Benjamin BrittenBenjamin Britten (1913 -- 76) was the greatest English composer of his time, and the first of his generation to enjoy a wide international reputation. With the great success of Peter Grimes (1945) he effectively reinvented English opera and was a pioneer of music for film and radio. For much of his life, however, British critics dismissed his music as merely 'clever'. Nor was his private life free from malicious gossip, yet his sexuality and his political and social convictions directly or indirectly inspired much of his art. In this masterly biography the author creates a portrait of a great artist and discusses the contradictions of his quintessential Englishness and his world stature, his outsider status and his membership of the establishment, his artistic adventurousness and his constant regard for musical forms and traditions. |
What people are saying - Write a review
Benjamin Britten
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictSimilar to other volumes in Phaidon's "20th Century Composers" series, including Oliver's own Igor Stravinsky (LJ 2/15/96), this latest effort treats British composer Britten's life and works in ... Read full review
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Aldeburgh Festival arias Ballad ballet Benjamin Britten Billy Budd birthday Boy was Born Bridge's British Britten and Pears Britten wrote Britten's music cantata Canticle Cello Chamber Orchestra conducted Choir choral chords chorus and orchestra commission composer composition concert conducted by Benjamin critics Curlew River cycle Death in Venice diary dramatic English Chamber Orchestra English Opera Group fp Aldeburgh fp London fp radio fp Snape Frank Bridge friends Gloriana Gresham's harp heard homosexual Hymn Imogen Holst John June later libretto Lucretia lyrical melody Montagu Slater motif movement Myfanwy Piper Paul Bunyan Pears's performance Peter Grimes Peter Pears pianist Piano Concerto piece play poems Posthumously published premiere rehearsal revised Ronald Duncan Rostropovich scherzo score Screw sequence Sinfonia da Requiem solo soloists Sonata Sonnets soprano string orchestra String Quartet tenor Theatre theme variations viola Violin Concerto vocal voice and piano W. H. Auden William write young