Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)

Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten, full name Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, was a British composer, conductor and pianist.

Britten studied at the Royal College of Music in London, and had already written a set of choral variations, A Boy is Born (1933). He then worked as a composer for radio, theater and film, working closely with the poet W.H. Auden. His Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge for string orchestra received international acclaim in 1937. Between 1939 and 1942 Britten worked in the United States, where he composed several significant works.

His later operas include The Rape of Lucretia (1946), the comic Albert Herring (1947), Billy Budd (1951), Gloriana (1953, written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960). These and other works established his reputation as a leading British composer of the mid-20th century, whose operas are considered the best English works in the genre.

His song cycles occupy a significant place in Britten's oeuvre, and his largest choral work is War Requiem (1962) for chorus and orchestra. The composer wrote the Symphony in D major for cello and orchestra (1963) especially for the famous Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Britten's best-known works also include the opera Peter Grimes (1945) and the orchestral production The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1945).

In addition to his work as a composer, Britten performed as a pianist and conductor, touring internationally and visiting the USSR on several occasions.