In the 1960s, inspired by a Japanese Noh drama, Britten devised a form of chamber opera that he called "A Parable for Church Performance." The audiences imagines they are a medieval congregation watching the brothers from a nearby monastery perform a mystery play. All the parts are sung by males, there are usually about six instruments, and about four or five solo roles and a small chorus. The tale here is, of course, the most beloved parable of the Christian Gospel, the essential parable of forgiveness. The figure of "The Tempter" misleads the younger son into demanding his inheritance, directs him to the big city and a convenient den of vice, contrives to make him lose all, and is on the verge of winning his soul when thwarted by the forgiveness of the youth's father. The glittering sound of a baroque-style trumpet is added to Britten's standard "parable" orchestra to represent the gleaming allure of the tempter. In this work Britten presents deep emotion not only in the tenderness of the conclusion, but a chilling and pervasive sense of dread in the scenes of temptation and degradation, as Britten again confronts his obsessively recurrent dramatic theme of the betrayal and corruption of innocence. As is mostly the case with Britten operas, a dramatic masterpiece.

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