Full Name: Edward Benjamin Britten
Profession: Composer
Biography: Benjamin Britten was an English composer, conductor, and pianist who was a key figure in British music during the twentieth century. He created the opera Peter Grimes (1945), as well as the showpiece The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1945).
Alongside these major works, he wrote other well-known pieces such as the War Requiem (1962) as well as 14 operas over his 28 year career. He also wrote chamber operas, including The Turn of the Screw (1954), based on the book by Henry James.
He had close relationships with many of the major musical figures of his day, especially his muse and partner Peter Pears. Other friends and colleagues included Mstislav Rostropovich, Kathleen Ferrier, and Eric Crozier. Britten, Pears, and Crozier founded the Aldeburgh festival in 1948.
Born: November 22, 1913
Birthplace: Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom
Generation: Greatest Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Ox
Star Sign: Sagittarius
Died: December 4, 1976 (aged 63)
Cause of Death: Heart failure
Historical Events
- 1940-01-30 Benjamin Britten's song cycle "Les Illuminations" premieres at Aeolian Hall, London, England with soprano Sophie Wyss and the Boyd Neel Orchestra
- 1941-03-29 World premiere performance of Benjamin Britten's "Requiem Symphony" by the New York Philharmonic under John Barbirolli. at Carnegie Hall, New York City
- 1945-06-05 Benjamin Britten's opera "Peter Grimes" premieres in London
- 1945-11-21 Benjamin Britten's String Quartet No. 2 premieres at the Wigmore Hall, London, played by the Zorian Quartet
- 1946-07-12 Benjamin Britten's "Rape of Lucretia" premieres at Glyndebourne Opera Festival
- 1948-05-24 Benjamin Britten's "Beggar's Opera" premieres at Arts Theatre, Cambridge, England
- 1948-12-29 Benjamin Britten's opera "The Rape of Lucretia" opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; runs for 23 performances
- 1949-01-16 Benjamin Britten's chamber opera "The Rape of Lucretia" closes at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC, after 23 performances
- 1949-07-14 Benjamin Britten's choral symphony "Spring Symphony" premieres in Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
- 1951-12-01 Benjamin Britten's opera "Billy Budd" premieres in London
- 1954-09-14 Benjamin Britten's opera "Turn of the Screw" premieres in Venice
- 1957-01-01 Benjamin Britten's only full-length ballet "Prince of the Pagodas," premieres at Covent Garden, London
- 1958-10-16 Benjamin Britten's "Nocturne," premieres
- 1959-07-22 Benjamin Britten's "Missa Brevis" in D premieres
- 1960-07-01 Benjamin Britten's cantata "Carmen Baseliense" premieres in Basel, Switzerland
- 1962-05-30 Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" incorporating the poems of Wilfred Owen premieres, marking the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral
- 1965-10-24 Benjamin Britten's "Voices for Today" premieres
- 1971-05-16 Benjamin Britten's opera "Owen Wingrave" premieres in Aldwych, London
Clara Schumann
Ina Boyle
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Arturo Toscanini
Igor Stravinsky
Maurice Ravel