Samuel Barber and Benjamin Britten - A Listener's Guide: Their Lives and Their Music (Parallel Lives) (w/CD).

Samuel Barber and Benjamin Britten--A Listener's Guide: Their Lives and Their Music (Parallel Lives) (w/CD), by Daniel Felsenfeld. Amadeus Press, LLC (512 Newark Pompton Plains Tke., Pompton Plains, NJ 07444), 2005. 180pp. $22.95.

The lives of two of the twentieth century's greatest composers, Benjamin Britten and Samuel Barber, were similar in many ways. Both were born early in the century, developed conservative compositional styles and faced many of the same personal demons. Daniel Felsenfeld has produced a praiseworthy study that explores many of the important parallels and dissimilarities between these two giants.

Felsenfeld's book is divided into three main sections: the first is devoted to the separate lives of Britten and Barber, the second to short essays and the third--the most extensive and original by far--to listening and analysis. The book concludes with a brief epilogue and a list of suggested additional readings.

Felsenfeld uses brief sketches, rather than extensive chapters, to explore the composers' lives. Each sketch is highly informative, surprisingly interesting and easily digestible. The topics for the sketches are remarkably well-chosen and provide marvelous insights into the life of each man. Felsenfeld focuses on certain pivotal events and pieces and eliminates others.

An excellent full-length CD to assist the reader with exploring Part 3 accompanies the book. Felsenfeld gives just enough background information about each piece beforehand to whet the reader's appetite. A major strength of the book is that the ensuing analysis is largely descriptive, rather than technical. Chord construction, progressions and compositional techniques are rarely discussed. Since a music score is not required, readers with limited music theory background can easily follow and appreciate the analyses. Felsenfeld artfully describes and discusses the salient features of each piece. He also describes what he feels Britten and Barber attempted to accomplish in each composition. The only minor short-coming of this section is that two of the works discussed at length, Britten's Third String Quartet and Barber's Piano Sonata, are not included on the CD because of space limitations.

This stimulating book is appropriate for mature adult readers because of its frank and controversial contents. The chapter entitled "Dare Not Speak Its Name," for example, is an open discussion of Barber and Britten's homosexuality, its possible influence on their music and the difficulties it caused during the 20th-century. A certain maturity is also required to appreciate Felsenfeld's unusual writing style; the text is sprinkled not only with eloquent words such as "detumescence" and "demode," but also with such shocking colloquialisms as "ain't" and "piss."

Felsenfeld has given us a new way to explore and appreciate Britten and Barber--not through an old window that is pedantic and uninspiring, but rather through a new door that is wonderfully illuminating, thoughtful and inspiring. Reviewed by Ernest Kramer, Maryville, Missouri.