Love From A Stranger

Love from a Stranger was a 'thriller' starring Ann Harding and Basil Rathbone, based on an Agatha Christie short story, Philomel Cottage. As well as Britten's score, the film also included excerpts fromGrieg'sPeer Gynt music, and a contemporary dance band. Not all of the present score was used - No. 3, Brighton, was omitted and cuts were made in nos. 5 and 6. In the latter, a savage cut deleted the references tothemusic of the other numbers in bars 13-20, including the trombone's scale, which alludes to a scene in which a child practices the piano unseen. Britten was not happy with the way his music was used, and this was to remainhisonly work for the commercial cinema composed in 1936.