Benjamin Britten and W. H. Auden’s 1942 operetta Paul Bunyan was critically panned for failing to capture the American spirit of its source material. However, in light of his immigrant status in the midst of wartime American identity politics, Britten took a more internationalist approach to the score and was indeed aware of the politics of folksong performance. Soon after Britten’s arrival to the United States, his publisher suggested he work on a school operetta, and Britten and Auden quickly arrived at Paul Bunyan as a suitable subject. In the previous few decades, Paul Banyan had become the quintessential American folk hero, appearing in stories and advertisements selling an optimistic vision of the American frontier. Prior to America’s entry into World War II, American music was in the midst of philosophical debates over the nature of “American” music, leaving Britten to feel a chauvinism against immigrant composers such as himself. Unlike many contemporary works on American national themes, Britten’s Paul Bunyan does not rely on folksong as a core style. Britten was concerned with the increasing use of folksongs in music to promote nationalist politics in the United States and elsewhere. Despite his aversion to folksong, Britten does use selected folk styles in a few numbers in Paul Bunyan, notably borrowing from an Industrial Workers of the World strike song in the “Lumberjacks’ Chorus.” Britten also borrows a tune from John Lomax’s Cowboy Songs collection for the “Farmer’s Song” number. Reactions to Britten’s opera almost universally ignore his (admittedly brief) engagement with folk styles and instead critique the work’s lack of a distinct American character. Britten’s very particular use of folksongs in Paul Bunyan demonstrates his engagement with the politics of folk music and his refusal to be defined by the nationalist political structures often surrounding it.

Works: Benjamin Britten and W. H. Auden: Paul Bunyan (21-28)

Sources: Anonymous (lyricist): Fifty Thousand Lumberjacks (to the tune of Portland County Jail arranged by Leo Sowerby) (21-24); John Lomax (editor): The Dreary, Dreary Life (25-26)

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Matthew Van Vleet