Death in Venice (opera)
The whole sound of the opera is written with the voice of Peter Pears in mind. Britten’s music is partly tonal but also uses twelve-tone music and gamelan music from the Far East. When Aschenbach sings recitative (telling the story) he is just accompanied by the piano. Britten deliberately uses a limited number of musical sounds. This gives the opera a specially expressive character, particularly in the beautiful ending.