Benjamin Britten

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Benjamin Britten (born Lowestoft, 22 November 1913; died Aldeburgh, 4 December 1976) was probably the greatest English composer of his time. He came from East Anglia (a region in the east of England) and he often thought about the East Anglian landscape and the sea when writing his music. He wrote a lot of music for his friend, the tenor Peter Pears. They went to America together during the Second World War, but one day Britten read a poem by the East Anglian poet George Crabbe. It made him feel homesick. He realized he could not compose if he cut himself off from his roots. So they returned to England. His operas include Peter Grimes, Billy Budd, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Death in Venice. His War Requiem was performed in Coventry Cathedral in 1962 after it had been rebuilt because the old cathedral had been destroyed in the war. Britten was also an excellent pianist and conductor.