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.
Eric John Crozier; Benjamin Britten; Sir (William) Tyrone Guthrie
by Maria Austria (Marie Karoline Oestreicher)
bromide print, 1948
NPG x15219
Benjamin Britten with the children of the original cast of 'Lets Make an Opera'
by Kurt Hutton (Kurt Hubschman)
bromide print, 1949
NPG x15220
E.M. Forster; Benjamin Britten
by Kurt Hutton (Kurt Hubschman)
bromide print, 1949
NPG x15222
Benjamin Britten; Ronald Duncan; Peter Pears
by Kurt Hutton (Kurt Hubschman)
bromide print, 1950
NPG x15221
by Felicitas
postcard print, 1950s
NPG x15225
E.M. Forster; Benjamin Britten; Eric John Crozier
by Kurt Hutton (Kurt Hubschman)
bromide print, 1950
NPG x15223
Peter Pears; Kathleen Ferrier; Benjamin Britten
by Unknown photographer
bromide print, 1952
NPG x15229
Sir Geraint Llewellyn Evans; Benjamin Britten
by Keystone Press Agency Ltd
bromide press print, 1953
NPG x139669
Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, John Piper and others in Venice
by Erich Auerbach
bromide print, 1 September 1954
NPG x15232
Benjamin Britten; Julius Katchen
by Fox Photos Ltd
bromide print, 1954
NPG x15230
by Unknown photographer
postcard print, December 1955
NPG x15233
Peter Pears; Francis Poulenc; Benjamin Britten
by Unknown photographer
bromide print, 1955
NPG x15234
by Unknown photographer
bromide print, January 1956
NPG x196233
Yehudi Menuhin and (Edward) Benjamin Britten
by Kurt Hutton (Kurt Hubschman)
bromide print, 1958
NPG x15235
Yehudi Menuhin and (Edward) Benjamin Britten
by Kurt Hutton (Kurt Hubschman)
bromide print, 1958
NPG x15236
Benjamin Britten; André Ravasio
by Kurt Hutton (Kurt Hubschman)
bromide print, 1958
NPG x15238
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett; Benjamin Britten
by Erich Auerbach
bromide print, 1960
NPG x15239
by Lotte Meitner-Graf
gelatin silver print, circa 1960
NPG x15241
by Kurt Hutton (Kurt Hubschman)
bromide print, 1960s
NPG x15243
Related People
- Barbara Britten (sister)
- Robert ('Bobby') Britten (brother)
- Edith Rhoda Britten (née Hockey) (mother)
- Robert Victor Britten (father)
- Sarah Fanny Hockey (aunt)
- Charlotte Elizabeth ('Beth') Welford (née Britten) (sister)
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Related pages
- Bill Brandt: Portraits 1982
- Photographic holdings - print and negative collections
- Only Connect
- Only Connect - Benjamin Britten <> Imogen Holst
- Only Connect - Benjamin Britten <> Yehudi Menuhin
- Only Connect - Yehudi Menuhin <> Benjamin Britten
- Only Connect - Benjamin Britten <> Eric Fenby
- Only Connect - installation video
- Picturing friendship
- Love Stories
- Love stories: art, passion and tragedy