Britten was now composing lots of music: songs, chamber music and a very popular piece called "Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra" (also known as "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell"). This piece shows off each instrument of the orchestra in turn so that young people can get to know the sound of the musical instruments. It is based on a tune written by Henry Purcell 300 years ago. There were more popular works: St Nicolas and the Spring Symphony. There were not many opportunities for big operas to be performed, so he wrote some “chamber operas” which only needed small orchestras and a small number of singers. These were performed in places such as local churches by a group which called themselves English Opera Group. He wrote "The Rape of Lucretia" (1946) and "Albert Herring" (1947). In 1948 the group helped to start a music festival in Aldeburgh. Benjamin Britten spent the rest of his life mainly working on music which was to be performed at the Aldeburgh Festival. He composed some of his greatest works for the festival, and he took part in the performances as conductor and pianist.
One of Britten’s most popular pieces of music for amateurs including children was "Noye’s Fludde" (1957). He wrote three “church parables”. His large operas include "Billy Budd" (1951) which was soon produced in Covent Garden. In June 1953 he wrote "Gloriana", an opera about Queen Elizabeth I, written for the coronation celebrations of Elizabeth II. When he travelled with Peter Pears to the Far East he was influenced by the music of Bali and he composed a ballet called "The Prince of the Pagodas", performed in Covent Garden in 1957. Another great work inspired by the East was the parable "Curlew River" (1964). The opera "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" was written for the Aldeburgh Festival in 1960. In 1962 he wrote the "War Requiem" to celebrate the new Coventry Cathedral. This is one of the greatest musical works of the 20th century.
In 1961 he became friends with the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. He composed a "Cello Sonata" and a "Cello Symphony" (1963) (a kind of cello concerto), as well as three suites for solo cello. He travelled with Pears to the Soviet Union.
In 1967 the Aldeburgh Festival had a new concert hall, the Maltings at Snape. His next opera was "Owen Wingrave" (1970), written for television but soon produced in Covent Garden. In June 1973 Britten produced another great opera "Death in Venice". The main character, called Aschenbach, was perhaps the best music he ever wrote for Peter Pears. It was performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, but Britten was ill by this time and unable to be at the performance. His heart condition made it impossible to work on any more large works, but he still wrote some harp music for the harpist Ossian Ellis, a song called "Phaedra" for Janet Baker, and a "Third String Quartet". He died in Aldeburgh on 4 December 1976.
Britten received many honours both in Britain and in other countries. He became a Companion of Honour in 1952 a member of the Order of Merit in 1965 and, in the year he died, he was the first musician ever to receive a life peer (the title Lord Britten).
Britten’s early works were often written for instruments. His "Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge" (1937) for string orchestra is a very popular work today. He often borrowed and reinvented themes by other composers (this is called “parody” technique). During his last years he again gave much attention to instrumental music, mainly chamber music.
After he met Peter Pears much of his music was vocal. This includes more than 100 songs, a number of operas, chamber operas as well as three works for tenor solo and orchestra: "Les Illuminations", the "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings" and the "Nocturne". His songs are often grouped in cycles. He also wrote many folksong settings. These were very popular as encore pieces when he accompanied Peter Pears in song recitals.
Britten wrote music for choirs, including "Hymn to St Cecilia" (Britten was proud of having been born on St Cecilia’s day: 22 November). The "War Requiem" is his greatest work which combines writing for choir and orchestra. It describes the horrors of war (Britten had refused to fight in World War II).
He wrote a lot of work for children. There are even parts for children in some of his operas, e.g. "Peter Grimes", "The Turn of the Screw" and "Owen Wingrave". He even wrote an opera in which all the main parts are sung by children: "The Little Sweep" (1949).
Many of his great operatic roles, from Peter Grimes to Aschenbach in "Death in Venice", deal with the theme of the outsider, the person who does not quite fit into society, or who is misunderstood. Britten’s homosexuality (which was something that was never discussed in his lifetime) may have something to do with this. He also knew what it was like to be an outsider when he tried to live in the United States, and his refusal to fight in the war may have distanced him from some people.
The Aldeburgh Festival at the Maltings in Snape (a village near Aldeburgh) continue to be a focus for Britten’s music. Every year the Brittens-Pears School of Music organizes lessons and performance opportunities for young musicians. A series of “Prom” concerts is held there every year in August.
Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Monteverdi (b.Cremona, 1567; d.Venice 25 November 1643) was the most important composer of the early Baroque period. He lived at a time of great change in musical style. The first opera ever written was composed in 1597 by a composer named Jacopo Peri. Just eleven years later Monteverdi wrote an opera "Orfeo" which was a really great work. Other important operas of his are "Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda" and "Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria". He wrote 9 books of madrigals. He also wrote a lot of church music including the "1610 Vespers". He was director of music at St Mark’s, Venice, which was the most important musical job in Italy.
Monteverdi was the son of an apothecary and a doctor. He was very talented as a young boy and was only 15 when he published his first pieces of music. In the introduction to this music he says that his music teacher was Marc’ Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro di cappella of Cremona cathedral. We cannot find anything that shows that he sang in the cathedral choir. He probably had private music lessons. He learned composition, singing and how to play string instruments such as the viol and viola da braccio. He got several compositions published in Venice. By the time he got his first job he had already published two books of madrigals.
His first job was working at the court of the Duke of Mantua. In Mantua there was a small band of excellent musicians. The musical director was the famous Giaches de Wert. Monteverdi got to know many famous poets, and there were famous singers at Ferrara which was not far away.
At first Monteverdi had a low-paid job. He married the daughter of one of the court musicians in the string band. Monteverdi soon became well-known. He sent several of his compositions to be performed at Ferrara, and he went with the duke to when his army was fighting the Turks.
The young Monteverdi was developing a new musical style. The old style was known as "prima pratica" (“first practice”) and the new style was called the "seconda pratica" (“second practice”). The "prima pratica" continued to be used for church music. In this style of writing the music was thought to be more important than the words. This meant that the music could be very contrapuntal, with several things going on at once so that the words could not be clearly heard. However, in the "seconda pratica" the words were more important than the music, i.e. it was important to be able to hear all the words clearly, and the music had to be simple enough for this to happen. This was particularly important in opera and in madrigals.