Benjamin Britten

Fast Facts:

• Benjamin Britten was an English composer, conductor, and pianist born in Suffolk in 1913. He was born on the same day as the feast day of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.
• Britten was introduced to musical studies from a young age through his mother, who noticed his musical aptitude and gave him his first lessons in piano and composition. His first attempts at composition occurred at age 5, and his first formal piano lessons at 7 and viola at 10.
• For his entire life, Britten was a committed pacifist, especially during World War II. He sailed to the United States in 1939 not only to visit but also because of the difficult position pacifists found themselves in Europe at the time.
• Britten, though composing in a variety of genres, loved to compose for voice and opera. Many of his vocal works are written for or inspired by his partner, tenor Peter Pears. Roles including Peter Grimes in Peter Grimes or Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw were all written for Pears.
• Today Britten is known for both revitalizing the “English” sound with his natural declamation and rhythmic flexibility following the natural inflection of English speakers, as well as furthering the development of modernism with his blend of tonality, challenges to the conventions, and dissonance.

Sergei Prokofiev

Pronounced sehr-gey pro-kof-ee-ef

Fast Facts:

• Sergei Prokofiev was born in 1891. His mother fueled his musical desires as she would play Chopin and Beethoven on the piano at night. Thus, Prokofiev began composing young with his first piano piece finished at five and first opera at nine.
• In addition to being fond of music at a young age, Prokofiev also had a passion for chess. He learned to play at age seven, and remained fond of the game his entire life. He even became acquainted with world class chess players such Jose Raul Capablanca and Mikhail Botvinnik.
• Prokofiev first gained acclaim as a composer-pianist, composing a series of difficult works for the piano. His second piano concerto caused scandal at its premiere due to its modernist approach. One audience member claimed that “the cats on the roof make better music!” but many other modernist composers were highly impressed.
• Though he composed in a wide variety of genres, Prokofiev’s favorite genre was opera. His most famous work is The Love for Three Oranges, which is a satirical opera about a sad prince who must find three oranges, each containing a princess.
• Prokofiev is now known as a figure of contemporary music as not only wrote original diatonic melodies but also was unafraid of music experimentation. According to fellow Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, he was the greatest Russian composer of his day, after Stravinsky himself.