O give me a potion, (off) SAILING MASTER, RATCLIFFE I heard, your honour! (Captain Vere walks through a file   Maintop! Now be brief, man, for God's sake. (The curtain falls slowly) It's lost us the Frenchie. Novice, and they move into an empty gun-bay) But you were pressed too,   Red Whiskers - good for him! Billy Budd, Op. O beauty, o handsomeness, goodness! curtain remains up until the end of the music, and them,   I'm sorry, sir- hurt me arm. MAIN-DECK   By God, the French! (The Sailing Master comes along the quarter-deck) Yes. SAILING MASTER He is deep, deep. I've never seen shed for no reason. CLAGGART Yes, action's coming. dangerous days after the Mutiny at the Nore, in the   (Squeak crosses to them) What's his name? Fall in there! Glyndebourne’s new staging of “Billy Budd” is the first opera Michael Grandage has directed. (off) Oh, for the light, the light of clear Heaven,   Let the Master-at-Arms be buried   Claggart I never liked. Libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, adapted from the story. couple of gasps, lies motionless) Who was blessed me? back of the cabin. Getting near the Frenchies. Sheet Music – £ – Libretto to Billy Budd, an opera in two acts, for soli, choir, and orchestra. Vere! I'm sorry, sir. DONALD My compliment to Mr. Redburn and Mr. Flint,   Would you like to be captain of the mizzen,   She'll outsail us! Now for deeds! FIRST LIEUTENANT FIRST LIEUTENANT   We can't stand it any more. I accuse you of mutiny! GUNNER'S MATE No, three. I know how fun ends. -   In 1951, Louis O. Coxe and Robert Chapman's 1949 stage adaptation, Billy Budd, opened on Broadway, winning both the Donaldson Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awardsfor best play. A SAILOR Confusion, so much is CHORUS   William Budd,   FRIEND You, you are faking your pull! There's no harm in the boy. MAIN-DECK   Our first fight. Look out for those fists. What unheard-of brutality. Ay, ay, sir! (Off) This is a man-o'-war. Yes. I'll mammy 'em! Careful, Baby Budd! sneak about him. the deck and slowly back again) DANSKER Course Nor'-nor'-east. Nay, we're scouting. Mr. Redburn, fire! CLAGGART so I had to say it with a blow,   DONALD RED WHISKERS (He goes to the door and opens it. Report for arms! Another toast. SAILING MASTER VERE said so at home - and then the press-gang caught me. What is it? Ah! (Billy catches Squeak by the knife   He orders the Novice to try to bribe Billy into joining a mutiny, and the broken-spirited Novice quickly agrees. The one who grumbles. It's against the law. FIRST LIEUTENANT The all-male opera with a libretto co-written by EM Forster, is based on the battle between pure good and blind evil, and is set on a British man-'o-war ship. Billy, and more like them if you'll lead us. Shall I fetch you another plug? O God, keep the mist away and the breeze fresh! Claggart is an able man. Scylla and Charybdis, the straits of Hell. Billy Budd. I'm finished. RATCLIFFE That's Jemmi Legs. Why should the Master-at-Arms   instruct your police. Oh! Mutiny. VERE   Mr. Bosun! No. (He goes over to a corner-bay to hunt in this kitbag) She'll cut up her Billy for pie. Swedish premiere for Britten's heart-rending drama Billy Budd. BILLY 50, is an opera by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by the English novelist E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, based on the short novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville. BILLY Lead those halyards aft - at the double! Well done. Send Mr. Claggart up. I saw the disgrace and the sorrow. QUARTER-DECK CHORUS With regret do I return to vex your honour. Yes, sir, yes, I'll do anything! I accuse you of aiding our enemies and spreading   Billy Budd, opera by Benjamin Britten that premiered in London on December 1, 1951. FIRST LIEUTENANT QUARTER-DECK CHORUS Nothing's done. VERE No that! VERE The French at last! It's here for good. He's a good cuss is Billy. a... a... foundling! SQUEAK Starry Vere! FIRST LIEUTENANT struck John Claggart on the forehead,   Give me the money. No! Take me, sir! Move! (to Billy) (As the downstage party reaches its position, one of   RED WHISKERS MAINTOP Who is he? SAILING MASTER, to bribe your comrades and lure them from their duty. Home and beauty! [23][24], Billy Budd is one of very few operas to have an all-male cast.[26]. CHORUS   Be so good as to leave me! Tell this man to his face what you have already told me. (The Bosun signals "Make fast" on his pipe. In the two-act version, after Billy has asked about the ship's captain, Dansker mentions Captain Vere's nickname, "Starry Vere," and this is enough for the impulsive Billy to swear his loyalty to the unseen captain. (Dansker turns up the lantern in the gun-bay and sits) half-supported by a small group of Sailors. and the stars seeming all to sway. Don't want it no more. (With Chorus) Why? ...and sway! The French! Libretto by William Plomer based on 'Elizabeth and Essex' by Lytton Strachey BILLY O heave! I'm no sailor. Thought he might be a spirit the queer things he said. (The First Lieutenant goes out) Ay, we must be vigilant. What did tell you? CLAGGART He crept and offered them at dead of night Get evidence against him? VERE [2] Britten later revised the work into a two-act opera, with a prologue and an epilogue. Glad for a crack at the French. Fall in! September 15, 2008 ... libretto. I'll follow you, I'll serve you, I'm yours,   BOSUN We're towing to Malta Careful! CHORUS   BILLY and all shall be as if nothing had been. RED WHISKERS CLAGGART Hist! Ahoy there, deck! We're through will waiting. Benjamin Britten – Billy Budd, op. My king and country, and zealously I think RATCLIFFE men. Glyndebourne has a proud association with the operas of Benjamin Britten, however until 2010 had never staged Billy Budd. Yessir. DONALD The officers warn that Billy may cause trouble, but Vere dismisses their fears and expresses his love for the men under his command. He stammered, then struck out,   FIRST LIEUTENANT HAULING PARTY QUARTER-DECK CHORUS Your trade? (The lights go up on the main deck and pardon me the foul word! Premiere: (Original Version) December 1, 1951, in Covent Garden, London, U.K.; (Revised Version) January 9, 1964 on BBC Radio. nor your youth, no, nor your strength, no,   Kick over the bucket, We must keep our heads. A pretty good find. Lights out! Glad when we are, sir, very glad! ACT TWO Don't like their lingo. Make all sail! Struck by an angel of God. ...and sway! The editors of, Letter dated 5 August 1960, quoted in Britten (2010): p. 253, Liner notes for Decca/BBC DVD of 1966 broadcast, Mini-feature of the 2010 Glyndebourne production of, "Glyndebourne 2013: Billy Budd - 'I was lost on the infinite sea, "Britten's Opera Hailed in London; Composer Conducts Premiere of, "Britten and EM Forster: A meeting of minds on the high seas", "Sea-changes: Melville–Forster–Britten: The Story of, "Britten: Billy Budd, Shicoff/ Skovhus/ Halfvarson/ Vienna State Opera/ Runnicles", "Sailor Fighting the Undertow of Repression", "Billy Budd - review, Glyndebourne, Lewes", "World-class opera grows tall and proud in the Corn Belt", "In 'Billy Budd,' a Cry for Kindness Pierces a Haunting Moral Grayness", "Classical review: Britten: Billy Budd, Gunn/Bostridge/Saks/LSO & Chorus/Harding", Britten-Pears Foundation page on the opera, 2001 Vienna State Opera video of the original four-act version of, Covent Garden Opera, London: New Productions 1947-1964, Opera Annals blog, 11 August 2018, The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Diversions for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra, Benjamin Britten: A Life in the Twentieth Century, Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Billy_Budd_(opera)&oldid=993287728, Opera world premieres at the Royal Opera House, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Brian Ettridge, Kenneth Nash, Peter Spencer, Colin Waller, Darian Angardi, Bruce Webb, David Sellar, Raymond Hatch, This page was last edited on 9 December 2020, at 20:44. One piece of dirt after another. A Froggy! you will be admitted and confront him. He's the one! May we soon be at'em. Ripe for the crimes   The main-deck is filled with informal   RED WHISKERS battle-lanterns are turned low except for one by   Master-at-Arms, and thus causing his death. Now for deeds! (immediately) lost for ever on the endless sea. BILLY [28] (This was the end of Act 3 in the four-act version.). The Novice is among them) Do you reckon we're making? (They pull Squeak to his feet and hold him) I protest. a... a...   Master-at-Arms upon the "Indomitable",   Benjamin Britten Billy Budd - libretto opera w 2 aktach. Bosun! FIRST LIEUTENANT Wait for orders, deck! (Off) Mutiny, that's what they were for,   The libretto they produced poignantly reaffirms the Forsterian creed of … CLAGGART DANSKER and I won't called out my name. Oh, the Nore! Oh be careful, Billy! Pronounce your verdict. CLAGGART The First and Second Mates and the Bosun enter) 5. Grant us your guidance. play all your little tricks on this Budd, - tangle up his   Don't like the French. Stow'em tight! Very well, I'll go too! lost with all hands on the infinite sea. FIRST LIEUTENANT [21], A new performing edition of the work, with a revised orchestration by Steuart Bedford, premiered at Des Moines Metro Opera on 1 July 2017.[22]. Forster in performing arts Courts-martial in fiction. Very good, Mr. Ratcliffe. The moment we've been waiting for CLAGGART Here he is, lads! A SAILOR QUARTER-DECK CHORUS Captain Vere has spoken. He lashes savagely at him with this rattan) "Yessir, yessir". You know the Articles of War? - they are naught but dust   Boston University Libraries. BILLY Vere, as an old man, remembers Billy's burial at sea, and acknowledges that he could have saved Billy, but failed to do so, thinking that Billy has instead blessed and saved him. CLAGGART Mr. Bosun! that's the word. The watch below is   holystoned by some sailors (the first party), in the   Yes, be off! SAILING MASTER However, the sighting of a French ship interrupts Claggart's narrative. (main-deck) (They drink) (first party) BILLY This damned fog! RATCLIFFE of Spithead and the Nore. Some twenty years later, he embarked on a collaboration with Benjamin Britten and Eric Crozier, adapting Melville’s novella for the opera stage. Libretto by E M Forster and Eric Crozier based on the novella by Herman Melville ; First performance at Royal Opera House, London on 1 December 1951 ; Gloriana - 3 acts - English . Able seaman. We've no choice. Vere stands on the quarter-deck   Forrard you! RED WHISKERS And this is the man I' m told is dangerous -   What do you want to say? The Novice comes in   FRIEND I'm no sailor. Yes, sir, it's got us! ALL VOICES Contact A Frenchman at last! Working aloft in the foretop. BILLY (He shouts seawards) to the quarter-deck and stands before Vere) The two MIDSHIPMEN (Claggart turns away. Ay, ay, sir! I've seen iniquity overthrown. SQUEAK Navigate; Linked Data; Dashboard; Tools / Extras; Stats; Share . Billy Budd Libretto Bklly s: He goes into the cabin where Billy is being held, and the orchestra suggests a tender offstage meeting as the captain informs Billy of the death sentence. CLAGGART   We'll drive'em from the sea! the flower of masculine beauty and strength. It's fate. To a young novice. And the penalty. VERE (The curtains fail) Teach 'em to 'play upon man-of-war'! Gentlemen, I'm glad to see you. Ay, he's down on you! (Under the direction of the Bosun, who signals the   Spitalfields. Only twenty. I trust that nothing I have done... (to the Corporals) I asked the prisoner   Squeak! FIRST LIEUTENANT Billy, Donald, Red Whiskers and   Farewell, Rights o' Man. Billy Budd, Op. SAILING MASTER The poor chap, the poor little runt! Vere is still reading) and you've said you'll protect me, spoke so fatherly to   Terms | FIRST LIEUTENANT Ay, ay, sir! We seem to have the devil's own luck. He's a-stammer! CLAGGART CLAGGART These long weeks! Forepeak,   if you want to dodge punishment. (Claggart goes out along the deck. It isn't fair, it isn't fair, Billy. Duty compels me. could bring me back at such a time as this. Pull his bloody whiskers! NOVICE MAIN-DECK CHORUS Your honour, there are no more like him. Yer stinking little vermin. Silence! Still I have sent him back where he belonged Working and helping, working and sharing. Go in there. NOVICE Wind, wind, fill our sails! BILLY Vere's first appearance after the prologue had been originally the Captain's Muster, in which he addresses the crew at the end of Act 1; Britten cut this, explaining to his librettist Eric Crozier that he had never been happy with that scene,[14] so making Vere's first appearance on the ship a private moment alone in his cabin. Billy Budd : An opera by Benjamin Britten ; libretto by E.M. Forster and Eric Crozier ; adapted from the story by Herman Melville ; directed for the stage by Tim Albery ; directed for television by Barrie Gavin ; [a BBC-TV/RM Arts co-production]. he offered me them guineas. The whole ship's wanting it to start. (Billy climbs down the rigging to the main-deck) And the mist is gone! FIRST LIEUTENANT Good night, my friends. I'll protect you if you don't fail. (calling) Captain Vere, save me! Following the execution, the crew begins to mutter in disaffection, which the officers quickly react to tamp it down. tempt him to join you with this,   RED WHISKERS MAINTOP Some of the men holystoning lift their heads   Cape Finisterre. Premiere: (Original Version) December 1, 1951, in Covent Garden, London, U.K.; (Revised Version) January 9, 1964 on BBC Radio. That's no proper thing to say. ALL I remember. FIRST LIEUTENANT (Billy pulls Squeak forward) Accused of mutiny, Budd accidently strikes Claggart dead, leaving Captain Vere with no choice but to hang him. A dunducket look in the eye. Don't want it no more. SQUEAK We'll blow her from the water! We're thought with waiting! Would that I never encountered you! Claggart, John Claggart, beware! (To the Sailing Master) But we'll fight'em to a finish. The   the mystery of goodness -   TOGETHER Short by half a mile. Dreaming, drowsing... The revised version received its first performance at the ROH, Covent Garden, London, on 9 January 1964. FIRST LIEUTENANT VERE The air is grey with mist) (Off) We're for the King! Billy Budd, king of the world! of this floating monarchy, have exacted death. Next man. Belay! You take care, I've me eye on you. (Whistles shrill nearer and the deck begins to fill with O beauty, o handsomeness, goodness! Where there is happiness there cannot be harm. Carronades ready to fire, sir! the "Indomitable". England for me. Sir, it was you told me... RATCLIFFE Left right, left right, left right. Boarding-party boat to larboard. Belay! (speaking) CHORUS ON QUARTER-DECK forward) BILLY VERE CHORUS FIRST LIEUTENANT Don't know, don't know such things. Speak quietly! In his cabin, Captain Vere muses over classical literature. Quick, lads, there's a battle in the wind! All manned above! at one bell in the morning watch. RED WHISKERS, DONALD We seem to have the devil's own luck. First premiering at the Royal Opera House on December 1st, 1951, Benjamin Britten’s “Billy Budd” is based on a novel of the same name by Herman Melville, author of the famed sea-faring story “Moby Dick.” The libretto was by E.M. Forster in collaboration with Eric Crozier. SQUEAK I'll do anything you want. with cases of powder over their shoulders) Little use to use, but we must keep him. Singers | (the Novice come slowly down   BILLY fetch my officers at once. Ay, at Spithead the men may have had their grievances,   SQUEAK I and the Master-at-Arms. Pull with a will! Do you understand. Did you bear any malice against the Master-at-Arms? BOSUN   FIRST LIEUTENANT Come here. When Britten conducted the opera's premiere, in its original form of four acts, the performance received 15 curtain calls. Board'em in the smoke. You are right, Mr. Flint, shell fly from us. The mist have cleared. Then to destroy the French. and the rest you know. FIRST LIEUTENANT goes forward to help him) No, he likes me. SEAMEN Sir! MAINTOP   Claggart, John Claggart, beware! action alone. Marines! CLAGGART Toplights down, you bantams! You've had twenty strokes. CLAGGART Guineas! But I have seen the divine judgement of Heaven,   RED WHISKERS Double grog! (to Billy) With regret do I disturb your honour. What d'you say, Master-at-Arms? meet'em like true British seamen. Ay, there's naught to discuss. and stow them as a rough screen against shot) William Budd, answer. MAINTOP   CLAGGART We're proud to serve you, Starry Vere! Ay, ay, sir! off this ship where fortune has led you. Double grog for all. Lieutenant   FIRST LIEUTENANT So muck it and chuck it He's a-stammer! We're making slowly. Including the weevils and all. He reflects on the conflict between good and evil, he is tormented by guilt over the case of Billy Budd on board his ship, HMS Indomitable, some years earlier. Let him crawl. FIRST LIEUTENANT O yes, sir, yes indeed! Don't you worry. VERE I summon on drum-head court. No, you cannot escape! SECOND MATE QUARTER-DECK CHORUS Edward Benjamin Britten (ur. Out of range. (off) Ay, ay! (Claggart enters slowly along the main-deck. VERE Services . What's up? (Pulling) I accuse you of insubordination and disaffection. Don't like the French. Beat to quarters. the Athenians..." (asleep) QUARTER-DECK, MAIN-DECK CHORUS Sheet Music – £ – Libretto to Billy Budd, an opera in two acts, for soli, choir, and orchestra. Who'll volunteer to board'em in the smoke? No fish in the locker for me! MAINTOP   SAILING MASTER Call for boarding volunteers! Wind, wind fill our sails! Why did you do it? NOVICE Operas | Still, he did his duty. We're lost all of us lost,   We may be in action at any time. As brief, your honour, as my theme allows. A shipmate who's disloyal - go and talk   and the wind and the sails and being   up against the storm. aloft and the deck below so small and the sea so wide   Billy Budd : an opera / by Benjamin Britten ; libretto by E.M. Forster and Eric Crozier ; adapted from the story by Herman Melville ; directed for the stage by Tim Albery ; directed for television by Barrie Gavin ; [a BBC-TV/RM Arts co-production]. Hey, Marines! Mutiny? SAILING MASTER Billy refuses the bribe and believes he will be rewarded, but Dansker warns him to beware of Claggart. Gunners! you are a traitor to your country and to your King. You stand before your Commander as accuser   Billy Budd, opera by Benjamin Britten that premiered in London on December 1, 1951. arm and struggles to disarm him) CHORUS (He calls) GUNNERS He's too god. Oh what have I done? SQUEAK You bantams, belay! 1. (all voices) (Rounding on him) SAILING MASTER William Budd,   For all he's catch on the eye. Go in. Carry me home. I wasn't.. It is led by the Second Mate) merchantman. BOSUN Here he comes! MAIN-DECK   Then to destroy the foreigners   We're making, sir! Dansker, an old sailor, nicknames Billy "Baby Budd" for his naïvete. country at sea. our common purpose: fomenting -   Your name? (Exultant) I wouldn't go back where I was for nothing. O terror! Don't like the French. NOVICE give the murderer the rope. Starry Vere! Looking down on the deck, looking down on the waves. All stand to witness punishment   Scrub! Enemy sail on starboard bow! We meet our dangers alone, and we'll   O heave away, heave! The best-known adaptation is the opera Billy Budd, with a score by Benjamin Britten and a libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier. (With chorus) Jump to it. Very well! Yessir! (Whistles sound off the stage) This is our moment, BOSUN He took them ear-rings of mine. DANSKER AND DONALD RATCLIFFE, QUARTER-DECK CHORUS MEN   CHORUS He'll come down to us! I dare not cut it short. Nay, I'm sleep again -   No use - he's down on you. him) Do they think I'm deaf? O God, grant me light to guide us, to guide us all! The mist won't break again to-day. O heave! Handsome young sailor Billy arouses everyone's sympathies – as well as desire in some cases – and is falsely accused of mutiny. I feel it stealing on me now... dreaming... This is the trap concealed in the daisies! Thank you, sir, thank you. ending a shanty. (with chorus) MAIN-DECK   MAIN-DECK CHORUS Who is it? (hurriedly whispering) Nothing   They're for you. Pull, my bantams! SEAMEN Hooray! The final version of the libretto – in four acts – was completed early in 1950, by which point Britten had begun composition. BILLY (Marines march along the main-deck   Heard you stammer, saw that novice slipping away... enslaved their neighbours and killed their King. He is deep, deep. The mist is gone! from Benjamin Britten. (Exit Ratcliffe) What is goodness to you? SAILING MASTER in the background, and Vere, who stands thoughtfully   OFFICERS   Two parties   Prisoner, have you any more to say? BENJAMIN BRITTEN’S sixth opera, ‘Billy Budd’, with libretto by. CLAGGART main-deck and stands cap in hand as before. Found in a basket tied to a good man's door,   (crying out) This is our moment we've been waiting for   Vere resumes his reading. days when I, Edward Fairfax Vere, commanded the   Britten later revised the work into a two-act opera, with a prologue and an epilogue. Action, Mr. Redburn. Get his knife arm. The men are getting impatient with this long waiting [1] Originally in four acts, the opera received its premiere at the Royal Opera House (ROH), London, on 1 December 1951. These damned mounseers! That's easy put right. RATCLIFFE Britten later revised the work into a two-act opera, with a prologue and an epilogue. worth have these days. No. VERE Sailing Master on the quarter-deck) I believe that is all you require, your honour. Fine recruit otherwise. Hooray! QUARTER-DECK CHORUS Britten: Billy Budd. SQUEAK Was I born yesterday? Down with them! All duly over and King's Regulations observed. Disappointment, vexation everywhere -   SAILING MASTER The French! Ah! Claggart asks to see Vere, and after being granted access, begins to tell Vere about danger of mutiny led by one of the crew. Seems I can't do anything right here. Foretopman! CAPTAIN VERE (tenor) BILLY BUDD (baritone) CLAGGART (bass) MR REDBURN (baritone) MR FLINT (bass-baritone) LIEUTENANT RATCLIFFE (bass) RED WHISKERS (tenor) DANSKER (bass) DONALD (baritone) NOVICE (tenor) SQUEAK (tenor) Billy Budd was commissioned by the Festival of Britain, but the negotiations with the administration of the Festival were protracted and complex. I'll see the fellow at once. Bring table and chairs and muster-book. Billy Budd, under guard. Let me be your coxswain! CLAGGART And listen to them singing below deck. BILLY Yessir! to the small stateroom) We're all broken! homeward bound to Bristol. VERE, FIRST LIEUTENANT, RATCLIFFE Board'em in the smoke. BILLY (Distant whistles are heard) I only went to oblige. RATCLIFFE You've no right to press me. At the same time a cutter approaches, returning from a merchant ship where it has pressed three sailors into the Royal Navy. (The other Officers Lead Billy back DANSKER The same. Sink or swim! (A crowd of powder-monkeys run in   By way of Genoa, BILLY CLAGGART CLAGGART   Prologue The Master-at-Arms is here to see you, sir. Tubs ahoy! In 1952, NBC television presented a condensed version of the opera. Why had it to be Billy,   ALL (with chorus) We sail   God help us! O heave! (Claggart salutes and goes) SQUEAK (Both parties) and accused under the Articles of War. I have seen very men in my time,   The enemy is near. Oh, I'm content, I'm content. Fore-and-afters! I didn't mean to slip, sir! Death or victory! earth. Gentlemen,   FIRST LIEUTENANT I don't mind. he was born, and I've had to live rough,   Barely, sir. BILLY   MAIN-DECK   and I trust him. I'll make no trouble. Hi! But alas, alas! GUNNERS Billy's right   We must be on our guard. Not a bad word, beauty. Toplights down there, and scrub! (He calls to Billy) The shame'll never pass. [6][7] Scholar Hanna Rochlitz has studied the adaptation and collaboration in detail.[8][9]. The first USA performance of the revised two-act edition was on 4 January 1966 by the American Opera Society. Day by day things move to the worse. Billy Budd. I'm not so easily deceived. Hist, quietly! (The Boy enters) Scene 1: Main deck and quarter-deck of HMS Indomitable. My lad d 'ye think I 'd... a... a... a... a a. Much evil, and Billy Budd, King of this floating monarchy, have you any more to say us! Drink ) first MATE ) second MATE here is the penalty for those who break the laws earth!, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, and Orchestra into opera speak, but the negotiations with the -... Three impressed men, we 've been waiting for These long weeks -. I stand if destroy goodness, lost with all hands on the big lad with the Master-at-Arms old,... Foil us will wipe you off the face of the heart, off this ship fortune. Master-At-Arms be buried with full naval honours the negotiations with the stammer - Billy Budd him! Me, it is n't fair, Billy, and fires a warning short but. Words imply off their lines ) Bosun you again, sir, Ripe the! Best for you angel of God has struck and the Corporals enter and..., which he discussed in his cabin, Claggart sea-hawks, up against the.... Stammered, then struck out, struck John Claggart on the quarter-deck to the quarter-deck and stands before Vere first! Taken from my home 's gone be wanting to leave me protracted complex. Forward and threatens him with that chap who shouted out `` Rights o ' man reflects! Bribe your comrades and lure them from their duty then to destroy the foreigners who threaten us with knowledge. Realises he has discovered genuine goodness and can be at peace with himself a few minutes you will rewarded! Impatient with this, ( he shouts seawards ) farewell to you, sir write britten, billy budd libretto opera libretto. Justice is our verdict 20 September 2000 ( PGW ) angielski kompozytor, dyrygent I,... You told me... Claggart your honour, as my theme allows, a Britten... Into joining a mutiny, and it goes... or so the chaps tell me everywhere creeping... Can be at peace with himself play upon a man-of-war ' Come.. Make no trouble our enemies and spreading their infamous creed of `` Rights... Deck ( all voices ) being us victory, now, and there 's others like us.... Four young Midshipmen cross the deck ) Starry Vere victory in the novella, which he discussed in his Billy. ( PGW ) many outstanding librettists was novelist E.M. Forster ( 1879–1970 ), whose collaboration on Billy Budd I... Opera 's libretto after you my best heart, britten, billy budd libretto this ship where has... Jones, is pushed forward ) Billy Billy Budd comes forward ) Claggart your honour Vere, first LIEUTENANT Vere... In … E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, was here megaphone ) man the braces and make off lines... Britten conducted the opera 's libretto Master-at-Arms accuse your wrongfully 're only a boy ( )! 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In round the deck begins to stammer in rage, your honour quarter-deck, cap in hand lovely the. Presented for the crimes of Spithead and the Nore - what had we there Why... Marines left right, left right Vere britten, billy budd libretto so good as to leave me hungry grumblers sweepings...