Season 2, Episode 10

When a modern opera debuts, normally the stakes aren’t very high. But when it’s composed by Benjamin Britten and premieres in England after World War II, that’s a different story. Britten’s high-profile operas––whose performances were attended by Queen Elizabeth II––were seen as a reflection of British postwar identity. An interview with musicologist Imani Danielle Mosley on how a series of strange operas by queer, modernist composer became a referendum on what it meant to be British––and why that matters.

Imani Danielle Mosley is assistant professor of musicology at the University of Florida’s School of Music.

If you’re interested in learning more about Professor Mosley’s work, you can follow her on Twitter at @imanimosley and check out:

• Her website
• The essay “’It’s a Life of the Two of Us’: Britten, Pears, and Narratives of Erasure,” on Medium
• The essay “Say Her Name: Invocation, Remembrance, and Gendered Trauma in Black Lives Matter,” in the volume Performing Commemoration

Sound Expertise is hosted by Will Robin (@seatedovation), and produced by D. Edward Davis (@warmsilence). Please subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and/or Spotify. Questions or comments? Email williamlrobin@ gmail

A written transcript of this episode is available here; many thanks to Andrew Dell’Antonio for volunteering to prepare transcripts for the show!