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Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten ( November 22, 1913 - December 4, 1976) was a British composer and pianist. 1 Life
He was born in Lowestoft in Suffolk, the son of a dentist and a talented amateur musician. He began composing prolifically as a child, and in 1927 began private lessons with Frank Bridge. He also studied, less happily, at the Royal College of Music under John Ireland and others. His first composition to attract wide attention was the choral variations A Boy was Born, written in 1934 for the BBC Singers . The following year he met W. H. Auden with whom he collaborated on the song-cycle Our Hunting Fathers, radical both in politics and musical treatment, and other works. More lastingly important was his meeting in 1936Events January-February January 15 The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio, for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company. January 20 Death of George V of the United Kingdom. His son Edward VIII succeedes him as King of th with the tenorIn music, a tenor is a male singer with a high voice (although not as high as a countertenor). In four part chorale-style harmony, it is the second lowest voice, above the bass and below the soprano and alto. A typical tenor will have a range extending ro Peter PearsPeter Neville Luard Pears ( June 22 1910 April 3 1986) was an English tenor and life-long partner of the composer Benjamin Britten. He studied at Keble College, Oxford, serving as organist at Hertford College, but left without taking his degree. He later, who was to become his life partner and musical collaborator. In early 1939Events January-June January 2 End of term for Frank Finley Merriam, 28th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Culbert Levy Olson. January 24 Earthquake kills 30. 000 in Chile about 50. 000 sq mi razed January 26 Falangists take Barcelona January 26 the two of them followed Auden to America. Here Britten composed his first operaCharles Garnier's Opera, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. The drama is presented using the typical elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera, to Auden's libretto and the first of many song-cycles for Pears; the period was otherwise remarkable for a number of orchestraAn orchestra is a musical ensemble used most often in classical music. A small orchestra is called a chamber orchestra''. Full size orchestras may sometimes be called "symphony orchestras" or "philharmonic orchestras"; these prefixes do not indicate any dl works, including concertoOrigin Etymology Concerto (from the latin concertus from certare to strive, also confused with concentus , in its most general sense, is a name for a piece of classical music in which there are two distinct groups of instruments, one larger than the others for piano and violin, and the Sinfonia da Requiem.
Britten and Pears returned to England in 1942, Britten completing the choral works Hymn to Saint Cecilia (his last collaboration with Auden) and A Ceremony of Carols during the long sea voyage. He had already begun work on his opera Peter Grimes, and its premiere at Sadler's Wells in 1945 was his greatest success so far. Britten was however encountering 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 showcase his own works.
Grimes marked the start of a series of English operas, of which Billy Budd ( 1951) and The Turn of the Screw ( 1954) were particularly admired. The role of Miles in the last named was created by the twelve-year-old David Hemmings with whom Britten, always drawn to young boys, became infatuated. The use of the boy's voice as a symbol at once of innocence and temptation is a recurring motif in Britten's music. Another influence was the music of the East, an interest fostered by a tour with Pears in 1957, when Britten was much struck by the music of the Balinese gamelan and by Japanese Noh plays. 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). The greatest success of Britten's career was, however, the musically more conventional War Requiem, written for the opening of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral in 1962.
In the last decade or so of his life Britten suffered from increasing ill-health and his late works are increasingly sparse in texture. They include the opera Death in Venice ( 1973), the Suite on English Folk Tunes "A Time There Was" ( 1975) and the dramatic cantata Phaedra ( 1976),written for Janet Baker. Britten died of heart failure at his house in Aldeburgh, shortly after being made a life peer in 1976.
