> Skip to content
  • Published: 1 November 2013
  • ISBN: 9780241967584
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 50

Benjamin Britten



The perfect introduction to Britten's wonderful works and controversial life, published for his 100th anniversary

Benjamin Britten single-handedly transformed the reputation of British classical music. The enormous popular appeal of his great works, such as Peter Grimes (1945) and the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946), make him the most successful opera composer of any born in the twentieth century. But his success was not without controversy and pain: he was accused of fleeing Britain to avoid military service, he was widely known to be sexually obsessed with boys and he suffered an astonishing array of illnesses.

This short book combines a colourful overview of his life with pithy descriptions of all of his major musical works, providing an intimate portrait of this highly unusual man and the perfect introduction to a towering figure of British culture.

  • Published: 1 November 2013
  • ISBN: 9780241967584
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 50

Praise for Benjamin Britten

An intelligent and balanced introduction. While making no excuses for Britten's personal weaknesses, it mounts a passionate critical defence of 'the composer the avant garde have [always] loved to hate'

Observer