an introduction to

BENJAMIN BRITTENby Chris Milton

MUSICON THE MIND

The Red House,Golf Lane, Aldeburgh,Suffolk IP15 5PZ

www.brittenpears.org

Ben working on a manuscript, 1936.

Photograph: by permission of the Lennox Berkeley Estate and the Lennox Berkeley Society Guide designed by Simon Loxley.

Printed by Fuller Davies.

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

Many composers in the last century wrote music that was very

complicated to listen to and required many highly skilled musicians to

play and sing it. Benjamin Britten wrote music for everyone, he even

said so himself. He wanted his music ‘to be of use to people, to please

them, to enhance their lives’. People enjoy his music so much that he

is now the most performed British composer in the world.

He wrote music of all kinds and travelled all round the world

performing it as a pianist and conductor. He was so famous that the

BBC devoted a whole programme to him for his fiftieth birthday and

he was the first musician in history to be made a Lord by the Queen.

When he died he left behind over 1,000 pieces of extraordinary music

and the fascinating story of a journey from Suffolk schoolboy to

great composer.

was a composer.

Edward Benjamin Britten (he didn’t really usehis first name after he was about 14) was bornon 22 November 1913 – which is also the daydedicated to St. Cecilia, who is the patron saintof music. He was born at home on the seafrontin Lowestoft, Suffolk. His father was a dentistand the family home combined his dentalsurgery with the rooms for the family.

His mother encouraged music in the houseand the young Ben (as he was always known)showed a huge talent for having musicalideas. As soon as he knew how he wrote downeverything he could – lots of it.

At school he was good at most subjects andalso liked sport but he still found time to write more and more music. He constantlylistened to music and started to learn abouthow music is put together and became moreambitious and use more instruments andideas in his pieces – of course he couldn’t getany of this music played!

Music poured out of him and we still havenotebooks and pages covered in Ben’schildhood pieces that he kept. Some of themare not very good but they show how he wasalways inventing ideas and then developingand refining them.

In 1928 he started to have lessons with thecomposer Frank Bridge who encouragedBenjamin to explore even more music,especially pieces that had been written morerecently to their own times. Even though Benwas only fourteen, Bridge did not treat himlike a child and he sat with Ben for many hoursslowly playing over sections of his pieces andgetting him to rethink and improve them.

In 1930 he went to the Royal College of Musicand set off from the life he knew in East Angliato London. The young Ben didn’t really enjoyhis time studying in London but he did likehaving the chance to hear lots of music andtake ideas from it. Even though he only hadtwo pieces performed whilst he was studyingin London it was the time that he wrote hisfirst adult piece called Sinfonietta, which hededicated to Frank Bridge. He left the Collegein 1933 and with his training over he began totry and make a living as a professionalcomposer.

Inside the mind of a Suffolk schoolboy

BRITTENgrowing up

CHAOS &

Ben’s initials carved into a wall at his school in Lowestoft.

Both Ben’s parents, Edith and Robert, wereborn in Lowestoft. His father was quitestrict and didn’t want the young Ben tobe too fussed over. His mother movedaway from Lowestoft after the death ofBen’s father and she died when visitinghis sister in 1938.His sisters, Barbara and Beth,

remained close to him throughout hislife. His brother, Robert, taught music in Wales.Ben had five nieces and nephews:

John, Alan, Sebastian, Sally and Roguey,who he always gave presents to.

Family

Frank Bridge1879–1941

Bridge was a well-known composer whowrote lots of music in many styles. Hisearlier music sounds very romantic buthe became very interested in modernEuropean music later in his life and thismade some of his pieces very distinctive.Ben was ‘knocked sideways’ after hearingBridge’s piece The Sea in 1927 and his viola teacher introduced them. Bridgebecame his composing teacher and hewould spend long hours talking to himabout music. Ben always rememberedhow much he owed to Bridge throughouthis life and even worried that he neverlived up to Bridge’s musical expectations of him!

What is it?A tone poem. A big piece fororchestra that is supposed toshow different moods or imagesof things.

When was it written?1927, in less than a month, whenhe was 13!

What was it written for?His parents’ twenty-sixthwedding anniversary. He neverheard it performed.

What is it about?This piece dates from the timewhen the young Ben was creatinghuge pieces for big orchestras. In this work he tried to conjuresomething that represented thevastness of outer space from thechaos of things that happen in

events like making of stars andthe sun to the stillness andemptiness of the cosmos (outerspace). He had to try to imaginewhat these ideas might sound like and how to use differentinstruments to make you think of certain things or images.

What does it sound like?Considering he was just 13 when he wrote it this piece isseriously advanced. The chaossection has lots of fast rushingmusic that makes you feel on edge and excited whilst thecosmos section is very still andsounds quite mysterious. You can hear how well Ben paints pictures and ideas in sound and how useful that would be when he was later towrite film music.

COSMOS

What is it?A piece written to go with adocumentary film.

When was it written?1935–1936.

What was it written for?A film at the GPO film unit.

What is it about?The documentary film is about a trainjourney from London to Scotland thattakes all the mail. The film follows itsprogress up the country from sorting andcollecting to final delivery all in one

Ben initially found work with the General PostOffice film unit. This was a group of artists andfilm-makers who were producing a series ofdocumentary films (often with a politicalmessage) and employed Ben to write themusic for them. As a result he met lots ofyoung artists, writers and poets – the mostprominent among them being the poet WH Auden.

Largely due to Auden, Ben started to developnew ideas that were to play a large role in hismusic, especially about disagreeing with war –pacifism. At the same time that Ben, Audenand others were working making documentaryfilms Adolf Hitler was rising to power inGermany and war started to become likely.

The documentary films were produced ratherquickly and because there were often limitedamounts of money to spend on music Bensoon found he had to become fast and flexiblein his creation of the right music for each film.

Outside of his work at the film unit lots ofBen’s pieces were being performed but he wassad that many critics didn’t like his music –they said his music was too clever and didn’thave any real emotion in it. Despite this hecontinued to write more music and began tofind a style all of his own.

In 1934 he wrote a series of twelve songs for hisbrother’s school in Wales. These songs, calledFriday Afternoons (that was when they hadtheir singing practice), started a long process of writing music for schools and began Ben’s lifelong interest in music for young people and music education.

In 1937 he met a young singer called PeterPears who was to become the love of his lifeand very important to the music he wrote. He started to write music especially for Peter’s voice.

As they worked others were getting ready for awar – Hitler’s Germany had started to make itobvious that war in Europe was inevitable. Tofind new professional work and, as pacifists,not being able to fight in the coming war, Benand Peter decided to follow Auden and otherfriends to America.

Two huge talents in one short film

BRITTENin the 30s

Ben always liked fast cars. He used todrive his friends around Suffolk lanesvery fast – he even had accidentsoccasionally. He liked to pick up youngvisitors from the nearest station atSaxmundham and rush them toAldeburgh with the roof down!He said that buying nice cars was

one of the few things that he spentmoney on for himself.He had a couple of Rolls-Royce

cars and it was in one of these that theidea of the Aldeburgh Festival came toPeter. Later on he built a garage at The Red House to store his posh Alvisconvertible in.

Cars

WH Auden1907–1973Auden was one of the most significantpoets and writers in the twentiethcentury. He was famous as a very cleverman and published hundreds of poemsin lots of different styles and exploringmany ideas. His strong opinions andpolitical ideas were a major influence onthe shy Ben when he met him in the1930s. They worked on documentaryfilms and radio plays together before Benfollowed him to America in 1939. Herethey worked on many large-scale piecesbut Ben eventually moved away fromAuden’s influence as time went on.Auden’s reputation continued to growthroughout his life.

night. At the end a poemspecially written by Auden isrecited which is very rhythmicto sound like the moving train.It starts, ‘This is the Night Mailcrossing the border, Bringingthe cheque and the postalorder’.

What does it sound like?Ben created a score that showshis talent for creatingatmospheric film music. He uses special instruments tomake the music sound like a

moving train – sandpaperscraped together and whistlesand wind machines. Because hehad to create something thatsounded like it was movingforward and getting faster like the train in the film Benmade a lot of use of differentrhythms – something he was todo throughout his life. Becauseof the limited money he couldonly use a few instruments butsometimes it sounds like thereare lots due to Ben’s clever useof sounds and techniques.

What is it?A collection of Christmaspieces.

When was it written?1942.

What was it written for?Written on the boat back fromAmerica and dedicated to thelady who helped Ben and Peterwith a home in London.Unusually it wasn’t written for a specific performer.

What is it about?Written for boys’ voices (butfirst performed by a women’s

choir) in three parts and harp.All the pieces have Latin ormedieval words.

What does it sound like?This is a very tuneful piece and one of Ben’s most popular.The harp makes lovely ripplingsounds and the distant sound of the opening (the boys aremeant to walk into theperformance) gives the music a dreamy feel. You can hear Ben experimenting with layersof sound – sometimes the partsare close together and soundsquashed and other times themusic is very spaced out.

When Ben and Peter travelled to NorthAmerica in 1939 they did not know long theywould stay or even how they’d live once theygot there. After visiting various friends theysettled in a small town called Amityville (inNew York State in, appropriately, SuffolkCounty) with a family called the Meyers. The Meyers themselves had four children butMrs Meyer seemed to take great delight inproviding food and board for young strugglingartists (Auden was to join them at the Meyers’in time). The environment must have beencramped but very exciting.

Ben continued to work with Auden and theywrote an operetta (a small light opera)together called Paul Bunyan. Much of themusic in this piece is very tuneful and has lotsof jazz influences that Ben had picked up inwhilst in America. It was hoped that it wouldbe performed in the big theatres of Broadwayin New York but the reactions to the firstperformances weren’t very good – peopleseemed suspicious of the talent of two youngEnglishmen taking on an American folk storylike Paul Bunyan.

Three years passed and Ben began to feelhomesick; he had written lots of music thathad been performed but he felt that theAmerican audiences had not responded as hewould have hoped. He was always very keen totry new things in his music but it was stillimportant that people would like his musicand it hurt him when they didn’t.

One day he read something in a magazine bythe famous English novelist EM Forster thatwas about an eighteenth century poet calledGeorge Crabbe. Crabbe was from a smallfishing town called Aldeburgh which wasdown the coast from where Ben grew up inLowestoft. One of his poems called TheBorough, had a fisherman character calledPeter Grimes and all the reminders of Ben’snative Suffolk; its sounds, people and sceneryconvinced Ben that despite the risks involvedin travelling across the Atlantic Ocean inwartime, he had to come home and make an opera out of this poem.

A

CEREMONYCAROLS

BRITTENin America

OF

Ben always had lots of friends. When he was at school he had friends that heboth played music with, and sport.As he became older he had lots of friendswho worked in other creative areas (notjust music). He knew many of thefamous writers, artists, directors andmusicians of the day.However, he always made time for

ordinary people and especially children.He answered all his letters from youngpeople who asked for advice aboutmusic. He used to invite people whowere performing in the festival to thehouse to swim in his pool.

Friends

Peter Pears1910–1986Peter was the most significant person inBen’s life and his influence cannot be underestimated. They first met in 1937and went to America together wherethey became musical and personalpartners. Peter was a very good singerand Ben wrote music expecially for himthroughout his life. They lived togetherfrom 1939, worked together to found theAldeburgh Festival and travelled theworld giving concerts. Most of the mainroles in Ben’s operas were written forPeter and his first performances of themare now legendary. After Ben died Peterworked hard to continue his legacy andafter he stopped singing taught andcoached many young singers.

Historicmusic thatsoundsbrand new

Ben with Peter in New York.

BRITTENin the 40sWhen Ben and Peter arrived back from Americathey moved to an Old Mill in the small villageof Snape bought in 1937. Ben had the millconverted and the designs were so interestingthat they appeared in an article in a magazine about modern houses!

The Second World War was still going on andthey didn’t want to have to join the war so theyhad to officially register as ‘conscientiousobjectors’ which meant they would be able tocarry on their musical lives without having tofight. Meanwhile Ben had not forgotten thepoem he read in America and started to writehis opera.

The opera was a huge success when it was firstperformed in 1945 with Peter as the titlecharacter. Peter Grimesmade Ben the mostcelebrated composer in the country and madethe musical world take English opera moreseriously than it had before.

After writing such a successful opera Ben was much in demand as a composer andwas asked to write lots of music. One of thesepieces was to accompany an educational filmabout the instruments in an orchestra – thiswas The Young Person’s Guide to theOrchestra and is still very famous today.

Ben soon started to write another opera.However this time he thought it would beinteresting to write it for a smaller group ofsingers and performers. It was performed atGlyndebourne (an opera theatre at a countryhouse in Sussex). It was quite successful andthe owner of the venue soon asked Ben tocome up with another chamber opera.

Now that Ben was becoming very famous he decided to move house. He found a largehouse right on the sea-front up the road inAldeburgh where the poet George Crabbe hadbeen born.

One day when they were travelling back from a tour, Peter wondered why they didn’t justperform at home in a small festival inAldeburgh with their musical friends playingin other concerts. So in the summer of 1948 thefirst Aldeburgh Festival was held and was aninstant hit.

PETERGRIMESPeter Pears (secondleft) as Peter Grimes inthe first production ofthe opera.

Angus McBean Photograph (MS Thr 581). © Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University

What is it?An opera.The story is told through singing.

When was it written?1944–1945.

Who was it written for?For the Koussevitzky MusicFoundation in America but firstperformed by Sadler’s Wells OperaCompany in London.

What is it about?Peter Grimes is a fisherman who isdistrusted by his town communityafter a young assistant diesmysteriously. He wants to becomerich and respectable so he can marrythe school teacher called EllenOrford. Sadly another youngapprentice dies in an accident; the crowd turns against Grimes and he goes mad, sinking his boat withhimself inside.

What does it sound like?Ranging from sea shanties, big crowd songs and eerie solos thisopera has something for everyone. In between the action Ben wroteinterludes (pieces just for theorchestra) that are meant to soundlike different aspects of the sea andcoast. The story is set in a small townbased on Aldeburgh and it is easy tosee how Ben was inspired whenstanding on the beach there lookingout to sea.

Ben liked simple food. He especially likedlots of food that he remembered eatingas a child, ‘nursery food’. Things like ricepudding, trifle and steak-and-kidney piewere always favourites.He hated mushrooms and shell-fish

and he once told a friend that he didn’tlike tomatoes either.When he had his own house he

always had someone to make food forhim – for a long time it was a lady calledMiss Hudson. Peter once said all Bencould do in the kitchen was ‘watch apiece of toast burn slowly’!

Food

Fear and mistrust in asmall fishing communityleads to persecution and death EM Forster

1879–1970Forster was one of the most significantwriters of the twentieth century. Hewrote many different things includingplays, short stories and radio scripts. Heis best known for his famous novels likeHoward’s End and A Passage to India. Hespoke at the first Aldeburgh Festival in1948 and became friends with Ben. In 1950 they worked on the opera Billy Budd together – it was the firsttime Forster (Morgan to his friends) hadworked on an opera. The story includedlots of thought-provoking issues andcomplex characters, which is just whatForster loved. He once summed up hisworld-view by writing ‘only connect’.

Photograph: Hans Wild

Photograph: Hans Wild

Photograph: Brian SeedPhotograph: Brian Seed

Because he had had such success withoperas Ben was asked to write a big newopera for a national festival in 1951. This wascalled Billy Budd, which was performed inthe Royal Opera House.

Ben started work on another yet opera tocelebrate the coronation of the new QueenElizabeth II in 1953. When this opera, calledGloriana, was first seen it was a disaster and many people thought the music wasunsuitable for a big celebration like thecoronation. This upset Ben and made himwant to write less for big occasions.

Ben and Peter travelled a lot at this time.They toured the world giving concert tourstogether – Peter singing and Ben playing thepiano. It was decided to make 1956 a rest yearand to go on a very long holiday. Whilst Benvisited Bali, Thailand, India, Japan and HongKong he felt inspired by the new things heheard and saw and kept lots of these ideaslocked in his head so that he could use themin his own music. One piece of traditionalJapanese theatre he saw gave him an ideathat wasn’t used for another 8 years! Benwas fascinated by the way in which lots ofthe music in the Far East was written to beused by specific people and occasions – likehis own music.

As part of creating ‘useful’ music Ben wasreally interested in writing pieces that couldbe performed by children and amateurs. As aresult, when he was back at home in 1957, hewrote a children’s opera called Noye’sFluddewhich is the story of Noah and his ark. This piece is full of parts for children andyoung people and Ben even invented a newinstrument, mugs slung along a string thatcould be hit to sound like the rain failing.

He was now so famous that living right onthe sea-front meant that passers-by couldn’tresist peeping in through his windows. In1957 they moved up near the golf course inAldeburgh to a big old farm house called The Red House. Ben had an outside buildingconverted into a small studio upstairs where he could work in peace and quiet.They stayed at The Red House for the rest oftheir lives.

BRITTENin the 50s

thePrince

of thePagodas

What is it?A ballet. The story is told through dance.

When was it written?1955–1956.

Who was it written for?The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden.

What is it about?A fantasy story about a king who has tochose which daughter to leave his kingdomto. He chooses the evil one and the goodone, Belle Rose, is thrown out. She travelsto the mystical land of the pagodas whereshe meets the Prince who has beendisguised as a dancing salamander. Theyreturn to Belle Rose’s home where she isrestored to her rightful kingdom.

What does it sound like?The ballet is Ben’s longest piece written forjust orchestra. Because the story is sofantastical and he had to keep the dancingon stage interesting the ballet shows Ben athis most inventive. Sometimes he uses bigsoaring tunes for strings that sound a lotlike film music and at other times he usessmall combinations of woodwindinstruments to make specific sounds tobring certain characters to life.Due to his travels in the Far East Ben

used lots of ideas that were based on theGamelan music he heard in Bali. This isritual percussion music that is veryrhythmic and uses small repeated patternsto build up very thick complicated textures.Ben recreates these techniques withWestern orchestral instruments in the balletto represent the magical Pagoda land.

Imogen Holst1907–1984Imo (as she was known to her friends)was the the only child of famouscomposer Gustav Holst who wrote The Planets. She was a very talentedperson in her own right and wrotemusic, made arrangements andconducted – she was also passionateabout music education. In 1953 she came to Aldeburgh to

work for Ben and help him write hismusic. She used to prepare all his musicpaper with markings and then turn hissketches into readable and playableversions. In 1964 she retired from this jobbut stayed in Aldeburgh and helped runthe festival.

Although he liked being at home inSuffolk Ben always travelled a lot. Evenwhen he was meant to be on holiday heoften still used to perform his music orthink about ideas for new pieces. Sometimes his trips abroad could lastmany months and all his letters home tofriends tell us all about what he wasdoing and feeling.He travelled to over 40 countries in

his lifetime and some places becameespecially important to him. He oftenused to stay in a castle in Germany withclose friends but he said that Venice, Italywas one of the few places other thanhome in which he could really work.

A choice between goodand evil, and a kingdomlost and regained through love

Travel

Photograph: Nigel Luckhurst

What is it?A setting of the Latin text of themass for the dead combined withpoetry by Wilfred Owen, a FirstWorld War poet.

When was it written?1961–1962.

What was it written for?The dedication of the newCoventry Cathedral.

What is it about?Ben was a committed pacifistand this piece is his strongeststatement of his feelings aboutthe horrors of war. It’s a big andsad commemoration for all thosewho have died, suffered andlived through war – whicheverside they’re on. Ben originallyintended the three solo singers tobe from England, Germany and

Russia to represent differentcountries involved in the SecondWorld War.

What does it sound like?Ben created three differentgroups of singers and players inthis piece – he actually wantedthem to be physically separated.The big main orchestra andchoir, along with a solo soprano(the highest type of voice), singthe Latin. At the back a boys’choir are meant to sound like thedistant voice of angels. Close tothe audience a small group ofplayers and two male singersdeal with the often shockingWilfred Owen poetry. The musicis sometimes hugely loud butthen is very quiet and still, butalways very powerful.

In World War Two Coventry Cathedral hadbeen dramatically destroyed by Germanbombs and a new cathedral was built and setto be officially completed in 1962. Ben wasasked to write a big new work and theresulting War Requiem is one of his mostimportant.

The huge popular success (the album was abest-seller and won three Grammy Awards)shocked him in some ways and he perhapsfelt he had used up a lot of his creative energywriting such a huge piece for so many people.As a result he started to change his style. Eversince lessons with Frank Bridge he had triedto use the least number of notes to expresshis ideas and after War Requiem he took thateven further.

He remembered the Japanese play he had seen in 1956 and created a small andintense piece of music based on that idea. Itwas like a mini opera that needed very fewsingers and players and used a specialperforming style that he had seen in histravels. Curlew Riverwas the first of three‘parables for church performance’ (as Bencalled them) that all show his new interest inunusual sounds and using fewer and fewernotes to make the layers in the music clearer and clearer.

It was for the festival in 1967 that Ben finallyhad his dream come true and managed to geta proper concert hall built – having had tomake do for so many years with small hallsand local churches. The new venue was builtout of an old building used for malting(something that happens to make beer) and was down the road from Ben’s old millhouse in Snape.

The Snape Maltings was opened by theQueen and when it sadly caught fire twoyears later she came to reopen it after theyhad managed to rebuild it. Today theMaltings is a world famous concert hall andstill hosts the main part of the AldeburghFestival each summer. People come from allover the world to enjoy music in the placethat Ben had built at the festival that he andhis friends started.

BRITTENin the 60s WAR

REQUIEM

Ben liked dogs and had manythroughout his life. He had a dog calledCaesar when he was growing up whowent to live with him in Snape. After moving to Aldeburgh in 1947, Petergave Ben the first of three Dachshunds(sausage-dogs) that he would own. Firstwas Clytie who had a black puppy calledJove. Later Gilda came to live at The RedHouse with Ben and Peter.Ben used to take his dogs out walking

with him after lunch when he used tothink of his ideas – they were the onlyones with him when he composed!

Dogs

Rostropovich1927–2007Mstislav Rostropovich was one of thegreatest cello players of the twentiethcentury. He was born in Russia butperformed throughout the world – hewas passionate about sharing musicwith people and showing how good thecello could be. Many famous composerswrote music especially for him. He firstmet Ben in the early 1960s and inspiredhim so much that he wrote five majorpieces of music for Slava (as he wasknown) to play. Ben and Slava becameclose friends and went to stay with each other at Christmas time in Suffolkand Russia.

‘The pity of war, the pity war distilled’

Photograph: Nigel Luckhurst

Photograph: Brian Seed

Ben was always interested in new ideas andin 1970 he wrote a new opera especially for TVcalled Owen Wingrave. This meant that evenmore people could now enjoy his music asthey didn’t have to travel further than theirown homes to see and hear it.

As soon as Owen Wingravewas finished hestarted to work on a new opera. This opera,Death in Venice, was to be very special toBen as it seemed to sum up a lot of things hefelt about music and life – it was also to starPeter Pears in the big main role.

As the opera was planned Ben’s heart startedgiving him trouble and he was told that heshould have an operation very soon to correctit but he waited until his opera was finished.When he finally did finish and had hisoperation in 1973 he was so ill restingafterwards that he couldn’t see the opera’sfirst performance which made him feel veryunhappy as he was usually closely involvedwith performances and new productions.

The operation was not totally successful andafterwards he couldn’t play the piano orconduct. When he was staying in hospital hemet a nurse who he became friends with.Rita, the nurse, came to Aldeburgh and lookedafter him over the next few years. Peter wasoften away singing and Ben would anxiouslywait for him to return and they wrote manytouching letters to each other at this time.After a while he realised he would probablynot get any better but he still wanted to writemusic for people and his ideas continued tocome to him. As he did not have the energy towrite big things he created several intensesmall pieces.

In the summer of 1976 it was announced thatthe Queen had decided to make him a Lord(the first musician in history to be made one)and he became officially known as BaronBritten of Aldeburgh – but he was still Ben toall his friends!

He became very ill and by the time of hisbirthday in 1976 he asked Rita to arrange aspecial party so that all his closest friendscould come and say goodbye to him. He diedin the night of 4th December in Peter’s arms.

BRITTENin the 70s

ThirdString Quartet

Ben, now unwell and wrapped upagainst the weather,on a barge holiday.

Photograph: Rita Thomson

What is it?A piece of chamber music writtenfor a string quartet of two violins,a viola and a cello.

When was it written?1975.

What was it written for?Ben had long promised to writeanother string quartet (his lastwas in 1945) – now, at the veryend of his life, he found the time.It was written for the players ofthe Amadeus Quartet.

What is it about?You can see how ill he was whenyou look at Ben’s manuscript, as it is covered with very shakywriting and shows how often hehad to start and stop due totiredness. The final section endswith a note that doesn’t quite fit –he said he wanted to end with a question.

What does it sound like?The piece contains five differentsections that each explore shorttune ideas. In the last section (or ‘movement’ as the sections are properly called) Ben uses lotsof tunes he used in his operaDeath in Venice and seems to sum up lots of feelings that he had left over from writing thatopera. Like lots of his late musicthere are sometimes very fewnotes on the page and thedifferent parts for players oftensound far apart.

Ben lived in lots of different houses duringhis life. He always had a London place tostay whenever he was there but this oftenchanged a lot.The Red House, where he lived from

1957, is a big old farmhouse with windingcorridors and a large garden. There was atennis court for Ben to play on and he andPeter built a special library to rehearse and relax in.When Aldeburgh became very hectic

later in his life and there was aeroplanenoise from a nearby military base, ChapelHouse in the tiny Suffolk village of Horhambecame a favourite place to escape to.

Houses

John andMyfanwy PiperJohn Piper (1903–1992) was a veryfamous artist who also designed stainedglass. He got to know Ben in the 1940sand designed the stage sets for nearly allof Ben’s operas right up to his last one in1973. His style is very unique and seemedto match something in Ben’s music.John’s wife Myfanwy (1911–1997) was

a very clever woman who went touniversity at a time when few womendid. She wrote three opera librettos (thewords) for Ben and worked very closelywith him when they were being written.Ben and Peter went to stay at theirfarmhouse often and enjoyed Myfanwy’sfamously good cooking!

Going forward, looking back andhearing new sounds

Photograph: Philip Vile

Today…

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

Benjamin Britten’s place is

now amongst the famous

and great composers.

However, it’s still important

and significant to remember

his story – from being the

son of a dentist in Lowestoft

who liked to make up tunes

on the piano, to world

famous composer. More than

thirty years after he died he

is one of the most important

cultural figures in the history

of the twentieth century.

is probably the mostperformed Britishcomposer in the world.His operas are staged onevery continent (exceptAntarctica!) and hismusic continues to beloved by people of all agesand nationalities – just ashe would have wanted.

The Aldeburgh Festival, run by Aldeburgh Music, continues, based at Snape Maltings

and top performers travel thousands of miles to this beautiful corner of Suffolk to

play. The events put on now range from big concerts to days when young people can

come and find out about all kinds of music and other things like art, dance and drama.

Young professionals come to Snape to learn from established musicians in a scheme

founded by Ben and Peter.

The Britten–Pears Foundation was set up

after Peter died in 1986 and looks after

The Red House and Ben’s archive as well as

acting as a hub for all interested in the life

and music of Benjamin Britten. The archive

is the biggest of any composer in the world

and contains his original manuscripts,

letters, diaries, receipts, designs, costume

and much more – he never seemed to throw

anything away!

Photograph: Roland Haupt

John Craxton Shepherd and rocks

© John Craxton EstateKeith Grant Norway 1964

courtesy of the Chris Beetles Gallery www.chrisbeetles.com

John Piper Seashore landscape (Shingle Street)

John Philip Souza The Agony of Christ

© Estate of FN Souza. All rights reserved, DACS 2012

John Craske KY114 WK414

John Piper Variations on ancient seals (detail)

John PiperVariations on

ancient seals

(detail)

Vadim Sidur Head

Spencer Gore The Haystacks, Richmond

The art works we have shown are all part of the collection collected by Britten and Pears throughout their lives. The majority of them can be seen hanging on the walls of The Red House, Aldeburgh.

Ben working on a manuscript, 1936.

Photograph: by permission of the Lennox Berkeley Estate and the Lennox Berkeley Society Guide designed by Simon Loxley.

Printed by Fuller Davies.

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

an introduction to

BENJAMIN BRITTENby Chris Milton

MUSICON THE MIND

The Red House,Golf Lane, Aldeburgh,Suffolk IP15 5PZ

www.brittenpears.org