Myfanwy Piper

Mary Myfanwy Piper (28 March 1911 – 18 January 1997; normally in Welsh pronounced /məˈvanuj/ though anglice often pronounced /məˈfɑːnwiː/^[1]) was a British art critic and opera librettist.

Myfanwy Evans was born into a Welsh family in London. She attended North London Collegiate School and read English Language and Literature at St Hugh's College, Oxford. She married the artist John Piper, with whom she lived in rural surroundings at Fawley Bottom near Henley-on-Thames for much of her life.^[2] She collaborated with the British composer Benjamin Britten on several of his operas as well as with Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott on most of his operatic works.

She was a friend of the poet John Betjeman who wrote several poems addressing her, such as Myfanwy and Myfanwy at Oxford.

Together, John and Myfanwy Piper started an artistic dynasty. The most important was their eldest son, Edward Piper (1938–1990). Also son Sebastian Piper (painter and musician), and their grandchildren, Luke Piper (painter) and Henry Piper (sculptor).

She died at her home in Fawley Bottom in 1997.^[3]

Opera libretti

• The Turn of the Screw, Benjamin Britten, 14 September 1954, Teatro La Fenice, Venice (based on the work of Henry James)
• Owen Wingrave, Benjamin Britten, 16 May 1971, BBC (based on the work of Henry James)
• Death in Venice, Benjamin Britten, 16 June 1973, Aldeburgh Festival, Snape, Suffolk (based on Der Tod in Venedig by Thomas Mann)
• Easter, Malcolm Williamson
• What the Old Man Does is Always Right, Alun Hoddinott, 1977
• The Rajah's Diamond, Alun Hoddinott, 1979
• The Trumpet Major, Alun Hoddinott, 1981

Play

• THE SEDUCER, Søren Kierkegaard play in 2 acts, based on Kierkegaard's on The Seducer’s Diary, 1843

References

1. ^ Iowa Public Radio
2. ^ Frances Spalding, John Piper, Myfanwy Piper: Lives in art. Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-956761-4.
3. ^ David Fraser Jenkins, Obituary: Myfanwy Piper. The Independent, 22 January 1997.

External links

• Myfanwy Piper — Opera Libretti
• Picture in the National Portrait Gallery, London

Persondata
Name	Piper, Myfanwy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	28 March 1911
Place of birth	London
Date of death	18 January 1997
Place of death	Fawley Bottom