Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. His operas are firmly established in the international repertoire, and more of them are played worldwide than those of any other composer born in the twentieth century.
He showed talent from an early age and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. The premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945 brought international fame. For the next fifteen years he devoted much of his energy to the stage, establishing himself as one of the leading twentieth-century figures in opera.
His interests as a composer were wide-ranging. He wrote important music for orchestra, chorus and solo voice (much of it for the tenor Peter Pears), as well as chamber, instrumental and film scores. He also took a lasting interest in music for children and amateur performers, and was himself a fine pianist and conductor.
Compositions by Benjamin Britten appear on
Especially... 7 Pieces for Harp
Alice Giles is unquestionably Australia’s finest harpist. First Prize at the 8th Israel International Harp Contest at twenty-one launched a solo career that has taken her around the world, with many works written expressly for her.
Fantasies
Dutch-born Esther van Stralen, principal violist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, shapes this recital from her own wide-ranging tastes: earlier works on baroque viola sit beside a broad sweep of twentieth-century solo writing.