Budd – music for a ballet

Budd – music for a ballet (2005)

for solo piano

Duration: c. 6 minutes

BUDD is a dance work inspired by Herman Melville’s haunting novella Billy Budd, drawing on thematic and musical ideas from Benjamin Britten’s operatic adaptation. At its heart, BUDD explores timeless, universal struggles: the individual at odds with authority, the tragic corruption of innocence, and the enduring battle between light and darkness, good and evil.

Structured in three movements — A Fine Recruit, Light Shines in the Darkness, and Rights of Man — the ballet traces the arc of a young man’s journey through idealism, confrontation, and ultimately, sacrifice. Through these stages, the music and movement evoke the emotional depth and moral ambiguity that define Melville’s narrative and Britten’s interpretation.

Premiered in Amsterdam on 8 December 2005, BUDD was conceived and first performed by choreographer and dancer Andy Howitt. This work stands as both a tribute and a reimagining — not a direct retelling, but an abstract meditation on the forces that shape human destiny.

Video

Score

Audio

Performances

08.12.05

AMSTERDAM

Overtoom 301

Works index