The Turn Of The Screw

Benjamin Britten

With its dark, evocative score, Britten’s The Turn of the Screw is one of the most unnerving of all operas. Told in flashback from a psychiatric ward, a young governess is terrorised by unseen forces in a remote country house. The setting is Brontëesque, but the menace is pure Hitchcock.

The story

A young, inexperienced governess is invited to a bleak country house, home to two orphaned children, both deeply troubled, possibly possessed. Her anxiety mounts. There are strangled cries in the night, a figure on the tower, a face at the window. But are they just figments of her imagination, or malign presences threatening the charges in her care? She can’t be sure – and nor can we – as the tension builds towards a nerve-shredding climax.

The score

Britten’s innovative score is a masterpiece of twentieth century opera. With 13 virtuosic instruments, this most eminent British opera composer creates an eerie palette of orchestral colours, with both acts divided into 8 scenes. A ‘screw’ theme connects all the interludes and this tightens in intensity as the mood grows darker and darker. Particularly effective is the opera’s use of nursery rhymes to raise the tension – a technique adopted by many horror films.