Benjamin Britten Masterpieces
English composer, conductor, and pianist (1913-1976)
- piano
- opera, symphony, classical music
- United Kingdom
- conductor, composer, pianist, politician, choreographer
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Benjamin Britten: most famous pieces
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) left a body of work of more than 130 compositions. To discover his repertoire, the question is: where to start? Perhaps with his main compositions and most famous works. But what are best known or most important works of Benjamin Britten? How do they fit into his career, throughout his creative activity? Which genre dominates: instrumental music, vocal music or other? And beyond that, in what artistic and musical context: what other composers were at the same time, famous contemporaries of Britten?
soclassiq offers you here, without bias, a selection of 5 major works to discover and listen to, like “The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell” or “Peter Grimes”. This selection is completed by 5 other compositions that are also quite famous. For sure the best of Benjamin Britten, to make you want to go further with his other pieces or with the work of other composers who have significant similarities with the work of Britten.
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell
Work for orchestra
Creative activity
based on dated works only
Duration of the works
(average or estimed)
Number of works
1925
52 years
1976
Number of works
Duration of the works (average or estimed)
Work for choir (32)
Song, lied (25)
Opera (16)
Work for soloist (11)
Work for chamber orchestra (18)
Work for orchestra (13)
Work for orchestra with soloist (7)
Ballet (2)
Film score (1)
Other renowned works
1971 - Death in Venice
1964 - Curlew River
1960 - A Midsummer Night's Dream
1951 - Billy Budd
1946 - The Rape of Lucretia
This selection of works is not the result of personal preferences or artistic opinion. Selected works come from an exclusive data analysis method developed by soclassiq.
The dating of the works can be precise or sometimes approximate. It may correspond to the premiere date or publication year or completion of the composition (that can be several years after its first public execution).
1910 .. 1970 : the essential composers
1882-1971 Igor Stravinsky °
1865-1957 Jean Sibelius °
1862-1918 Claude Debussy °
1875-1937 Maurice Ravel °
1873-1943 Sergei Rachmaninoff °
1858-1924 Giacomo Puccini °
1864-1949 Richard Strauss °
1857-1934 Edward Elgar °
1928-2020 Ennio Morricone
1863-1945 Pietro Mascagni
1906-1975 Dmitri Shostakovich °
1903-1989 Vladimir Horowitz
° : Masterpieces listed
On stage or recorded, listen these essential works Benjamin Britten
Meet the greatest works of classical music
Currently, 25000+ works are listed for a small selection of 101 composers among thousands listed here. Many composers are missing of which some are essential: J. Rodriguo, C. Franck, H. Gorecki, C. Nielsen, J.Corigliano, P. Hindemith, C. Ives, A. Webern ... New catalogues will be processed later to complete this experience of the discovery of the classical music masterpieces. Thus this selection of works will be updated.
Vocal music
Incidental music
Through the ages
Some major genres or forms among the 150 listed
Concerto, Symphony, Rhapsody, Sonata, Lied, Mass, Suite, Trio, Quartet, Quintet, Waltz, March, Operetta, ...
Composed for piano, harpsichord, organ, violin, cello, viola, flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, string orchestra, string quartet, ...
The purpose of these pages is to point out few relevant works only among tens of thousands and to provide some chronological references.