Britten’s Children by John Bridcut

Description

The music Benjamin Britten wrote for children — and the children who inspired it. Britten (1913–1976), one of Britain’s greatest composers, was drawn throughout his life to writing for and about the young: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, the church parables, the boy roles at the heart of operas like Peter Grimes. In Britten’s Children, documentary film-maker John Bridcut explores the relationships behind that music.

Bridcut — whose television documentary on the subject won the Royal Philharmonic Society award — investigates with sensitivity and rigor, neither sensationalizing nor evading the difficult questions. Published by Faber & Faber in 2006, this is a serious, humane study of how a great artist’s private life fed his public art. Bridcut also draws on unpublished letters and diaries to show how these youthful relationships shaped the masterpieces.

For classical music lovers who want to understand Britten beyond the masterpieces. Thoughtful, balanced, and beautifully written.

The music Britten wrote for the boys who inspired him

Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) is one of Britain’s greatest composers — and throughout his life he was drawn to writing music for and about children: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, the church parables, and the boy roles at the heart of operas like Peter Grimes. In Britten’s Children, published in 2006 by Faber & Faber, documentary film-maker John Bridcut explores the relationships with the young people who inspired so much of that music.

Bridcut — whose television documentary on the subject won the Royal Philharmonic Society award — interweaves discussion of the music with interviews with the boys Britten befriended, now grown men looking back with affection and candor. The result, praised for “an impeccably unsensational tone,” is a study the Britten-Pears Foundation called “thoroughly researched, wonderfully readable.”

A sensitive, honest, and illuminating portrait of a great composer and the music that made him immortal.

For readers who

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• Love classical music and want to understand Britten’s world.
• Enjoy intelligent, compassionate biography.
• Are curious about the human stories behind great art.

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An essential book for anyone who loves Britten’s music.