Brief biography of English composer Benjamin Britten - his life, major works, list of operas. He is famous for opera Peter Grimes.

Benjamin Britten was a major English composer after Elgar, more than half a century later. His music sets him apart from compatriots Elgar and Vaughan Williams who wrote mainly for Concert Halls. BRitten concentrated on voice music and opera.

His birth coincides with St Cecilia’s Day, patron saint of music.

Early Life and Frank Bridge's Influence

He was the son of a dental surgeon and a singer mother. Along the British coast where Lord (Edward) Benjamin Britten was born on November 22, 1913, his birth coinciding with St Cecilia’s Day, patron saint of music. He was 10 years old when he heard Frank Bridge’s song The Sea. This had a tremendous impact on him as a boy. Britten also studied with Frank Bridge before entering the Royal College of Music in London.

Compositions and Career

Britten's Sinfonietta was published when he was 19 years old. His first international success was the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, played at the Salzburg Festival in 1937 followed by a number of works that established him as the leading English composer of the day, especially his Sinfonia da Requiem and Serenade.

In 1939 he moved to North America with his lifetime partner, the tenor Peter Pears, returning to Britain during the Second World War. He participated in the war by playing concerts for the wounded.

His opera Peter Grimes was premiered in London in 1945, established him as a dramatist and gained him international fame. This was followed by The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, a wonderful journey around the orchestra. Until his death, about six more operas followed.

Much of his music is inspired by words, as shown by the many song cycles, the Spring Symphony and the Nocturne. He had a close artistic association with Shostakovich and the great Russian cellist Matislav Rostropovich.

Appointments and Awards

Britten was appointed a Companion of Honour, to the Order of Meriot, and the first British composer awarded a life peerage.

Britten's Operas

• Peter Grimes
• The Rape of Lucretia
• Albert Herring
• Billy Budd
• The Turn of the Screw
• Noye's Fludde
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Death in Venice

Britten's Other Major Works

• Sinfonietta
• Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
• Violin Concerto
• Song Cycle, Les Illuminations
• Sinfonia da Requiem
• Hymn to St Cecilia, for five-part chorus
• Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell (Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra)
• A Ceremony of Carols
• Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
• Cantata, Saint Nicholas
• Spring Symphony
• War Requiem
• Cello symphony

Suggested Recording:

• Britten: Song cycle: Les Illuminations, Op.18; Nocturne, Op.60, etc… Decca CD.

Sources:

Dictionary of Composers and their Music by Eric Guilder, Sphere Reference (1987)

The Great Composers by Wendy Thompson, Hermes House (2001)

The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)

The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition, edited by Stanley Sadie (2000)