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Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

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Born in Lowestoft, Britten was taught by Frank Bridge and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 1930. Britten emigrated to the USA in 1939 with his friend Peter Pears (who went on to become his partner) returning in 1942. Peter Grimes, the first of Britten's ten operas, was written for Pears, designed by Kenneth Green for the reopening of Sadler's Wells in 1945. 'Billy Budd', 1951, was commissioned for the Festival of Britain and the 'War Requiem', 1962, for the consecration of Coventry Cathedral. Lifelong partners, they started the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, and in 1972 founded the Britten to Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

Title

Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)

Date

1951

Medium

plaster

Measurements

H 38.1 x W (?) x D (?) cm

Accession number

5910

Acquisition method

donated by Trustee of the estate of Bettina Ehrlich, 1986

Work type

Bust

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National Portrait Gallery, London

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