Benjamin Britten Accomplishments

Benjamin Britten, an outstanding British composer, pianist, and conductor, is one of the most famous composers of the 20th century. His talents include composing Operas, Chorals, and Orchestra pieces. Included in his accomplishments are compositions composed for symphonies, operas, and films. He became quite well known for his work during the mid-twentieth century. Benjamin Britten was born in 1913 in Lowestoft England. Britten’s father was a dentist, and not very involved in young Benjamin’s musical life. However, his mother Edith introduced him to music, and encouraged his natural musical talent. She was also interested in music, being a singer and pianist. She connected him with composer Frank Bridge who oversaw his musical education
During this turbulent time, he wrote such works as the Violin Concerto, and the folk arrangement Paul Bunyon. After four years in North America, he became increasingly homesick and returned to England. According to principal author, Peter Gammond of the book The A-Z of Classical Composers, Britten was a “keen sportsman until middle age, tennis and swimming being among his favorite relaxations, and enjoyed holidays that were sometimes combined with concert tours.” In May 1973, he had to have surgery for a heart condition, and suffered a slight stroke that prevented him from composing for about a year. He never fully recovered, but continued to compose until his condition worsened and he died
One of his best known orchestra pieces, “Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell”, also known as “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”, is a work that was composed in honor of English composer Henry Purcell and was used as a teaching piece.” In 1946, Britten was commissioned to compose a piece for educational purposes for the documentary “The Instruments of the Orchestra” that was to be used in schools. He liked the work of Henry Purcell, and according to the Oxford Companion to Music, “it illustrates the uses and characteristics of the instruments and sections of the orchestra in a set of variations on a theme from Purcell's incidental music to the play Abdelazer (1695), culminating in a fugue. It is sometimes performed with a narrator who speaks the original text, by Eric Crozier.”INSERT FOOTNOTE Since the piece was designed as to be taught to students, there are distinct sections for the orchestra’s main instruments; the woodwinds, the strings, the brass and the percussion. As an instructional piece it known primarily by the Title “Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell”, but was better known by its title (which was preferred by Britten) in the concert version, “The Young Person’s Guide to the