Audiovisual Disco

Gustav Klimt, Water Serpents II, 1907

Thinking of summer 💭🌺

mixed media with oil on canvas

Paris Is Burning (1990) director Jennie Livingston

When Britten and his partner, Peter Pears, came to New York at the beginning of the Second World War, the first thing that struck him was the heat. The ungodly muggy heat of upstate New York. This inspired him, partly, to think of the sun god Apollo. John Keats’ unfinished poem, Hyperion, was going to be about the fall of the Titans, and how the Olympian gods take over. Hyperion was the original sun god, and after his defeat, Apollo takes his place. Apollo, full of brilliance, a beautiful figure, athletic, god of music, reason, poetry, and more. In a way, this could be a projection of Britten’s own homosexuality and desire to celebrate the young male form, something that remains controversial to this day. Regardless, the music is brilliant and energetic and a great recreation of the spirit of a beautiful god in his youth.