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"Britten" redirects here. For the surname, see Britten (surname).

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh, OM CH (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was a British composer, conductor, violist and pianist. The Order of Merit is a British and Commonwealth Order bestowed by the Monarch. The Order of the Companions of Honour is a British and Commonwealth Order. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance Conducting is the act of directing a Musical performance by way of visible gestures This is a list of noted Viola players. Notable violists A Julia Rebekka Adler (b A pianist (/'piənɪst/ is a Musician who plays the Piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces play with an ensemble or Orchestra

Contents

Life

Britten was born in Lowestoft in Suffolk, the son of a dentist and a talented amateur musician. Lowestoft (ˈləʊstɒft/ /ˈləʊstəf is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England, lying between the eastern edge of The Broads National Park Suffolk (ˈsʌfək is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. He showed musical gifts very early in life, and began composing prolifically as a child. He was educated at Old Buckenham Hall School in Suffolk, a small all-boys prep school, and Gresham's School, Holt. Suffolk (ˈsʌfək is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school (usually abbreviated to prep school Gresham’s School is an independent Holt is a Market town and Parish in the English county of Norfolk. In 1927, he began private lessons with Frank Bridge; he also studied, less happily, at the Royal College of Music under John Ireland, with some input from Ralph Vaughan Williams. Frank Bridge (26 February 1879 &ndash 10 January 1941 was an English Composer. The Royal College of Music is a well known conservatoire located in the South Kensington district of London, England, and one John Nicholson Ireland ( 13 August 1879 &ndash 12 June 1962) was an English composer Ralph (reɪf Vaughan Williams OM (12 October 1872 &ndash 26 August 1958 was an English Composer of symphonies, Chamber music Although ultimately held back by his parents (at the suggestion of College staff), Britten had also intended to study with Alban Berg in Vienna. Alban Maria Johannes Berg (February 9 1885 &ndash December 24 1935 was an Austrian Composer. His first compositions to attract wide attention were the Sinfonietta op. 1, "A Hymn to the Virgin" (1930) and a set of choral variations A Boy was Born, written in 1934 for the BBC Singers. The following year he met W. H. Auden, and they collaborated on the song-cycle Our Hunting Fathers op. Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973 ˈwɪstən ˈhjuː ˈɔːdən who signed his works W 8, radical both in politics and musical treatment, and other works. Of more lasting importance to Britten was his meeting in 1937 with the tenor Peter Pears, who was to become his musical collaborator and inspiration as well as his life partner. The tenor is the highest male voice within the Modal register, just above the Baritone voice Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears (pronounced /piːrz/ "PEERS" Farnham, 22 June 1910 &ndash Aldeburgh, 3 April 1986 In the same year he composed a Pacifist March (words, Ronald Duncan) for the Peace Pledge Union, of which, as a pacifist, he had become an active member, but the work was not a success and soon withdrawn. Ronald Duncan ( 6 August 1914 - 3 June 1982) was a writer poet and playwright now best known for preparing the libretto for Benjamin Britten The Peace Pledge Union is a British Non-governmental organization which emerged from an initiative by Dick Sheppard, canon of St Paul's Cathedral, in 1934

In early 1939, Britten and Pears followed Auden to America, where Britten composed Paul Bunyan, an operetta (to a libretto by Auden), as well as the first of many song cycles for Pears. Paul Bunyan is a "choral operetta" composed by Benjamin Britten with book and lyrics by W Operetta is a genre of light Opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter Song cycles in classical music The first generally accepted example of a song cycle is Ludwig van Beethoven 's An die ferne Geliebte (1816 The period in America was also remarkable for a number of orchestral works, including Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge op. 10 (written in 1937 for string orchestra), the Violin Concerto op. 15, and Sinfonia da Requiem op. Sinfonia da Requiem Op 20 for orchestra is a Symphony written by Benjamin Britten in 1940 at the age of 26 20 (for full orchestra).

Britten and Pears returned to England in 1942, and both applied for recognition as conscientious objectors; Britten was initially refused recognition, but gained it on appeal. A conscientious objector (CO is an individual who on religious moral or ethical grounds refuses to participate as a combatant in war or in some cases to take any role that would support He completed the choral works Hymn to St. Cecilia (his last collaboration with Auden) and A Ceremony of Carols during the long sea voyage. Hymn to St Cecilia, Op 27 is a choral piece by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976 a setting of a poem by W A Ceremony of Carols (op 28 is a piece by Benjamin Britten scored for three-part Treble chorus, solo voices and He had already begun work on his opera Peter Grimes based on the writings of Suffolk poet George Crabbe, and its première at Sadler's Wells in 1945 was his greatest success so far. Peter Grimes is an Opera by Benjamin Britten, with a Libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of George Crabbe ( 24 December 1754 - 3 February 1832) was an English Poet and naturalist. Sadler's Wells Theatre is the name of six theatres that have been built since 1683 at a site on Rosebery Avenue Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington However, Britten encountered opposition from sectors of the English musical establishment and gradually withdrew from the London scene, founding the English Opera Group in 1947 and the Aldeburgh Festival the following year, partly (though not solely) to perform his own works. The English Opera Group was a small company of British musicians formed in 1947 by the Composer Benjamin Britten for the purpose of presenting The Aldeburgh Festival is an English Arts festival devoted mainly to classical music.

Grimes was the first in a series of English operas, of which Billy Budd (1951) and The Turn of the Screw (1954) were particularly admired. Billy Budd is an Opera by Benjamin Britten, first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 1 December The Turn of the Screw is a 20th century English Chamber opera composed by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, based These operas share common themes. For example, most feature an 'outsider' character, who is excluded or misunderstood by society. Often this is the eponymous protagonist, as in Peter Grimes and Owen Wingrave. Owen Wingrave is an Opera for television in two acts with music by Benjamin Britten, his Opus 85 and a libretto by Myfanwy Piper, after a short

An increasingly important influence was the music of the East, an interest that was fostered by a tour with Pears in 1957, when Britten was struck by the music of the Balinese gamelan and by Japanese Noh plays. Bali is an Indonesian Island located at, the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to A gamelan is a musical ensemble of Indonesia typically featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones xylophones drums and gongs bamboo flutes bowed and or is a major form of classic Japanese musical Drama that has been performed since the 14th century The fruits of this tour include the ballet The Prince of the Pagodas (1957) and the series of semi-operatic "Parables for Church Performance": Curlew River (1964), The Burning Fiery Furnace (1966) and The Prodigal Son (1968). Curlew River &mdash A Parable for Church Performance (Op 71 is the first of three Church Parables by Benjamin Britten. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The greatest success of Britten's career was, however, the musically more conventional War Requiem, written for the 1962 consecration of the newly reconstructed Coventry Cathedral. The War Requiem, Op 66 is a large-scale non- liturgical setting of the Requiem Mass composed by Benjamin Britten in 1962 Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service usually religious Coventry Cathedral, also known as St Michael's Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry

Britten developed close friendships with the Russians Dmitri Shostakovich and Mstislav Rostropovich in the 1960s: he composed his Cello Suites, Cello Symphony and Cello Sonata for the latter, and conducted the first Western performance of the former's Fourteenth Symphony. Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich ( Russian: ru Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович ( &ndash 9 August 1975 was a Russian Composer WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich KBE ( Russian: Мстисла́в The Cello Suites by Benjamin Britten ( opp 72 80 and 87 are a series of three compositions for solo Cello, dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich The Symphony for Cello and Orchestra or Cello Symphony Op 68 was written in 1963 by the British composer Benjamin Britten. The Symphony No 14 (Opus 135 by Dmitri Shostakovich was completed in the spring of 1969, and was premiered later that year Shostakovich dedicated this score to Britten, and often spoke very highly of his music. Britten himself had previously dedicated 'The Prodigal Son' (the third and last of the 'Church Parables') to Shostakovich.

In the last decade or so of his life, Britten suffered from increasing ill-health. His late works became progressively more sparse in texture. They include the opera Death in Venice (1973), the Suite on English Folk Tunes "A Time There Was" (1974) and Third String Quartet (1975)— which drew on material from Death in Venice— as well as the dramatic cantata Phaedra (1976), written for Janet Baker. Death in Venice is an Opera in two acts by Benjamin Britten, his last Phaedra Op 93 is a Cantata for Mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Benjamin Britten. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes and WikipediaWikiProject Musicians/Infobox -->

Having previously declined a knighthood, Britten accepted a life peerage on 2 July 1976 as Baron Britten of Aldeburgh in the County of Suffolk. Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the United Kingdom, life peers are created members of the Peerage whose titles may not be inherited (those whose titles are inheritable are known as Hereditary Events 310 - Pope Miltiades is elected 626 - In fear of assassination Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A few months later he died of heart failure at his house in Aldeburgh. Heart failure is a Cardiac condition that occurs when a problem with the structure or function of the Heart impairs its ability to supply Aldeburgh ( IPA /ˈɔlbrə/ is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England; it is located on the Alde river at 52° 9' North 1° 36' East He is buried in the churchyard of St. A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local Parish itself Peter and St. Paul's Church there. His grave lies next to that of his partner, Sir Peter Pears, and close to the grave of Imogen Holst, another close friend. Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears (pronounced /piːrz/ "PEERS" Farnham, 22 June 1910 &ndash Aldeburgh, 3 April 1986 Imogen Claire Holst, CBE (12 April 1907-9 March 1984 was a British Composer and conductor, and the only child of Composer Gustav

Music

See also: List of compositions by Benjamin Britten, Category:Compositions by Benjamin Britten, and Category:Operas by Benjamin Britten

Britten was an accomplished pianist, frequently performing chamber music and accompanying lieder. This list of compositions by Benjamin Britten includes all the published works by English Composer Benjamin Britten with opus number Chamber music is a form of Classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber de Lied (plural de Lieder) (liːt plural) is a German word meaning literally " Song " among English speakers however the word However, apart from the Holiday Diary (1934), Piano Concerto (1938), Young Apollo (1939), Diversions (written for Paul Wittgenstein in 1940), Scottish Ballad (1941), he wrote relatively little music that puts the piano in the spotlight, and in a 1963 interview for the BBC said that he thought of it as "a background instrument". Paul Wittgenstein ( May 11, 1887 &ndash March 3, 1961) was an Austrian born Pianist.

One of Britten's best known works is The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946), which was composed to accompany Instruments of the Orchestra, an educational film produced by the British government, narrated and conducted by Malcolm Sargent. This article is about the composition by Benjamin Britten for information about the television series see Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes -->Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 &ndash 3 October 1967 Its subtitle is Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, the theme is a melody from Henry Purcell's Abdelazar. In Music, a melody (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing chanting" also tune, voice, or Henry Purcell (ˈpɜrsəl 10 September 1659 (? – 21 November 1695 was an English Baroque Composer. Britten gives individual variations to each of the sections of the orchestra, starting with the woodwind, then the string instruments, the brass instruments and finally the percussion. Types of woodwind instruments See also List of woodwind instruments Single-reed instruments use a reed, which is a thin cut A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-Sachs A brass instrument is a Musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular Resonator. Britten then brings the whole orchestra together again in a fugue before restating the theme to close the work. In Music, a fugue (ˈfjuːg is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred The original film's spoken commentary is often omitted in concert performances and recordings.

Britten's Church Music is also considerable: it contains frequently-performed 'classics' such as Rejoice in the Lamb, composed for St Matthew's Northampton (where the Vicar was Revd Walter Hussey) as well as repertoire that is more recherché (like A Hymn to the Virgin, or Missa Brevis for Boys voices and Organ). Rejoice in the Lamb ( Op. 30 is a festival Cantata for four soloists SATB Choir, and organ composed by Benjamin Britten

As a conductor, Britten performed the music of many composers, and not just his own. Among his celebrated recordings are versions of Mozart's 40th Symphony and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius (with Pears as Gerontius), and an album of works by Grainger in which Britten features as pianist as well as conductor. The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is an Oratorio (Opus 38 in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900 to text from

Nocturnal after John Dowland for guitar (1963) has an indisputably central place in the repertoire of its instrument. John Dowland (1563 &ndash buried February 20, 1626) was an English Composer, singer and Lutenist He is best known today for his The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles This work is typically spare in his late style, and shows the depth of his life-long admiration for Elizabethan lute songs. The lute song was a generic form of music in the late Renaissance and very early Baroque eras generally consisting of a singer accompanying himself on a Lute In each of the eight variations Britten focuses on a different feature of the work's theme, John Dowland's song Come, Heavy Sleep, or its lute accompaniment, before the theme emerges complete at the close of the work.

Reputation

The Scallop by Maggi Hambling is a sculpture dedicated to Benjamin Britten on the beach at Aldeburgh. The edge of the shell is pierced with the words "I hear those voices that will not be drowned" from Peter Grimes.
The Scallop by Maggi Hambling is a sculpture dedicated to Benjamin Britten on the beach at Aldeburgh. Maggi Hambling (born 23 October 1945 in Suffolk) is an English painter and sculptor. Aldeburgh ( IPA /ˈɔlbrə/ is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England; it is located on the Alde river at 52° 9' North 1° 36' East The edge of the shell is pierced with the words "I hear those voices that will not be drowned" from Peter Grimes. Peter Grimes is an Opera by Benjamin Britten, with a Libretto adapted by Montagu Slater from the Peter Grimes section of

In the 1930s Britten made a conscious effort to set himself apart from the English musical mainstream, which he regarded as complacent, insular and amateurish. Many contemporary critics distrusted his facility, cosmopolitanism and admiration for composers, such as Mahler, Berg, and Stravinsky, not at the time considered appropriate models for a young English musician. Alban Maria Johannes Berg (February 9 1885 &ndash December 24 1935 was an Austrian Composer. Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский) ( &ndash 6 April 1971 was a Russian born Composer, considered by many to

Britten's status as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century is now secure among professional critics. However, criticism of his music is apt to become entangled with consideration of his personality, his politics (especially his pacifism in World War II) and his sexuality. [1] The publication of Humphrey Carpenter's biography in 1992, with its revelations of Britten's often fraught social, professional and sexual relationships, ensured that he will remain a controversial figure. Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter ( April 29 1946 – January 4 2005) was an English biographer, Author, and In 2003, a selection of Britten's writings, edited by Paul Kildea, revealed other ways that he addressed such issues as his pacifism. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. [2] A further study along the lines begun by Carpenter is John Bridcut's Britten's Children, 2006, which describes Britten’s infatuation with a series of adolescent boys throughout his life, most notably David Hemmings. Britten’s Children is a scholarly 2006 book by John Bridcut that describes the English Composer Benjamin Britten ’s love for a continuous series BOY is a Canadian Indie pop band The band consists of vocalist and general instrumentalist Stephen Kozmeniuk, drummer Maurie Kaufmann, David Hemmings ( November 18, 1941 &ndash December 3, 2003) was an English Film Actor and director

For many musicians, however, Britten's technique, broad musical and human sympathies and ability to treat the most traditional of musical forms with freshness and originality place him at the head of composers of his generation. A notable tribute is Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, an orchestral piece written in 1977 by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Estonians ( Estonian: eestlased, previously maarahvas) are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting primarily the country WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Arvo Pärt (born 11 September 1935 in Paide, Estonia) (ˈɑr̺vɔ

Awards

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Hywel Williams, "The Puccini of Lowestoft". The Guardian, 5 December 2006.
  2. ^ Paul Kildea, "In his own words". The Guardian, 18 July 2003.

External links


Persondata
NAME Britten, Benjamin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION English composer
DATE OF BIRTH 22 November 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Lowestoft, Suffolk
DATE OF DEATH 4 December 1976
PLACE OF DEATH Aldeburgh, Suffolk
Julian Lloyd Webber (born April 14 1951) is one of the world's most renowned solo cellists The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is an English chamber Orchestra. Sir Neville Marriner (born April 15, 1924) is an English conductor and Violinist. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Lowestoft (ˈləʊstɒft/ /ˈləʊstəf is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England, lying between the eastern edge of The Broads National Park Suffolk (ˈsʌfək is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Aldeburgh ( IPA /ˈɔlbrə/ is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England; it is located on the Alde river at 52° 9' North 1° 36' East Suffolk (ˈsʌfək is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England.
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