Benjamin Britten Didn’t Want To Do Young Boys, He Wanted To Be Them

Paul Griffiths: “Meanwhile, the tide of performances and critical studies goes on confirming how deeply his music was affected by his irresoluble personal quandary: the wish to be forever a boy among boys. … Britten’s desire for youth and innocence, to possess them not sexually but in his own being, became, though impossible in life, the source of an abundant creativity.”