Benjamin Britten ~ composing a century

As 2012 was a celebration of half a century for Coventry Cathedral and Britten’s War Requiem, so 2013 celebrates the centenary of the man himself.

Prolific, despondent; inspired, rejected; resolute, tormented.

Benjamin Britten pictured here with his lifelong partner and musical companion, Peter Pears.

Benjamin Britten was born 22^nd November 1913 and from an early age showed and soon proved his musical prowess, going on to dominate twentieth-century British classical music.

As part of the celebration of his life and recognition of his contributions to the global influence of British music, this blog will follow some of the concerts being held in his honour. Specifically, we will follow the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) whose choir have extensive travel plans and performance schedules to sing Britten’s War Requiem.

Michael Foster and his wife Cathy will carry Britten’s voice across Europe and we hope to follow their concerts and receptions over the coming months.

We move on from celebrating Coventry’s 50 year association with Britten, to celebrate Benjamin Britten himself - the man, the music, the mentor - and hope you will be able to follow us as we share the journey.

The Britten Pears Foundation has a website dedicated to the many hundreds of events taking place as part of the centenary celebrations - well worth a look: http://www.britten100.org/home

www.warrequiem.co.uk