The Turn of the Screw (opera)

The Turn of the Screw is an opera by Benjamin Britten. It is a chamber opera (an opera for a small number of characters and very small orchestra). The story is based on a story with the same title by Henry James. The libretto (the words of the opera) were written by Myfanwy Piper. The story of the opera is almost exactly the same as in Henry James’s book. Britten was asked by the Venice Biennale to write the opera. It was first performed on 14 September, 1954, at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice. Its first performance in Britain took place a month later on 6 October 1954 at Sadler’s Wells Opera in London.

The opera is divided into two acts. It is further divided into a prologue and sixteen scenes. Before each scene starts we hear a variation on the 'Screw' theme. This theme is based on twelve notes which are all the 12 notes in the octave. This is called twelve-tone row, but it is tonally based (the music is in traditional keys, unlike the music of Schoenberg). There are only 13 players in the orchestra.