. Britten's life was
quietly scandalous. His life-long relationship with tenor Peter Pears,
a few years older than himself, was openly conducted. And although the
couple were quite dedicated to each other, Britten's primary sexual
interests lay in teenage boys.
 I don't
know Carpenter's motivation for writing this biography, or if
he intended to make the statement that I believe he ended up making,
but it is my opinion that the resulting work is an objective portrayal
of life as a pederast in 20th century Western culture. As such, it is a
tragedy.
The subject of sex at English public schools among students and between
students and masters seems to always come up when one talks about
homosexuality among the British. Carpenter explores to the point of
embarrassment the theory that Britten was made homosexual by
experiences in his school. One would think that a text published in the
1990s would be beyond all that, but it seems either Carpenter, or his
readers, must beat this theory to death before considering more complex
causes for such behavior. Carpenter concedes sexual behavior may result
from more complex motivation, but doesn't do so before a series of wild
speculations and crude investigations into the character of a long dead
former headmaster of Britten's primary school. But we can thank
Carpenter for bringing us a rather concise, objective view of Britten's
personal life and how it related to his work.
Britten was recognized as a gifted composer all through his life. He
won the one and only scholarship offered by the Royal College of Music
in 1930, at 17. Soon, Britten fell into the regular habit, which he
maintained all his life, of choosing young male musicians or performers
to stay at his home and work with him. He seemed to be selective and
monogamous in a way, falling in love with one boy at a time, keeping a
dose friendship with him until he reached his late teens, and then
drifting to another younger partner. (Numerous letters from Britten to
these boys survive.) Most all of Britten's works have pivotal roles for
young boy singers, and Britten would choose the boy for such a role,
and begin rigorous training with him, which would end with long stays
at his home. Britten would find excuses for a level of intimacy beyond
what our culture would consider appropriate (sharing a bed, kissing,
nude swimming) and Carpenter handles this quite maturely; recognizing
Britten as a pederast, but not assuming that he acted out his desires.
Carpenter and others have interviewed many of the boys involved with
Britten, and they consistently claim they were aware Britten's
attraction to them had a sexual component, yet they just as
consistently deny they followed through on his suggestions of intimacy.
One can believe these denials as one wishes. But all these boys have
nothing but warm, positive memories of their relationship with the
composer. Britten repeatedly took over the role of father-figure to
boys of musical taste, limited means, and sometimes dysfunctional
families. I think one gets the picture. Whether or not we believe all
the boys' statements that they avoided sexual involvement with him, it
is reasonable to believe that Britten had limited sexual fulfillment
via these relationships. It also seems clear that he had difficulty
dealing with his own feelings of guilt and insecurity. This frustration
came out in his work.
Britten was surprisingly consistent and open in all his operas. The
common theme running through them is innocence lost. The major role
would be sung by Peter Pears, and a boy soprano would find a dismal
fate in a cruel world. Britten operatic works include: Peter Grimes,
about a fisherman who has three young apprentices die in his service;
an adaptation of Herman Melville's Billy Budd, about a young sailor who
is falsely accused and executed; The Turn of the Screw, in which a new
nanny suspects a young boy is being seduced by a ghost (or the
gardener); and an adapation of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, in which
a writer become infatuated with a boy he sees while on vacation, and
eventually dies of cholera instead of fleeing the infected city.
Britten's fascination with his young stars prompted the most scandalous
rumors within his opera troupe. Some observers became almost hysterical
with Britten's insistence of personal, private tutoring of the young
boys, and felt the subject matter of the works was consistently
inappropriate for the young singers. Most parents, however, seemed
quite pleased with his attentions to their sons. Whether this was a
result of Britten's natural charm, his selection process, or his fame
in music circles, I cannot tell. Britten's behavior, and the blind eye
turned to it from a society only a few decades distant from our own, is
quite revealing of the changes going on in contemporary Western
culture. Britten's style, after all, is consistent with that of a
prominent, popular, contemporary musician with whom we are all familiar.
Britten and Pears became gay celebrities after Britten's death in 1976
at age 63. Their long, open relationship did not preclude Britten's
peerage. Upon Britten's death, the Queen made a de facto
recognition of
the homosexual union by sending a personal message of condolence to
Pears. The general understanding that Britten was a discreet boy-lover
was not made into an issue. What a difference 20 years makes.
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From
the NAMBLA Bulletin, Vol. 14, No. 1, Pgs. 50 - 53,
Jan/Feb. 1993.
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Copyright © NAMBLA, 2008
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