Benjamin Britten: New Perspectives on his Life and Work reveals the extent to which Britten scholarship is reaching outside the confines of Anglo-American criticism. The volume engages with juvenilia and other orchestral works from the 1920s and examines a broad range of influences on Britten, including the works of Shostakovich and Verdi, the poetry of Ovid, and the cinema. Among his operatic works the dramatic qualities of Owen Wingrave are discussed through a close study of Piper's libretto and we witness the genesis of a libretto written by Australian novelist Patrick White and submitted...

The city of Clausville is hidden away in the mountains of the North Pole, where elves, reindeer, and happy children play all day. Here also live Big Papa Claus and his son, Little Santa. There is so much for Little Santa to learn--from teaching reindeer how to fly to rescuing elven friends This is the story of how the Christmas spirit was born, and with it, who we now know the world over as Santa Claus