Claire Seymour examines ways in which Brittens operas explored & articulated the inherent ambiguity & latent sexuality of music particularly song & suggests that they may illustrate his search for a public voice which would embody communicate & perhaps resolve his private beliefs & anxieties. She demonstrates how the delicate balance between private & public communication & the tension between art as self-expression & art as moral resolution were key concerns in Brittens music. Analyses of Brittens operas from Paul Bunyan to Death in Venice the three Church Parables & several of the childrens operas offer evidence that for Britten opera was the natural medium through which to explore express & paradoxically repress his private concerns.