Britten, Benjamin (1913-1976), also called Lord Britten, was a British composer famous for his vocal music, especially operas. His operas include Peter Grimes (1945), The Rape of Lucrecia (1946), Albert Herring (1947), Billy Budd (1951), The Turn of the Screw (1954), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1960), Owen Wingrave (1971), and Death in Venice (1973).
Britten wrote much children’s music. To introduce young people to music, he composed The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1945). To involve them in musical performances, he wrote Noye’s Fludde (1958). Noye’s Fludde, a religious play with music, is based on a medieval miracle play and involves a large cast of children and amateurs.
Britten’s War Requiem (1962) is one of his finest works. It is based on the Roman Catholic Mass for the dead, blended with verses from antiwar poems by the English poet Wilfred Owen.
Britten skillfully combined words and music in his songs, which rank among his best works. His songs include the group Les Illuminations (1939) and a series of songs that begins with “Canticle I” (1947) and ends with “Canticle V” (1971). A Ceremony of Carols (1942) is a group of songs for women’s chorus and harp with words from medieval English texts.
Edward Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft, England, on Nov. 22, 1913. He was a child prodigy and composed several works, including an oratorio and six string quartets, before he was 12 years old. Britten began studying with the English composer Frank Bridge about that age. At 17, he entered the Royal College of Music in London. Queen Elizabeth II made him a life peer in June 1976, months before his death on Dec. 4, 1976.
