Product Description

Benjamin Britten (1913-76) changed the course of English music with highly original works such as his opera Peter Grimes. While his music is performed more widely than those of any other English composer, his international success did not prevent him from continuing to draw inspiration from his native land. In this engaging biography, the author creates a portrait of a great artist, exploring his wide-ranging compositions in detail and discussing the many contradictions that pervaded Britten's fascinating life and career.


Benjamin Britten is part of Phaidon's successful 20th Century Composers series, which presents authoritative and engaging biographies of the great creative musicians of our time, augmented by striking visual material and essential reference information. This edition of the book features a whimsical new cover by Jean-Jacques Sempé, the world-renowned illustrator and cartoonist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #354160 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Amazon.com Review
He wrote the first successful English opera since Purcell, along with a collection of songs, choral compositions, and ballets that have assured him an important place in 20th-century music. Michael Oliver, in one of Phaidon's series, 20th-Century Composers, offers a compact, useful introduction to British composer Benjamin Britten and his work, from folksong settings to church music and the great opera Peter Grimes. Frank about Britten's homosexuality and his long-time relationship with the tenor Peter Pears, the book is never prurient and seldom gossipy. Like all the Phaidon books, this one is relatively brief, well written, well illustrated, and not too technical.

From Library Journal
Similar to other volumes in Phaidon's "20th Century Composers" series, including Oliver's own Igor Stravinsky (LJ 2/15/96), this latest effort treats British composer Britten's life and works in strict chronological order, with detailed, easily intelligible discussions of major compositions. He deals forthrightly with Britten's homosexuality and its influence on his music without stooping to innuendo and gossip. Some personal opinions surface but do not detract measurably from the text, which illustrates Britten's development from youthful studies with Frank Bridge and John Ireland to later acclaim as one of Great Britain's most important contemporary composers. Abundant photographs and illuminating quotes from Britten's own writings are interspersed throughout. This book covers the same territory as Humphrey Carpenter's excellent Benjamin Britten: A Biography (LJ 6/15/93), albeit in a considerably condensed format. Enthusiastically recommended for all music collections as well as for general academic or public libraries that do not hold Carpenter's work.
Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, Ohio
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Michael Oliver was a well-known writer and broadcaster, having written and compiled hundreds of documentaries and programs about music for BBC Radio 3. He was a regular contributor to Gramaphone, among other magazines, for over twenty years until his death in 2002.

Customer Reviews

Phaidon's, "Benjamin Britten" very informative, enjoyable
Michael Oliver's "Benjamin Britten" is both informative and insightful. As one in a series of 20th Century Composers, I found this edition most interesting. I have read six other editions from the series, and Michael Oliver's is the best written thus far.

There are several well written biographies of Britten on the market. All that I have read thus far spend entirely too much time discussing the personal life of the composer, rather than focusing on his ground- breaking operas, or orchestral works. Oliver chooses to focus more on the music that is Britten, rather than getting wrapped up in his personal life. True, elements of Britten's childhood and adult struggles with the morality of the day may have caused him to compose the haunting tunes and melodies, but they are not the basis for understanding his music.

Oliver highlights the reason Britten is one of the 20th century's greatest composers- pure genious.