Benjamin Britten
With the arrival of Benjamin Britten on the international music scene, many felt that English music gained its greatest genius since Purcell. A composer of wide-ranging talents, Britten found in the human voice an especial source of inspiration, an affinity that resulted in a remarkable body of work, ranging from operas like Peter Grimes (1944-1945) and Death in Venice (1973) to song cycles like the Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings (1943) to the massive choral work War Requiem (1961). He also produced much music for orchestra and chamber ensembles, including symphonies, concerti, and chamber and solo works.
Britten's father was a prosperous oral surgeon in the town of Lowestoft, Suffolk; his mother was a leader in the local choral society. When Benjamin's musical aptitude became evident, the family engaged composer Frank Bridge to supervise his musical education. Bridge's tutelage was one of the formative and lasting influences on Britten's compositional development; he eventually paid tribute to his teacher in his Op. 10, the Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge (1937). Britten's formal training also included studies at the Royal College of Music (1930-1933).
Upon graduation from the RCM, Britten obtained a position scoring documentaries (on prosaic themes like "Sorting Office") for the Royal Post Office film unit. Working on a tight budget, he learned how to extract the maximum variety of color and musical effectiveness from the smallest combinations of instruments, producing dozens of such scores from 1935 to 1938. He rapidly emerged as the most promising British composer of his generation and entered into collaborative relationships that exerted a profound influence upon his creative life. Among the most important of his professional associates were literary figures like W.H. Auden, and later, E.M. Forster. None, however, played as central a role in Britten's life as the tenor Peter Pears, who was Britten's closest intimate, both personally and professionally, from the late '30s to the composer's death. Pears' voice inspired a number of Britten's vocal cycles and opera roles, and the two often joined forces in song recitals and, from 1948, in the organization and administration of the Aldeburgh Festival.
A steadfast pacifist, Britten left England in 1939 as war loomed over Europe. He spent four years in the United States and Canada, his compositional pace barely slackening, as evidenced by the production of works like the Sinfonia da Requiem (1940), the song cycle Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo (1940), and his first effort for the stage, Paul Bunyan (1940-1941). Eventually, the poetry of George Crabbe drew Britten back to England. With a Koussevitzky Commission backing him, the composer wrote the enormously successful opera Peter Grimes (1944-1945), which marked the greatest turning point in his career. His fame secure, Britten over the next several decades wrote a dozen more operas, several of which -- Albert Herring (1947), Billy Budd (1951), The Turn of the Screw (1954), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), Death in Venice (1973) -- became instant and permanent fixtures of the repertoire. He also continued to produce much vocal, orchestral, and chamber music, including Songs and Proverbs of William Blake (1965), the three Cello Suites (1961-1964) and the Cello Symphony (1963), written for Mstislav Rostropovich, and the Third String Quartet (1975).
Britten suffered a stroke during heart surgery in 1971, which resulted in something of a slowdown in his creative activities. Nonetheless, he continued to compose until his death in 1976, by which time he was recognized as one of the principal musical figures of the 20th century.
© Michael Rodman /TiVo
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Britten: The Turn of the Screw
Peter Pears, Jennifer Vyvyan, David Hemmings, Joan Cross, The English Opera Group Orchestra, Benjamin Britten
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1955
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Britten: Suite for Harp, Op. 83
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei Antarctica Records am 04.06.2021
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Benjamin Britten: The Canticles
Klassik - Erschienen bei Signum Records am 11.02.2013
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Britten: The Simple Symphony, Op. 4 (Digitally Remastered)
Slovak Chamber Orchestra, Bohdan Warchal
Klassik - Erschienen bei EMG Classical am 29.04.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
English Music for Strings
English Chamber Orchestra, Benjamin Britten
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca (UMO) am 01.01.1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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English Song
Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten, Julian Bream
Klassik - Erschienen bei Heritage Records am 01.01.2011
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Britten: The Little Sweep (Mono Version)
Jennifer Vyvyan, Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten, The English Opera Group Orchestra
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20 (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev
Klassik - Erschienen bei EMG Classical am 29.04.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint Nicolas
Klassik - Erschienen bei Claves Records am 01.01.2003
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The Turn of the Screw
Klassik - Erschienen bei Glyndebourne Enterprises - X5 Music Group am 11.08.2011
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Britten: Saint Nicolas; Rejoice in the Lamb
Peter Pears, David Hemmings, The Aldeburgh Festival Choir, The Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra, Benjamin Britten
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: The Five Canticles - Wigmore Hall Live
Klassik - Erschienen bei Wigmore Hall Live am 28.10.2013
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Britten Urban Autumn
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 31.10.2020
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Britten: Folksongs (Mono Version)
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Single Reed
Klassik - Erschienen bei Albany Records am 01.11.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas
Royal Opera House Orchestra, Benjamin Britten
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 20.03.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Autumnal Britten
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 10.10.2020
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Benjamin Britten - Simple Symphony Op.4 · Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge Op.10
Benjamin Britten, The Boyd Neel String Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei G.O.P. am 13.07.2020
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Benjamin Britten: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 15 - Paul Ben-Haim: Pastorale Variée for Clarinet, Harp, & Strings, Op. 31
The Louisville Orchestra, Robert Whitney
Klassik - Erschienen bei First Edition am 06.12.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten & Pears: The Early HMV Recordings
Klassik - Erschienen bei Heritage Records am 01.01.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo