Born: 1913
Died: 1976
Country: England
Period: 20th Century
With the arrival of Benjamin Britten on the international music scene, many felt that English music gained its greatest genius since Purcell. A composer of wide-ranging talents, Britten found in the human voice an especial source of inspiration, an affinity that resulted in a remarkable body of work, ranging from operas like Peter Grimes (1944-1945) and Death in Venice (1973) to song cycles like the Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings (1943) toRead more the massive choral work War Requiem (1961). He also produced much music for orchestra and chamber ensembles, including symphonies, concerti, and chamber and solo works. Britten's father was a prosperous oral surgeon in the town of Lowestoft, Suffolk; his mother was a leader in the local choral society. When Benjamin's musical aptitude became evident, the family engaged composer Frank Bridge to supervise his musical education. Bridge's tutelage was one of the formative and lasting influences on Britten's compositional development; Britten eventually paid tribute to his teacher in his Op. 10, the Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge (1937). Britten's formal training also included studies at the Royal College of Music (1930-1933).
Upon graduation from the RCM, Britten obtained a position scoring documentaries (on prosaic themes like "Sorting Office") for the Royal Post Office film unit. Working on a tight budget, he learned how to extract the maximum variety of color and musical effectiveness from the smallest combinations of instruments, producing dozens of such scores from 1935 to 1938. He rapidly emerged as the most promising British composer of his generation and entered into collaborative relationships that exerted a profound influence upon his creative life. Among the most important of his professional associates were literary figures like W.H. Auden, and later, E.M. Forster. None, however, played as central a role in Britten's life as the tenor Peter Pears, who was Britten's closest intimate, both personally and professionally, from the late '30s to the composer's death. Pears' voice inspired a number of Britten's vocal cycles and opera roles, and the two often joined forces in song recitals and, from 1948, in the organization and administration of the Aldeburgh Festival.
A steadfast pacifist, Britten left England in 1939 as war loomed over Europe. He spent four years in the United States and Canada, his compositional pace barely slackening, as evidenced by the production of works like the Sinfonia da Requiem (1940), the song cycle Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo (1940), and his first effort for the stage, Paul Bunyan (1940-1941). Eventually, the poetry of George Crabbe drew Britten back to England. With a Koussevitzky Commission backing him, the composer wrote the enormously successful opera Peter Grimes (1944-45), which marked the greatest turning point in his career. His fame secure, Britten over the next several decades wrote a dozen more operas, several of which -- Albert Herring (1947), Billy Budd (1951), The Turn of the Screw (1954), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), Death in Venice (1973) -- became instant and permanent fixtures of the repertoire. He also continued to produce much vocal, orchestral, and chamber music, including Songs and Proverbs of William Blake (1965), the three Cello Suites (1961-1964) and the Cello Symphony (1963), written for Mstislav Rostropovich, and the Third String Quartet (1975).
Britten suffered a stroke during heart surgery in 1971, which resulted in something of a slowdown in his creative activities. Nonetheless, he continued to compose until his death in 1976, by which time he was recognized as one of the principal musical figures of the twentieth century. Read less
Label: Brilliant Classics
Catalog: 95354
Release Date: 05/27/2016
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten,
Krzysztof Penderecki,
Alban Berg
Performer:
Theo Adam,
Anthony Roden,
Kari Lovaas,
Hansjurgen Scholze
...
Conductor:
Herbert Kegel
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Leipzig Radio Chorus,
Dresden Boys' Choir,
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 552758
Release Date: 10/09/2015
Number of Discs: 52
Composer:
Leos Janácek,
Benjamin Britten,
Kurt Weill,
Ralph Vaughan Williams
...
Performer:
Felicity Palmer,
Ameral Gunson,
John Mitchinson,
Malcolm King
...
Conductor:
Simon Rattle
Orchestra/Ensemble:
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus,
Christ Church Cathedral Choir Men and Boys
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 15448
Release Date: 11/19/2013
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Anna Netrebko,
Ian Bostridge,
Thomas Hampson
Conductor:
Antonio Pappano
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Santa Cecilia Academy Rome Chorus,
Santa Cecilia Academy Rome Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Signum Classics
Catalog: 340
Release Date: 09/24/2013
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Susan Gritton,
Christopher Maltman,
John Mark Ainsley
Conductor:
Paul McCreesh
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Gabrieli Consort,
Gabrieli Players
Recommendation
Label: Decca
Catalog: 001895702
Release Date: 09/17/2013
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Galina Vishnevskaya,
Peter Pears,
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau,
Simon Preston
Conductor:
Benjamin Britten
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra,
London Symphony Chorus,
Highgate School Chorus
...
Recommendation
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 151562
Release Date: 06/04/2013
Number of Discs: 7
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Thomas Allen,
Robert Tear,
Elisabeth Söderström,
Mark Blatchly
...
Conductor:
Simon Rattle,
André Previn,
Sir David Willcocks,
Sir Philip Ledger
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
Christ Church Cathedral Choir Men and Boys,
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
...
Recommendation
Label: Hänssler Classic
Catalog: 98008
Release Date: 04/30/2013
Number of Discs: 10
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
César Franck,
Benjamin Britten,
Franz Joseph Haydn
...
Performer:
Juliane Banse,
Ingeborg Danz,
James Taylor,
Andreas Schmidt
...
Conductor:
Helmuth Rilling
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Stuttgart Bach Collegium,
Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart,
Aurelius Boys Choir of Calw
...
Label: Apex
Catalog: 2564659416
Release Date: 10/30/2012
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Carol Vaness,
Jerry Hadley,
Thomas Hampson
Conductor:
Kurt Masur
Orchestra/Ensemble:
American Boychoir,
Westminster Symphonic Choir,
New York Philharmonic
Recommendation
Label: Arthaus Musik
Catalog: 101659
Release Date: 10/30/2012
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Erin Wall,
Mark Padmore,
Hanno Müller-Brachmann
Conductor:
Andris Nelsons
Orchestra/Ensemble:
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Recommendation
Label: Arthaus Musik
Catalog: 108070
Release Date: 10/30/2012
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Erin Wall,
Mark Padmore,
Hanno Müller-Brachmann
Conductor:
Andris Nelsons
Orchestra/Ensemble:
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Recommendation
Label: Challenge
Catalog: 72388
Release Date: 09/11/2012
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Evelina Dobracheva,
Anthony Dean Griffey,
Mark Stone
Conductor:
Jaap van Zweden
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra,
Netherlands Children's Choir,
Netherlands Radio Choir
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog: 437801
Release Date: 03/04/2011
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Jürgen Lamke,
Bo Skovhus,
Anthony Rolfe Johnson,
Luba Orgonasova
Conductor:
John Eliot Gardiner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tölz Boys Choir,
North German Radio Symphony Orchestra,
North German Radio Chorus Hamburg
...
Recommendation
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 42743
Release Date: 03/24/2009
Number of Discs: 5
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Robert Tear,
Peter Donohoe,
Willard White,
Alison Hargan
...
Conductor:
Simon Rattle
Orchestra/Ensemble:
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
Christ Church Cathedral Choir Men and Boys
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 17526
Release Date: 11/24/2008
Number of Discs: 37
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Andrew Mead,
Jill Gomez,
Norman Bailey,
Penelope Walker
...
Conductor:
Reginald Goodall,
Richard Hickox,
Daniel Harding,
Bernard Haitink
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Trinity Boys Choir,
City of London Sinfonia,
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus
...
Label: Hänssler Classic
Catalog: 98507
Release Date: 06/10/2008
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Annette Dasch,
James Taylor,
Christian Gerhaher
Conductor:
Helmuth Rilling
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Stuttgart Festival Ensemble,
Aurelius Boys Choir of Calw
Recommendation
Label: Video Artists International
Catalog: 4429
Release Date: 08/28/2007
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Nicholas Di Virgilio,
Phyllis Curtin,
Tom Krause
Conductor:
Erich Leinsdorf
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Pro Musica Chorus,
Columbus Boychoir
Label: Lpo
Catalog: 10
Release Date: 07/25/2006
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Anthony Dean Griffey,
Gerald Finley,
Christine Brewer
Conductor:
Neville Creed,
Kurt Masur,
Simon Toyne
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Choir,
London Philharmonic Orchestra,
Tiffin School Boys Chorus
Label: Decca
Catalog: 000638902
Release Date: 05/16/2006
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Peter Pears,
Simon Preston,
Galina Vishnevskaya,
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Conductor:
Benjamin Britten
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Chorus,
London Symphony Orchestra,
Highgate School Chorus
...
Label: Berlin Classics
Catalog: 1012
Release Date: 10/01/2005
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Alban Berg,
Krzysztof Penderecki,
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Manfred Scherzer,
Anthony Roden,
Theo Adam,
Hansjürgen Scholze
...
Conductor:
Herbert Kegel
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra,
Leipzig Radio Orchestra,
Leipzig Radio Chorus
...
Label: Gothic Records
Catalog: 49241
Release Date: 05/10/2005
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Christine Goerke,
Richard Clement,
Richard Stilwell
Conductor:
Robert Shafer
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Washington Chorus,
National Symphony, Washington, D. C.,
Shenandoah Conservatory Choir
...