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Benjamin Britten

(1913-1976), Composer

(Edward) Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten

Sitter in 120 portraits
Artist of 5 portraits
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-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies.

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Christopher Isherwood, by Benjamin Britten - NPG x15193

Christopher Isherwood

by Benjamin Britten
snapshot print, circa 1930
NPG x15193

Benjamin Britten, by Benjamin Britten - NPG x15186

Benjamin Britten

by Benjamin Britten
snapshot print, December 1934
NPG x15186

Benjamin Britten, by Benjamin Britten - NPG x15187

Benjamin Britten

by Benjamin Britten
snapshot print, December 1934
NPG x15187

Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley, by Benjamin Britten - NPG x15189

Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley

by Benjamin Britten
snapshot print, 1936
NPG x15189

Benjamin Britten, by Benjamin Britten - NPG x15227

Benjamin Britten

by Benjamin Britten
bromide print
NPG x15227

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