Benjamin Britten, Turn of the Screw After Christopher Palmer and Myfanwy Piper Each variation on the twelve-tone row turns a a dissonant screw on tonality so home keys seem unheimlich, common chords other-worldly, perfect fourths Diabolus in musica. Children’s voces angelicae turn Benedicite’s cross upside down and Lavender’s Blue’s all too blue. Their governess is lost in a labyrinth of scales from faux-Mozart Sonatas, leading nowhere but dead-ends while Quint’s sybaritic melisma is leading us to a gamelan lake where innocence is drowned far from C major’s haunted house and Miles’s sad little song: Malo: I would rather be Malo: in an apple tree Malo: than a naughty boy Malo: in adversity Jonathan Taylor Jonathan Taylor is an author, editor, lecturer and critic. His books include the novel Melissa (Salt, 2015), the memoir Take Me Home (Granta, 2007), and the poetry collection Musicolepsy (Shoestring, 2013). He directs the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester. His website is www.jonathanptaylor.co.uk.
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July 2025
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