“... entirely clean and transparent ... the material was remarkable, and the melodic shapes highly original, with such rhythmic and harmonic tension from beginning to end.”
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Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral and chamber pieces. His best-known works include the opera Peter Grimes (1945), the War Requiem (1962) and the orchestral showpiece The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1945).
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politics · English composer and pianist (1913–1976) · conductor · composer · pianist · politician · choreographer · also Benjamin Britten, Edward Benjamin Britten, Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh OM CH, Britten
Born 22 November 1913 · Died 4 December 1976 · Q150767
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2026· 7 entries
“One of my chief aims is to try to restore to the musical setting of the English Language a brilliance, freedom and vitality that have been curiously rare since the death of Purcell.”
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“s similar cases, Britten was routinely screened for syphilis before the operation, with negative results. He described as”
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The Guardian: Aigul Akhmetshina: Mujer Fatal album review – classy and sensual in music from Bizet to Britten and Bernstein
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musicOMH: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival review – a Yorkshire feast of premieres and Britten
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Mundoclasico.com: London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle, Britten, Spring Symphony, Sinfonia da Requiem
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The Guardian: The Turn of the Screw review – gripping and unsettling water-logged staging of Britten’s ghost story
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2025· 2 entries
The Guardian: Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem, Winter Words (arr Holloway), etc album review – confirms Gardner’s status as an outstanding conductor of Britten
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The Guardian: Peter Grimes review – WNO’s production of Britten’s masterwork seethes like a wild and cruel sea
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2024· 5 entries
BBC: Benjamin Britten statue will be put up next summer
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The Guardian: Albert Herring review – Britten’s postwar comic opera sits surprisingly well in the 21st century
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BBC: Benjamin Britten's birthplace up for sale
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The Guardian: The Rape of Lucretia review – British Youth Opera goes subterranean for a rip-roaring Britten
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The Guardian: Britten: Violin Concerto Chamber Works album review – bravura and brilliance as Faust turns to Britten’s violin writing
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2019· 1 entry
Britten's War Requiem was selected by the U
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2013· 2 entries
Wall Street Journal: Book Review: 'Benjamin Britten' by Neil Powell | 'Benjamin Britten' by Paul Kildea
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To mark the anniversary of Britten's birth, Decca released a set of 65 CDs and one DVD, Benjamin Britten – Complete Works
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2007· 1 entry
"one of Britten's greatest achievements, one with interesting allusions to Bartók and Shostakovich, and written with an economy that opens out a depth of emotion that can be quite chilling
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1991· 14 entries
Released album “The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge / Four Sea Interludes & Passacaglia from Peter Grimes”.
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Released album “Britten / Hindemith / Reger / Schnittke”.
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Released album “The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Sea Interludes (Peter Grimes) / Courtly Dances (Gloriana) / Suite on English Folk Tunes (A Time There Was)”.
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Released album “Chamber Music”.
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Released album “Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto”.
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Released album “Britten: The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Simple Symphony / Prokofiev: Classical Symphony”.
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Released album “Streichquartette: Nr. 2, op. 36 / Nr. 3, op. 94”.
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Released album “Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf / Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Ravel: Mother Goose”.
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Released album “A Ceremony of Carols / Rejoice in the Lamb / A Boy Was Born”.
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Released album “Britten: Cantata misericordium / Deus in adjutorium meum / Chorale on an Old French Carol / Finzi: Requiem da camera / Holst: Psalms 86 & 148”.
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Released album “Electric Counterpoint”.
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Released album “Peter Grimes”.
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Released album “Shostakovich: Sonata, op. 147 / Britten: Lachrymae, op. 48 / Stravinsky: Elégie (1944)”.
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Released album “Britten: Cello Symphony / Bridge: Oration”.
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1990· 17 entries
Released album “The Canticles”.
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Released album “The Turn of the Screw”.
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Released album “Death in Venice”.
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Released album “Michelangelo Sonnets / Canticle 1 "My Beloved Is Mine" / Winter Words / The Salley Gardens / The Trees They Grow So High / Little Sir William / O Waly, Waly”.
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Released album “The Complete Suites for Solo Cello”.
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Released album “Violin Concerto / Canadian Carnival / Mont Juic Suite”.
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Released album “Szenen aus Goethes Faust”.
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Released album “The String Quartets 2 & 3”.
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Released album “Great Music for Oboe”.
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Released album “String Quartets 2 & 3 / Sinfonietta”.
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Released album “Christmas Oratorio / A Ceremony of Carols”.
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Released album “The Prince of the Pagodas”.
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Released album “Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10 / Young Apollo, op. 16 / Lachrymae, op. 48a / Simple Symphony, op. 4”.
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Released album “The Company of Heaven”.
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Released album “Saint Nicolas / Rejoice in the Lamb”.
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Released album “The Burning Fiery Furnace”.
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Released album “The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Four Sea Interludes”.
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1989· 20 entries
Released album “LCO 4: Britten”.
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Released album “Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge / Les Illuminations / Lachrymae”.
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Released album “Cello Symphony / Sinfonia da Requiem”.
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Released album “Curlew River”.
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Released album “Billy Budd”.
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Released album “Albert Herring”.
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Released album “Saint Nicolas / Hymn to Saint Cecilia”.
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Released album “Les Illuminations / Quatre chansons françaises / Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings”.
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Released album “Britten: The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Symphony for Cello and Orchestra / Four Sea Interludes from "Peter Grimes" / Pärt: Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten”.
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Released album “Barber: Cello Concerto / Britten: Symphony for Cello and Orchestra”.
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Released album “Mendelssohn: Vom Himmel hoch / Britten: A Ceremony of Carols / Saint-Saëns: Oratorio de Noël”.
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Released album “Music for Oboe & Strings”.
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Released album “Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius / Holst: The Hymn of Jesus”.
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Released album “Les Illuminations / Bridge Variations / Simple Symphony”.
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Released album “Tippett: The Blue Guitar / Britten: Nocturnal / Schafer: Le Cri de Merlin”.
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Released album “Warlock: Capriol Suite / Butterworth: A Shropshire Lad”.
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Released album “Sonata for Cello & Piano”.
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Released album “War Requiem, op. 66”.
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Released album “Britten Conducts English Music for Strings”.
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Released album “Danny Boy: Grainger Favourites”.
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1988· 8 entries
Released album “Prokofiev: Classical Symphony / Bizet: Symphony in C / Britten: Simple Symphony”.
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Released album “The Three Cello Suites”.
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Released album “Paul Bunyan”.
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Released album “Britten, Shostakovich: Sonatas for Cello and Piano / Prokofiev: Ballad, op. 15”.
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Released album “Neil MacKie Sings Britten”.
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Released album “A.M.D.G. / Hymn to St Cecilia / A Boy Was Born / A Shepherd's Carol”.
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Released album “Ceremonies of Carols”.
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Released album “Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge / Tchaikovsky: Serenade for strings / Mozart: Divertimento K 137”.
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1987· 7 entries
Released album “Choral Music From King’s College, Cambridge”.
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Released album “Mozart / Carlstedt / Britten”.
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Released album “Phaedra; Les Illuminations; Five French Folksongs”.
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Released album “The Complete Music for String Quartet Volume 1”.
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Released album “Music for Voice and Piano”.
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Released album “Schubert: Arpeggione Sonata / Schumann: Fünf Stücke im Volkston / Debussy: Cello Sonata”.
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Released album “A Serenade to Music”.
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1986· 3 entries
Released album “Serenade / Les Illuminations / Nocturne”.
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Released album “Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf / Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Gloriana Courtly Dances”.
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Released album “Britten: Four Sea Interludes / Passacaglia / Bridge: The Sea / Bax: On the Sea Shore”.
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1985· 5 entries
Released album “Symphony for Cello and Orchestra / Death in Venice (Suite)”.
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Released album “Britten: Variations On A Theme of Frank Bridge / Simple Symphony / Prelude and Fugue”.
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Released album “Rejoice in the Lamb / A Wedding Anthem / Festival Te Deum / A Boy was Born”.
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Released album “Violin Concertos”.
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Released album “Works for 2 Pianos”.
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1984· 2 entries
Released album “British Council 50th Anniversary Concert-1/2”.
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Released album “Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra / Four Sea Interludes / Men of Goodwill”.
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1983· 1 entry
Released album “Respighi: La Boutique fantasque / Britten: Soirées musicales / Matinées musicales”.
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1982· 3 entries
Released album “A Ceremony of Carols / Te Deum / Hymns to St. Peter, The Virgin, St. Cecilia”.
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Released album “Symphonic Suite Gloriana / Prelude and Dances from the Prince of the Pagodas”.
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Released album “Piano Concertos no. 20, K466 & no. 27, K595”.
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1981· 3 entries
Released album “Britten: Scottish Balad / Martinů: Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra”.
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"I think he was quite entitled to take what he wanted from others
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Released album “Our Hunting Fathers / On This Island / A Charm of Lullabies”.
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1979· 2 entries
Released album “The Crown of Ariadne”.
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Released album “Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings / Les Illuminations”.
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1978· 1 entry
Released album “Symphonies Nos. 25 & 29”.
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1977· 1 entry
By Arvo Pärt, and Sally Beamish's Variations on a Theme of Benjamin Britten, based on the second Sea Interlude from Peter Grimes; she composed the work to mark Britten's centenary
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1976· 6 entries
Died 1976-12-04.
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Released album “Four Sea Interludes / Passacaglia From “Peter Grimes” / Sinfonia da Requiem”.
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Including the premieres of his operas A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Jubilee Hall in 1960 and Death in Venice at Snape Maltings Concert Hall in 1973
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Is now the home of the Britten-Pears Foundation, established to promote their musical legacy
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Career landmark: member of the House of Lords (1976–1976).
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Was the first composer to be given a life peerage
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1974· 2 entries
Awarded Maurice Ravel Prize (1974).
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Awarded Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (1974).
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1973· 2 entries
Would or even could have covered up a syphilitic condition
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Released album “Peter und der Wolf / Orchesterführer für junge Leute”.
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1972· 1 entry
Awarded Johann Heinrich Merck Honour (1972).
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1971· 1 entry
Released album “Britten - Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings, Les Illuminations”.
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1970· 1 entry
Walton composed Improvisations on an Impromptu of Benjamin Britten, based on a theme from Britten's Piano Concerto
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1969· 3 entries
“a little masterpiece of concentrated fancy”
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Released album “Songs & Proverbs of William Blake - The Holy Sonnets of John Donne”.
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But Britten was determined that it would be rebuilt in time for the following year's festival, which it was
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1968· 1 entry
Awarded Léonie Sonning Music Prize (1968).
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1967· 2 entries
Released album “Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Op. 34 / Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge for string orchestra, Op. 10”.
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The BBC commissioned Britten to write an opera specially for television
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1966· 1 entry
Released album “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
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1965· 3 entries
Awarded Wihuri Sibelius Prize (1965).
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Awarded Order of Merit (1965).
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Released album “Rejoice in the Lamb / Missa brevis / A Ceremony of Carols”.
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1964· 2 entries
Won Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal (1964).
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Released album “Copland: The Red Pony & Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20”.
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1963· 2 entries
Released album “Twentieth Century Church Music”.
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Released album “War Requiem”.
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1962· 2 entries
Released album “Carnival of the Animals/The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra”.
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Released album “Serge Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf / Benjamin Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”.
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1958· 1 entry
And was described by Britten as a "magnificent work"
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1957· 1 entry
Conducted The Prince of the Pagodas in an early stereo recording, supervised by Culshaw
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1956· 2 entries
Britten wrote this pen-portrait of his young self for the sleeve note:
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When Britten once again encountered the music of the Balinese gamelan and saw for the first time Japanese Noh plays, which he called "some of the most wonderful drama I have ever seen
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1955· 1 entry
Released album “Ginastera: Variaciones concertantes / Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”.
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1953· 2 entries
Awarded Companion of Honour (1953).
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And was so perturbed that he discussed with his assistant Imogen Holst the possibility that Pears might have to enter a sham marriage (with whom is unclear)
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1952· 3 entries
In the first detailed critical assessment of Britten's music to that date
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Confided that he played through all Brahms's music from time to time, "to see if I am right about him; I usually find that I underestimated last time how bad it was
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Between Billy Budd and Gloriana, on the theme of Abraham's obedience to Divine Authority in the proffered sacrifice of his son Isaac
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1949· 2 entries
Accepted his only private pupil, Arthur Oldham, who studied with him for three years
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"He has sometimes told me, jokingly, that one day I would join the ranks of his 'corpses' and I have always recognized that any ordinary person must soon outlive his usefulness to such a great creative artist as Ben
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1948· 3 entries
Originally as Aldeburgh Festival: the living legacy of Britten's vision for a festival and creative campus)
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The critic Colin Mason lamented its neglect and called it one of Britten's greatest works
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And he was responsible for the creation of Snape Maltings concert hall in 1967
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1945· 1 entry
Britten revised it, replacing a skittish third movement with a more sombre passacaglia that, in Matthews's view, gives the work more depth, and makes the apparent triumph of the finale more ambivalent
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1942· 2 entries
Britten read the work of the poet George Crabbe for the first time
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“his declaration of love for Peter”
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1941· 1 entry
Britten produced his first music drama, Paul Bunyan, an operetta, to a libretto by Auden
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1940· 1 entry
Britten composed Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, the first of many song cycles for Pears
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1937· 3 entries
Was not sure whether or not Britten would have described himself as a Christian
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There were two events of huge importance in Britten's life: his mother died, and he met the tenor Peter Pears
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Had used money she bequeathed him to buy the Old Mill in Snape, Suffolk which became his country home
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1933· 1 entry
For the BBC Singers, who first performed it the following year
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1930· 1 entry
Won a composition scholarship at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London; his examiners were the composers John Ireland and Ralph Vaughan Williams and the college's harmony and counterpoint teacher, S
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1928· 1 entry
When he was 14, he composed an orchestral cycle, Quatre chansons françaises, setting words by Victor Hugo and Paul Verlaine
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1927· 1 entry
Brought her not quite 14-year-old pupil to meet him
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1913· 1 entry
Born 1913-11-22.
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