Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh summary

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Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh, (born Nov. 22, 1913, Lowestoft, Suffolk, Eng.—died Dec. 4, 1976, Aldeburgh, Suffolk), British composer. He studied at the Royal College of Music, where he met the tenor Peter Pears (1910–86), who would become his lifelong companion. His auspicious Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (1937), for string orchestra, won him international acclaim. In 1945 his opera Peter Grimes established him as a leading opera composer. In 1948 he cofounded the Aldeburgh Festival, which became one of the most important English music festivals and the centre of Britten’s musical activities. His operas include The Rape of Lucretia (1946), The Turn of the Screw (1954), and Death in Venice (1973); they are admired for their skillful setting of English words and their orchestral interludes, as well as for their dramatic aptness and depth of psychological characterization. His large choral work War Requiem (1961) was greatly acclaimed. His best-known orchestral piece is The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1946). In 1976 he became the first British composer in history to be ennobled.

Grammy Award Summary

Grammy Award, any of a series of awards presented annually in the United States by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS; commonly called the Recording Academy) or the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (LARAS; commonly called the Latin Recording Academy) to recognize

cantata Summary

Cantata, (from Italian cantare, “to sing”), originally, a musical composition intended to be sung, as opposed to a sonata, a composition played instrumentally; now, loosely, any work for voices and instruments. The word cantata first appeared in the Italian composer Alessandro Grandi’s Cantade et

Square piano by Johann Christoph Zumpe, 1767; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

piano Summary

Piano, a keyboard musical instrument having wire strings that sound when struck by felt-covered hammers operated from a keyboard. The standard modern piano contains 88 keys and has a compass of seven full octaves plus a few keys. The vibration of the strings is transmitted to a soundboard by means

song Summary

Song, piece of music performed by a single voice, with or without instrumental accompaniment. Works for several voices are called duets, trios, and so on; larger ensembles sing choral music. Speech and music have been combined from earliest times; music heightens the effect of words, allowing them