Who was Benjamin Britten?
Pianist and Composer of Music.
Date and Place of Birth:
22nd November 1913, 21 Kirkley Cliff Road, Lowestoft,
Suffolk, England.
Family Background:
Fourth child and son of a dentist.
Education:
Studied the piano under Harold Samuel and composition
under Frank Bridge. Received a scholarship to the Royal College
of Music where he studied under John Ireland.
Chronology/Biography of Benjamin
Britten:
1919: Begins composing
in earnest.
1928: Studies composition
with Frank Bridge before going to college.
1930: Goes up to
the Royal College of Music. Authorities refuse him permission to
go to Vienna to study with Alban Berg
1931: Wins Farrar
Prize for composition.
1933: Meets Arnold
Schoenberg.
1934: Death of his
father. Meets peter Pears for the first time.
1935: Works with
the General Post Office as a composer. Meets the poet W.
H. Auden.
1936: Signs up with
Boosey and Hawkes to publish his works. "Our Hunting Fathers"
with text by W. H. Auden was performed at
the Norwich Festival. Wrote music for "Night Mail" and
"Coal Face" for the G.P.O film unit.
1937: Death of his
mother. Major friendship with Peter Pears begins. Writes "Variations
on a Theme by Frank Bridge" for the Salzburg Festival.
1939: Visits U.S.A.
with Pears.
1940: First performance
of "Sinfonia da Requiem" given by Sir John Barbirolli
at Carnegie Hall, New York.
1941: Awarded Library
of Congress Medal for services to Chamber Music.
1942: Returns to
England to live at Snape in Suffolk. Exempted from Military service
as a conscientious objector.
1945: First performance
at Saddler's Wells, London of the opera "Peter Grimes".
1948: First Aldeburgh
Festival, created by Britten and the tenor Pears.
1952: Accompanied
Peter Pears in a Schubert recital at the Salzburg Festival. He also
conducted many works by Mozart, Bach, Elgar and Schumann.
1953: Created a
Companion of Honour.
1956: Hears Gamelan
music and visits a Japanese Noh Play for the first time.
1957: Elected honorary
member of the American Academy of Arts and letters.
1960: Meets Shostakovich
and Rostropovich.
1964: Given the
Aspen Award.
1965: Appointed
a member of the Order of Merit. Moves publishing house to Faber.
1967: Queen Elizabeth
the Second opens the Maltings concert all at Snape.
1969: The Maltings
burns down.
1970: The Maltings
re-opens.
1973: Operation
on his heart valve.
1974: Wins the Ravel
Prize.
1976: Created a
Life Peer. (The first msician to be so honoured).
Musical Works:
- 1932: "Sinfonietta".
- 1933: "A
Simple Symphony".
- 1936: "Our
Hunting Fathers".
- 1937: "Variations
on a Theme by Frank Bridge". "A Boy was Born".
"On this Island".
- 1940:
"Sinfonia da Requiem". "Seven
Sonnets of Michelangelo". "Paul Bunyan".
- 1941: "String
Quartet No 1
- 1945: "Peter
Grimes" (Opera)."Nine Holy Sonnets of John Donne".
"String Quartet No 2".
- 1946: "The
Rape of Lucretia" (Opera). "The Young Person's Guide
to the Orchestra".
- 1947: "Albert
Herring" (Opera).
- 1948:
"The Beggars Opera".
"Spring Symphony".
- 1949: "Let's
Make an Opera" (Work for Children).
- 1951:
“Billy Budd” (Opera).
- 1953: "Gloriana".
(Opera).
- 1954: "The
Turn of the Screw". (Opera).
- 1956: "The
Prince of the Pagodas".
- 1960: “Midsummer
Night's Dream”. (Opera).
- 1961: “War Requiem”.
- 1964: “Cello
Symphony”. “Curlew River”.
- 1966: “The Burning
Fiery Furnace”.
- 1968: “The Prodigal
Son”.
- 1970: “Owen
Wingrave” (Opera).
- 1973: “Death
in Venice”. (Opera).
- 1976: "String
Quartet No 3".
- 1979: "The
Prince of the Pagodas".
Marriage:
Never married.as gay.
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
Royal College of Music
SUFFOLK:
Aldeburgh
Snape Maltings
Date and Place of Death:
4th December 1976, The Red House, Aldeburgh,
Suffolk, England.
Age at Death:
63.
Site of Grave:
Annexe of Aldeburgh Churchyard in a grave
lined with reeds from the marshes of Snape by Bob and Doris Ling.
