Britten and Aldeburgh 2
Aldeburgh Parish Church
Aldeburgh Church, June 1948
Up the hill from the centre of the town is the parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which is regularly used for concerts during Festivals and throughout the year. the first performance of Britten’s cantata St Nicolas was given here in 1948, at the first Aldeburgh Festival.
In the church is found the Benjamin Britten Memorial window, the town’s principal memorial to the composer. The window, designed by John Piper and made by Patrick Reyntiens, depicts Britten’s three Church Parables: The Prodigal Son (1968), CurlewRiver(1964) and The Burning Fiery Furnace (1966). It was dedicated on 6 June 1980 at the opening service of the 33rd Aldeburgh Festival.
The church also has a memorial to the poet and clergyman George Crabbe, who was born in Aldeburgh in 1754. Benjamin Britten based his opera Peter Grimes on Crabbe's poem The Borough published in 1810 in which the poet describes a small East coast fishing town and its inhabitants. The opera tells the story of the uneasy life of fisherman Peter Grimes. In the graveyard are the graves of Britten and Pears with headstones made of Welsh slate; Britten’s gravestone was designed and carved by Reynolds Stone. Adjacent to these is the grave of Imogen Holst, daughter of composer Gustav Holst, who came to Aldeburgh to work as Benjamin Britten's music assistant in 1952, a post she held until 1964 although she remained in Aldeburgh for the rest of her life.
The beach and the Scallop
Suffolk’s most recent tribute to Britten, the Scallop, unveiled in November 2003, is to be found on Aldeburgh beach.
Britten on Aldeburgh Beach
Britten walked on the beach during the afternoons on an almost daily basis whilst in Aldeburgh, thinking through ideas that would then be committed to paper in the evening or following morning.
The Scallop is a 4 metre high stainless steel sculpture composed of two fractured and interlocking scallop shells. It is designed by Suffolk based artist Maggi Hambling and made by Pegg’s of Aldeburgh. The sculpture is pierced with words from the opera Peter Grimes, ‘I hear those voices that will not be drowned’, sung by fisherman Grimes who is forever haunted by the voice of the apprentice boy who died on his boat. Hambling said that the sculpture is ‘about Britten’s response to the sea, how out of that, from that place he made a very human statement with his music. His music matches the power of the sea. This sculpture is meant to be a celebration of that response to the sea’.
