布瑞顿(1913～1976年)

Britten, Benjamin

受封为奥尔德堡的布瑞顿男爵（Baron Britten of Aldeburgh）

英国作曲家。曾入皇家音乐学院就读，在那里结识了男高音皮尔斯（Peter Pears, 1910～1986），两人成为终身好友。1937年写弦乐曲《布瑞基主题变奏曲》，获国际声誉，接着是《安魂交响曲》（1940）和《小夜曲》（1943）。1945年的歌剧《彼得.格里姆斯》奠定其为大师级歌剧作曲家的地位。1948年在其居住的小镇与人创办奥尔德堡音乐节；余生精力都奉献给这个音乐节，常在节日里担任指挥和演奏钢琴。他的歌剧包括《卢克莱修受辱记》（1946）、《阿尔伯特.海令》（1947）、《比利.巴德》（1951）、《螺丝的转动》（1954）、《仲夏夜之梦》（1960）和《威尼斯之死》（1973）等。他的《战争安魂曲》（1961）受到极大的回响。其他的声乐作品包括《卡洛祭典》（1942）和《春天交响曲》（1949）；他最着名的交响曲是《青少年管弦乐入门》（1946）。1976年成为英国历史上第一位受封爵位的作曲家，一般认为他是继伯德和蒲塞尔之後最伟大的英国作曲家。

English version：

1913～1976年

Britten, Benjamin

British composer. He studied at the Royal College of Music, where he met the tenor Peter Pears (1910-1986), who would become his lifelong companion. His auspicious Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (1937) was followed by his Sinfonia da Requiem (1940) and Serenade (1943). In 1945 the opera Peter Grimes established him as a leading opera composer. In 1948 he cofounded the Aldeburgh Festival in the small town where he had settled; for the rest of his life his energies would principally be directed toward the festival, for which he often conducted and performed as pianist. His operas include The Rape of Lucretia (1946), Albert Herring (1947), Billy Budd (1951), The Turn of the Screw (1954), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), and Death in Venice (1973). His War Requiem (1961) was greatly acclaimed. Other vocal works include A Ceremony of Carols (1942) and Spring Symphony (1949); his best-known orchestral piece is The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946). In 1976 he became the first British composer in history to be ennobled, and he is generally regarded as Britain's greatest composer since W. Byrd and H. Purcell.