Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, in November 1913, the son of a dental surgeon and an amateur singer. He was a strong pianist from childhood and studied composition with Frank Bridge from 1928; his keyboard work and his composition went hand in hand throughout his life, with the piano remaining central to his concert and recording activity even when his compositional reputation eclipsed it. He entered the Royal College of Music in 1930.

His pianism took its most lasting form in his partnership with the tenor Peter Pears. Across nearly forty years from 1937 until his death they gave recital programmes that effectively defined the post-war serious lieder recital — Schubert’s *Die schöne Müllerin* and *Winterreise* (both released on Decca and remaining reference recordings), the Schumann and Wolf song cycles, the Purcell realisations Britten prepared for Pears, and a substantial body of Britten’s own songs. Britten was also a notable concert pianist in the chamber repertoire — partner to Rostropovich in the cello and piano sonatas, accompanist to Janet Baker and Galina Vishnevskaya in concert performance, and pianist for several of his own works including the *Diversions* and the early Piano Concerto. He led the Aldeburgh Festival from the piano on many of its early programmes.

Britten was made a Companion of Honour in 1953, awarded the Order of Merit in 1965, and created a life peer in 1976. He died in Aldeburgh in December 1976. Music Preserved’s archive includes a substantial range of his work as pianist, particularly the Pears partnerships at Aldeburgh.