Turn of the Screw, The, is a tragic opera in a prologue and two acts by the English composer Benjamin Britten (see Britten, Benjamin ). The libretto (text), by Myfanwy Piper, is based on a story published in 1898 by the American author Henry James. The opera received its first performance at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy, on Sept. 14, 1954.
A narrator sets the scene in the prologue. The mysterious guardian of two orphan children has hired a governess to look after them during the guardian’s frequent absences from home. The governess is commanded not to communicate with her employer. The scene shifts to Bly, a country house of the 1800’s. The housekeeper Mrs. Grose introduces the governess to her two charges, Flora and Miles.
The governess soon becomes aware that the children are in the power of evil spirits, the ghosts of two former servants, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. In desperation, she writes a letter to the guardian, but Miles, under Quint’s influence, steals it. When challenged by the governess, Flora denies that she knows anything of Miss Jessel. But at the governess’s urgent plea, Miles finally shouts out Quint’s name and instantly dies.
Britten links the 16 scenes of the opera by means of musical interludes consisting of a theme and 15 variations symbolizing the turning of a screw and thereby the tightening of the dramatic tension of the plot. Britten also incorporates nursery rhymes—such as “Tom, tom, the piper’s son,” which contains a prominent percussion part—into his score.
