Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten is the most important English composer of our time. He was born in England in 1913. Benjamin Britten's father was a doctor and loved music very much. Benjamin's mother played the piano and sang well. The friends of the family often came to the house to play music in the evenings. Benjamin had a great interest in music and he started to play the piano and compose music when he was only five. While he was at school, Benjamin continued to compose songs. He worked hard at other subjects too, but he was only fond of music. By the time he was fourteen he wrote many musical pieces. When he left school, he went to the Royal College of Music for three years. When he was 19, he began to work for a-small film company as a musician'. The company produced documentary films and had very little money, so Britten wrote music not for large orchestras but for six or seven instruments. During his work for the films, radio and theatre-he met young progressive poets of the day⁴. They played an important part in Britten's intellectual deve­lopment. He loved children and wrote many songs for them. In 1934 he wrote a book of songs "Friday Afternoons". His children's operas, such as "Let's Make an Opera", are simple and very nice. He also wrote a "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra"-' - "Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Purcell", which tells' us about the various in­struments of the orchestra.

B.Britten follows the musical traditions of realism. He is fond of the suite, the song cycle and the opera. Two of his most important works are the opera "Peter" Grimes" and the "War Requiem". He often appears as conductor and pianist in England and abroad.

Notes to the Text:

1. by the time he was... - к тому времени, когда ему было...

2. the Royal College of Music - Королевский Музыкальный Колледж

3. as a musician - как (в качестве) композитор

4. of the day - того времени

5. "Young Person's Guide[(jaid] to the Orchestra" - "Путеводитель по оркестру для юного слушателя"

6. song cycle [saiki] - песенный цикл

7. Purcell -Переел (англ.композитор).

Active Vocabulary; to play the piano (violin, cello, flute)...- играть на

-16-

to have a great interest in - очень интересоваться.проявлять большой

to compose - сочинять интерес к...

composer - композитор

musician - композитор, музыкант

to play an important part in... - играть важную роль в...

Answer the Questions:

1. What do you know about B.Britten's,childhood and his parents?

2. Where did B.Britten study and work?

3. What musical pieces did he write?

4. What musical traditions does he follow?

5. What are his most important works?

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