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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Classics For Children
Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops Orchestra
Classical - Released by Master Classics Records on Sep 12, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68
Classical - Released by Pipeline Music on Jun 7, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Peter Grimes
Peter Pears, Claire Watson, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Royal Opera House Orchestra, Benjamin Britten
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1959
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Peter Grimes Vol. 2
Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten, Royal Opera House Orchestra
Classical - Released by Revolver Music Ltd. on Dec 31, 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: The Little Sweep; Gemini Variations; Children's Crusade
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1993
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Britten: Song Cycles
Classical - Released by Heritage Records on Nov 10, 2014
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The Little Sweep & extracts from Peter Grimes
Opera - Released by Perfect Pitch on Jan 7, 2007
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Britten: Winter Words / Moore’s Irish Melodies / Church Music
Classical - Released by The Digital Gramophone on Apr 22, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: 3 Valses, Orchestral Version (Mono Version)
Joseph Levine, Ballet Theatre Orchestra, Benjamin Britten
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: 7 Sonnets of Michelangelo & Winter Words (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1950
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: The Prodigal Son
Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk, Bryan Drake, English Opera Group Orchestra, Benjamin Britten, Viola Tunnard
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1969
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: War Requiem (2023 Remastered Version)
London Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Britten
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin
Classical - Released by Past Classics on Jul 10, 2011
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Britten & Prokofiev: Cello Sonatas
Chamber Music - Released by KSG Exaudio on Mar 31, 2022
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Britten: 4 Chansons Françaises: II. Sagesse
Sinfonieorchester Basel, Ivor Bolton, Christina Landshamer
Classical - Released by Prospero Classical on Aug 5, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Själ och Landskap - Soul and Landscape (Extended Version)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Naxos Sweden - Caprice on May 19, 2017
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Rostropovich Plays Britten, Bridge, Handel and Bach
Classical - Released by Pipeline Music on Nov 30, 2006
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Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39 & 41; 2 Concert Arias (Live)
Benjamin Britten, English Chamber Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jun 22, 2000
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Spring Symphony, Op. 44
Classical - Released by Pipeline Music on Jun 7, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benjamin Britten Plays & Conducts
Peter Pears, Colin McPhee, Clifford Curzon, Benjamin Britten, Dennis Brain, Boyd Neel String Orchestra
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on Jan 8, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3
Classical - Released by CRD Records on Jan 1, 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo