Besides studying and emulating the works of 20th century composers, Benjamin Britten became increasingly fascinated by English music of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, most notably the music of Henry Purcell. He wrote, “One of my chief aims

During his apprenticeship with Frank Bridge, Benjamin Britten began work on a set of variations on a theme by his teacher. It took Britten 5 years and a specific request from the conductor Boyd Neel and the Salzburg Festival in

While Benji Britten was delighting in his fondness for the young of his own sex, he himself became the object of the desires of the poet WH Auden and the composer Lennox Berkeley. In 1935, the General Post Office Film

It is a rather thankless task to write about Benjamin Britten in the context of a column entitled “In Love.” His long-time relationship with the tenor Peter Pears, which is clearly a love story, is not the issue and I

One of the most enjoyable musical experiences of my life has been performing Sir Michael Tippett’s extraordinary oratorio A Child of our Time with the chorus and orchestra of Clare College, Cambridge. Famous especially because of the series of five

Edith Rhoda Britten, née Hockley was an ambitious woman. When she discovered that her son Benjamin had outstanding musical talents, she not only provided him with his first piano lessons and instructions in rudimentary musicianship, she also was convinced that

Gerald Finzi – Dies Natalis, Op.8: III. The Rapture : Danza Mark Padmore, tenor Britten Sinfonia Jacqueline Shave, director From Benjamin Britten / Gerald Finzi (2012) Released by Harmonia Mundi Gerald Finzi – Dies Natalis, Op.8: III. The Rapture :