On Air Now
Classic FM's More Music Breakfast with Tim Lihoreau 6am - 9am
Billy Budd (1924) by Herman Melville
This image appears in the gallery:
Great classical music inspired by books
28. Billy Budd (1924) by Herman Melville
Herman Melville's tale of a naive seaman was acclaimed by British critics as a masterpiece when published in London. For his operatic version, Benjamin Britten invited another great novelist E.M. Forster to consider writing the libretto. Forster agreed and worked with Eric Crozier, a regular Britten collaborator, to provide the words for one of English opera's masterpieces. Pictured is Nathan Gunn playing Billy in the 2012 Metropolitan Opera production.
