Before the story came to English composer Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976), The Turn of the Screw was a novella of Henry James, published in 1898. James had combined two favorite plot elements of Victorian writers: that of a young governess enmeshed in inexplicable events and that of ghosts engaged in an unstated mission. To further increase the intensity of the tale, another “turn of the Screw” as James himself says in the story’s second paragraph, two children – the governess’ charges – are also concerned. It ends well for none of them, though the governess (who is never named) managed to survive the adventure. For Gothic creepiness, for what the New York Times in its review of the first edition called a "study of the magic of evil,” James’ work had few equals, and over a century later, still stands as one of the great literary explorations of the macabre.
Britten had come to know the tale in his youth and admired it, but did not immediately select it for musical expression. The composer was well into his thirties and successfully launched in his compositional career before his friend and colleague, the writer Myfanwy (mih-VAHN-wih) Piper, suggested it to him as an opera subject. Britten asked her to craft for him a libretto. This was a more complicated task than one might imagine, for in James’ novella, the children have little to say, the ghosts nothing at all, and the various persons in the introductory framing story never reappear at all. So though there is plenty of emotional drama, there is not much for the singers to do. Knowing Britten well enough to have a sense of what he wanted in a libretto, Ms. Piper turned the framing story into a short prologue in which one singer alone sets the scene. Then follow the opera’s two short act – well less than two hours in all – with the governess, the housekeeper, the two children, and the two ghosts, for whom Ms. Piper crafted lines. Not only does this bring more voices into the cast, it also offers some insights into what the ghosts are attempting to achieve. Britten was pleased enough with the results that he would ultimately work with Ms. Piper on two more operas: Owen Wingrave and Death in Venice.
The Turn of the Screw premiered September 14, 1954, in Venice at La Fenice Opera House, where a century earlier Verdi’s Rigoletto and La traviata had premiered. It was ninth of Britten’s seventeen operas. The cast included tenor Peter Pears, Britten’s own life partner and then one of the most respected of English tenors. In the pivotal role of young Miles, intended to be age ten or so, was David Hemmings. Only thirteen at the time, he would go on to a successful film career. Casting the role of Miles is often the most difficult, for though he is not in every scene, when he is there, his music and his dramatic demands are remarkably difficult for a young artist. Yet given the right casting for this and the other roles, The Turn of the Screw is an intensely powerful evening at the theater.
Britten called The Turn of the Screw a “chamber opera,” for it is not only short but also requires only a small cast and small orchestra. There are only six singers: one tenor, three sopranos, and two children, a boy and a girl. The tenor will have two parts to cover: the brief prologue and the role of the ghost Quint. Britten made a point of differentiating between ghosts and mortals in musical styles. The mortals are lyrically written and grounded in familiar keys, at least as long as they refrain from panic. The ghosts are more disjointed and eerie in sound.
In this division of style for the mortals and ghosts, Britten is assisted in the make-up of his small orchestra. It contains only thirteen musicians, including a large complement of woodwinds (amongst them piccolo, alto flute, English horn, and bass clarinet, as well as more standard choices) and also abundant percussion (the usual choices supplemented by glockenspiel, gong, wood block, triangle, tom-tom, and tubular bells). Most often, the more unexpected instruments make their appearances in the ghosts’ scenes. However, there are also orchestral interludes in which Britten reinforces the unearthly aura by building upon a haunting, so-called “screw” theme in which all twelve notes of the octave, white and black keys alike, appear in ordered sequence. It was a technique known as “serialism” and was popular in the avant garde, though not then much followed in the operatic mainstream. Britten pushed the boundaries so as to bring out that much more clearly the surreal nature of events.
All in all, The Turn of the Screw was the most modern thing Britten had composed, and over half a century after its premiere, still sounds progressive n places. Yet the musical techniques he used came to be influential, especially in film music. If one transferred Britten’s score to a Hitchcock film, the moods and images would suit each other well. Whatever the medium, spooky is spooky, and Britten’s opera is a masterpiece of that particular realm.
Notes by Betsy Schwarm
