Home >
Britten & Pears >
Joint achievements >
Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts
The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts was founded in 1948 by Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears and the writer and producer Eric Crozier. They first discussed the idea of holding a festival in Aldeburgh while travelling abroad with the newly formed English Opera Group during August 1947. Troubled by the expense and exertion of running a touring opera company, they wanted to establish a base for the English Opera Group at home.
On their return to England, the feasibility of an Aldeburgh Festival was considered further with local residents; the response was positive and a Festival Committee appointed. It was agreed that performances of opera by the English Opera Group would form the nucleus of the festival and that the group would also drive the artistic direction and provide singers and instumentalists for recitals and chamber music. The first Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts was held from 5th to 13th June 1948 with a varied programme of choral, orchestral and chamber concerts, recitals, exhibitions and lectures and three performances of Britten’s opera Albert Herring.
It had been Britten’s and Pears’s intention that the Festival should be an annual and growing event and this was achieved partly through their active involvement. They regularly performed at the Festival, the former often appearing as conductor as well as pianist. They invited the participation of a number of visiting composers, including Copland, Henze, Kodály and Poulenc. Britten composed new works to be premiered at the Festival, including the operas The Little Sweep, Noye’s Fludde, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Death in Venice and the three church parables.
Many of the founders' friends, including some of the world's leading musicians, performed regularly at the Festival, often in premieres of works written specifically for them by Britten. Fruitful friendships were established at the Festival with artists such as Dennis Brain, Julian Bream, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Osian Ellis, and especially with the Soviet artists Rostropovich, Galina Vishnevskaya and Sviatoslav Richter.
Britten’s music has always taken an important place in Festival programming, though concerts also regularly include new and recent works by other composers. Britten and Pears were named as artistic directors in 1955; this team was later expanded to include, at various dates, Imogen Holst, Philip Ledger, Colin Graham, Steuart Bedford, Murray Perahia, Mstislav Rostropovich and Oliver Knussen.
Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts
Still a highlight of the musical year, run by our sister organisation, Aldeburgh Music
The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts was founded in 1948 by Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears and the writer and producer Eric Crozier. They first discussed the idea of holding a festival in Aldeburgh while travelling abroad with the newly formed English Opera Group during August 1947. Troubled by the expense and exertion of running a touring opera company, they wanted to establish a base for the English Opera Group at home.On their return to England, the feasibility of an Aldeburgh Festival was considered further with local residents; the response was positive and a Festival Committee appointed. It was agreed that performances of opera by the English Opera Group would form the nucleus of the festival and that the group would also drive the artistic direction and provide singers and instumentalists for recitals and chamber music. The first Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts was held from 5th to 13th June 1948 with a varied programme of choral, orchestral and chamber concerts, recitals, exhibitions and lectures and three performances of Britten’s opera Albert Herring.
It had been Britten’s and Pears’s intention that the Festival should be an annual and growing event and this was achieved partly through their active involvement. They regularly performed at the Festival, the former often appearing as conductor as well as pianist. They invited the participation of a number of visiting composers, including Copland, Henze, Kodály and Poulenc. Britten composed new works to be premiered at the Festival, including the operas The Little Sweep, Noye’s Fludde, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Death in Venice and the three church parables.
Many of the founders' friends, including some of the world's leading musicians, performed regularly at the Festival, often in premieres of works written specifically for them by Britten. Fruitful friendships were established at the Festival with artists such as Dennis Brain, Julian Bream, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Osian Ellis, and especially with the Soviet artists Rostropovich, Galina Vishnevskaya and Sviatoslav Richter.
Britten’s music has always taken an important place in Festival programming, though concerts also regularly include new and recent works by other composers. Britten and Pears were named as artistic directors in 1955; this team was later expanded to include, at various dates, Imogen Holst, Philip Ledger, Colin Graham, Steuart Bedford, Murray Perahia, Mstislav Rostropovich and Oliver Knussen.
Image: John Woolwich, Thomas Zehetmair, Carolin Widmann and the Northern Sinfonia at the world premiere of Woolrich's Violin Concerto in the 2008 Aldeburgh Festival. Photo: Nigel Luckhurst.