Benjamin Britten & Peter Pears - St John's Wood High Street, London, U
N 51° 31.993 W 000° 10.229
30U E 696243 N 5712918
The plaque is on the wall of a building on the south west side of St John's Wood High Street just to the south of the junction with Allitsen Road.
Waymark Code: WMGP0V
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/26/2013
Views: 5
The plaque, that
is City of Westminster green, reads:
| |
City of Westminster
Benjamin Britten
Composer
1913
- 1976
and
Peter Pears
Singer
1910 - 1986
lived
and
worked here
1943 - 1946
In association with the Britten-Pears
Foundation 1997
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The Britten-Pears
Foundation website tells us:
"Benjamin
Britten (1913-1976) was one of the great composers of the twentieth century, and
Peter Pears (1910-1986) one of its outstanding tenors. Together, in a
partnership of nearly forty years, they created a remarkable legacy: some of the
finest music for the voice ever written, a revival of English opera, the
Aldeburgh Festival, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, an artist development programme
that has nurtured many leading performers, and our sister organisation,
Aldeburgh Music.
In this
section of the site you can learn more about the lives and careers of Britten
and Pears, and about the lasting achievements of their joint legacy. The pair
were part of a wide creative circle that included many of the leading musicians,
writers and artists of their day. The Red House was one of the hubs of British
cultural life.
The early
stories of Britten and Pears are told in our online exhibitions Young Britten
and For Peter.
After leaving
the Royal College of Music in 1933, the interest shown in Britten's student
music continued as he started his career as a professional composer. A Boy was
Born was broadcast by the BBC in February 1934, and his Phantasy op. 2 was
chosen by the International Society for Contemporary Music for performance at
their Festival in Florence that year. Although he was terminally ill, Britten's
father urged his son to attend this festival, but died before Britten, summoned
by telegram, could get back home.
In the spring
of 1935 Britten took a job with the General Post Office (GPO) Film Unit. The
Unit’s series of documentary films, made by John Grierson, showed aspects of
English life, particularly examining the world of industry and the people who
worked within it. Here Britten collaborated with the poet WH Auden, most notably
on the 1936 Night Mail.
1937 began
sadly for Britten. In January his sister Beth caught influenza, and infected her
mother, who had come to London to nurse her. Weakened by the illness, Mrs
Britten died of a heart attack. On 27 April his friend, the writer Peter Burra,
was killed in a plane crash. Burra had owned a small cottage at Bucklebury and
it fell to Britten and one of Burra's closest friends, the young singer Peter
Pears, to sort out his papers. The two men soon formed a strong friendship and
began performing together."