In early 1956 during a visit to Japan, Benjamin Britten saw the Japanese Noh play Sumidagawa. In fact, he was so struck by it he saw it twice. Two years after this trip Britten himself declared ‘I shall never forget the impact made on me by Japanese theatre…above all the Noh plays… The deep solemnity and selflessness of the acting, the perfect shaping of the drama … coupled with the strength and universality of the stories are something which every artist can learn from.’ Indeed, this trip’s deep and lasting influence can be seen in his compositions from around that time and onwards, most notably on the first of his three ‘parables for church performance’: Curlew River.

Noh theatre originates from a father and son at Japanese court in the fourteenth century. Zeami Motokiyo and his father Kan’ami combined music, poetry and dance in a highly stylised manner to create this traditional form of Japanese theatre. The performers take on specific ‘role types’ which are shown through masks and use spatial configurations to convey symbolic meaning. Noh plays are often characterised by themes of love, tragedy, loss and the supernatural, in particular: ghosts. The stories often include interactions between the mortal world and spiritual realm.

Sumidagawa, the play Britten and Pears saw on their tour of the Far East, tells the story of a woman who searches for her missing son. News of his death leads her into grief-induced madness but her purpose to be reunited with him leads to a vision of his spirit. This ghost heals her from the madness. Curlew River, which draws inspiration from Sumidagawa, follows the same story. A woman attempts to cross the Curlew River in search of her son. While crossing the ferryman tells the story of a boy who died at the banks of the river a year earlier. Since the boy’s death, miracles have been reported in association with his grave. The woman realises the boy in the story is the son she is looking for and, as her grief becomes overwhelming her madness takes over. She is convinced to say a prayer at his grave where the spirit of her son appears to her, curing her of her madness.

In translating the work from play to opera, from traditional Japanese theatre to modern English drama, from east to west, Britten searched for the right theatrical form. He landed on the medieval ‘Miracle Play’. Miracle Plays had recently been revived at the York Festival of Arts and they enjoyed a huge following. The form sees a group of performers and musicians dramatise a story for moral enlightenment as well as entertainment. The performances are intended for church, instead of theatres, and the design and production are intentionally austere and minimalist.

The starkness and slowness of Sumidagawa’s content also lends itself to the presentation of the Miracle Play. Britten was encapsulated by the simplicity of the Japanese play. It is a drama in which there is little action, perfectly mirroring the ‘less is more approach’ of the Miracle Plays. Sumidagawa, and by extension Curlew River, stretches a short story over a long time, highlighting the emotional intensity and imaginative presentation. The Miracle Plays feature specific ‘role types’ used for moral education and therefore lends itself favourably to adapting Noh theatre. The Miracle Plays also match the solemnity and ritual of Noh theatre. For example, Curlew River begins and ends in plainsong with a procession into the church by chanting monks, whose music acts as a framing device and forms the basis for the subsequent material. The monks change their robes, taking on the guises of the characters. The chant and processional mimic an Anglican service.

Britten in 1968 (Photo: public domain)

Britten’s version is explicitly Christian. However, the composer’s own religious viewpoint is unclear. He produced masses of music specifically for church performance, with his church parables being some of his most significant work. However, as a gay man in mid-20^th century England, the church’s beliefs could be seen as in opposition with his own sense of self and personal values. He grew up in a mixed household in terms of religion with his father an agnostic, yet his mother attending the local church every Sunday. It can be seen that Britten was disillusioned with the church yet in spite of this his spirituality and the church’s influence leaks into his musical compositions. Curlew River and the use of the Miracle Plays highlight the significance of the church for Britten’s musical creativity and stresses the influence that faith had on his life.

Britten’s Curlew River, with a libretto by novelist and short story writer William Plomer, was first performed at Orford Church by the English Opera Group during the Aldeburgh Festival on the 12 June 1964. The Times described this performance as ‘possibly the start of a new, perhaps the most important, stage of Britten’s creative life.’ Scored for just seven instruments Curlew River is the first of Britten’s stage works to be performed without a conductor, and it was essential that every singer and player should understand what was intended. The musicians were allowed more autonomy through the absence of a conductor, yet at the same time the choreography of the piece was constructed in extraordinary detail. Britten makes great use of musical symbolism, such as the flute for the Madwoman and French horn for the ferryman.

All the roles in the parable are sung by men, following both the Japanese and English medieval performing traditions. The role of the ‘madwoman’ is for the tenor voice and was originated by Britten’s partner in music and life, the tenor Peter Pears. Many of Britten’s vocal works were written for Pears and together the pair began the English Opera Group and the Aldeburgh Festival. Pears and Britten were together for nearly 40 years and enjoyed incredible professional success together.

In 1965 a recording was made of Curlew River in Orford church, where all three parables had their first performance. When Gramophone reviewed the recording, Peter Pears’ performance as the Madwoman was described as ‘his finest and most touching.’ In 1996 another recording was released which saw Phillip Langridge as the Madwoman. There have been several performances of the piece since it’s 1964 premiere, such as in 2020 at the Barbican and more recently in June 2024 at Blythburgh Church celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the piece. This blending of cultural and artistic elements has secured Curlew River a unique place in the operatic canon, celebrated not just for its innovative style but for its profound emotional depth.

A film of Aldeburgh Festival’s production of Curlew River will be broadcast on BBC Four on Sunday 17 November at 7.45pm: bbc.co.uk