Music Monday: Benjamin Britten

Keith Chaffee, Librarian, Collection Development,
Music Monday Image of Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten was born on November 22, 1913. Britten was among the major composers of the mid-20th century, and the most important British composer of opera since Henry Purcell, 300 years earlier.

Britten's musical talent was quickly obvious. He was playing the viola and the piano by age ten, and made his first attempts at composition when he was five. In 1924, he first heard the music of Frank Bridge, who would be an influential mentor throughout his life. Britten began studying composition with Bridge at the age of 13, and one of his first important works would be 1937's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge for string orchestra.

Britten continued to compose throughout his teenage years. He would adapt musical themes from some of his youthful compositions into the 1934 Simple Symphony for string orchestra. By the time he had finished his studies at the Royal College of Music, some of his pieces had begun to be noticed by the broader musical world.

Throughout his career, much of Britten's best work would be written for singers. Among the best of his childhood work is the 1928 song cycle for soprano and orchestra Quatre Chansons Francaises; the 1933 choral piece A Boy Was Born was written while Britten was still studying at the Royal College.

In 1937, Britten met Peter Pears, a tenor who would become his life partner for forty years, and his most important muse. Many of Britten's works were written with Pears in mind, including three major song cycles: 1939's Les Illuminations, on texts of Rimbaud; 1940's Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo; and the 1943 Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, on poems by several British poets.

Britten and Pears made an extended visit to the United States from 1939 to 1942. While there, Britten wrote three major concertos, for piano, violin, and piano left hand. (In the first half of the 20th century, several important composers wrote left-hand piano concertos for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in World War I.)

Upon returning to England, Britten began work on his first major opera. Peter Grimes premiered in 1945. It was an instant success, and quickly became part of the standard operatic repertoire. Britten wrote a dozen operas; his sources included Melville (Billy Budd, 1951), Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1960), Henry James (The Turn of the Screw, 1954; and Owen Wingrave, commissioned by the BBC specifically to be produced for television in 1971); and Thomas Mann (his final opera, Death in Venice, in 1973)

In 1960, Britten met the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, for whom he wrote several works – a cello sonata, three suites for solo cello, and the Symphony for Cello and Orchestra.

Britten's War Requiem premiered in 1962, and was recognized as one of his finest works. The 90-minute piece for chorus, boys' chorus, orchestra, chamber orchestra, and three solo singers juxtaposes the traditional Latin Requiem text with pacifist poetry written during World War I by Wilfred Owen. It has been recorded more than 20 times, an unusually large number for a piece of contemporary classical music.

In 1976, Britten accepted a life peerage, becoming Baron Britten of Aldeburgh. He was the first composer to be so honored. He died on December 4, 1976.

In addition to the pieces linked above, much more of Britten's music – including his work as a pianist and conductor – is available for streaming at Freegal and Hoopla.


 

 

 

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