1950 年代戰後的「大不列顛」帝國受到國際局勢波動的衝擊，亦出現了國族認同 的憂患意識，在國內面臨多重民族性的艱難問題。英格蘭作曲家在音樂藝術開展出一 條不同於歐洲大陸的方向，作品無形中反映了當時大環境與過去光榮時刻的連結。 1953 年是英女王伊莉沙白二世加冕典禮，在這個關鍵時期，「此刻的英格蘭」（Now and England）的概念出現，藝術與音樂形成嶄新的文藝路線，文學湧現出「英格蘭主 義」（Englandism），音樂創作表現英格蘭特質（Englishness）。本文從這個觀點去認識 英格蘭的音樂發展，並探究作曲家布瑞頓（Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976）與其作品的 潛在意象。 以布瑞頓最後一部管弦樂作品《英格蘭民謠組曲》（Suite on English Folk Tunes） 為例，靈感出自哈代（Thomas Hardy, 1840-1928）詩集中第三部〈遙寄永恆於雲煙〉 （Before Life and After）中的：「曾有的時光」（A time there was），在作曲素材的選擇 上，布瑞頓在組曲的每一首樂曲中建立兩個對比的民謠曲調，管弦樂的創作捨棄傳統 的編曲，改用靈巧機智的現代語彙，流露著奔放熱情與內斂沈穩二元情感特質，讓傳 統民謠重新觸動英格蘭民眾的內心情感。

In 1950s “Great Britain”, the Empire may be adversely affected by international situation and at this point, also was sensitive response to the national and ethnic identification crisis as well as the cultural, moral and political approval crisis. English composers may get development teams pointed in the right direction different from European art and music, and their works reflect the prevailing environment and trend of glory back to the past. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, at the critical instant the concept of “Now and England” was appeared. Arts and music made every effort to strive to take a self line, such as “Englandism” in literature or “Englishness” in music. From this point of view we might understand the development of music in England, in addition, the purpose of the searching, questioning, and arguing is to find the facts in Benjamin Britten’s (1913-1976) potential imagery. This paper discusses Britten’s last orchestral work “Suite on English Folk Tunes” (A Time there was) as an example. The work has drawn its inspiration from the poems by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), the third of which ‘Before Life and After’ gives an idea, and any material of composition in the choice had been built by two contrasting themes in each movement of this suite. In this orchestral work, the traditional arrangement may be rejected, and considers using modern techniques instead. The work radiates the dualism between enthusiasm and steadiness, through which the folk tunes touch the hearts of people in England deeply.