"It was...Pears’ misfortune to have been so cruelly – and accurately – mocked by Dudley Moore in Beyond the Fringe, a result of which was that it has become almost impossible to listen to his voice without the mannerisms which Moore guyed so precisely intruding on one’s enjoyment... The fact that Beyond the Fringe could include such an item, with the expectation that the audience would appreciate the joke, is in itself a testimony to the importance of Pears as an interpreter in the 1950s and 1960s."
A correspondent took issue with me for allowing the Fringe parody to colour my reaction to the original, and it is interesting to see that RM has a similar problem arising from an early encounter with the singer.
Even so it is even more startling that Moore's parody should still hold resonance today, when the Flanders and Swann Guide to Britten - a considerably more substantial piece - has irretrievably dated. Some of that is due to the Flanders emphasis on ingenious and elaborate rhyhme schemes coupled with some rather basic and philistine criticism of the music itself, but part of the problem also arises from Swann's much less empathetic approach to Britten's compositional style than Moore's barbed and accurate pinpointing of the composer's mannerisms and weaknesses. One can quite see why Britten is said to have so thoroughly disliked Little Miss Muffet, while Pears is alleged to have quite enjoyed the parody.
In the end it displays Moore's brilliance as a musical parodist, not just of Britten but of such varied composers as Beethoven, Schubert, Fauré and Weill. Surely it is only the sheer difficulty of performing these satires - both the incredible virtuosity of the piano writing and the extraordinarily wide vocal ranges required - that has prevented them from being taken up by later performers.
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