My Brother Benjamin
About this book
'People are always asking, 'Aren't you proud of your famous brother?' I was, of course, but often wished he was not so famous so that one could see more of this brother who was such a joy to be with. Janet Baker has written that the air crackled when he walked into the room, and she was right...'
The younger of Benjamin Britten's two sisters, Elizabeth ('Beth') Britten first published this loving and revealing portrait of their shared childhood in 1986. She evokes the Lowestoft upbringing of the four Britten siblings, their dentist father Robert, and mother Edith, who keenly encouraged the children's interest in music. She recalls the flat they shared in London while Benjamin studied at the Royal College of Music; and tells of 'The Old Mill at Snape', Britten's home/studio after its renovation by Beth's future father-in-law. Of special interest are Britten's letters to Beth from America, where he and Peter Pears emigrated in 1939 then became ensconced after war broke out.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Frontispiece
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface to the 2013 Edition
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- Introduction: The Family History and Background
- 1: Lowestoft
- 2: The Family
- 3: World War One 1914–1918
- 4: Nursery Theatricals
- 5: Childhood
- 6: Growing Up
- 7: Public School
- 8: First Years in London
- 9: Father’s Illness and Death
- 10: Travelling Abroad
- 11: Starting to Earn a Living as a Composer
- 12: Holidays on the Norfolk Broads and in Cornwall
- 13: Illness, and Mother’s Death
- 14: The Old Mill at Snape
- 15: Letters from America
- 16: Outbreak of War
- 17: Dilemmas
- 18: A Japanese Commission and Life with the Mayers
- 19: More Letters from America – Future Plans
- 20: Meeting with Koussevitsky
- 21: Home from America
- 22: Peter Grimes and the Chamber Operas
- 23: Goodbye to the Old Mill
- Epilogue
- Appendix
- Index
- Plates
- Copyright
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