金本位制

布瑞頓(1913～1976年)

Britten,Benjamin

受封為奧爾德堡的布瑞頓男爵（Baron Britten of Aldeburgh）

英國作曲家。曾入皇家音樂學院就讀，在那裡結識了男高音皮爾斯（Peter Pears,1910～1986），兩人成為終身好友。1937年寫絃樂曲《布瑞基主題變奏曲》，獲國際聲譽，接著是《安魂交響曲》（1940）和《小夜曲》（1943）。1945年的歌劇《彼得.格里姆斯》奠定其為大師級歌劇作曲家的地位。1948年在其居住的小鎮與人創辦奧爾德堡音樂節；餘生精力都奉獻給這個音樂節，常在節日裡擔任指揮和演奏鋼琴。他的歌劇包括《盧克萊修受辱記》（1946）、《阿爾伯特.海令》（1947）、《比利.巴德》（1951）、《螺絲的轉動》（1954）、《仲夏夜之夢》（1960）和《威尼斯之死》（1973）等。他的《戰爭安魂曲》（1961）受到極大的迴響。其他的聲樂作品包括《卡洛祭典》（1942）和《春天交響曲》（1949）；他最著名的交響曲是《青少年管絃樂入門》（1946）。1976年成為英國曆史上第一位受封爵位的作曲家，一般認為他是繼伯德和蒲塞爾之後最偉大的英國作曲家。

English version：

1913～1976年

Britten,Benjamin

British composer. He studied at the Royal College of Music,where he met the tenor Peter Pears (1910-1986),who would become his lifelong companion. His auspicious Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (1937) was followed by his Sinfonia da Requiem (1940) and Serenade (1943). In 1945 the opera Peter Grimes established him as a leading opera composer. In 1948 he cofounded the Aldeburgh Festival in the small town where he had settled; for the rest of his life his energies would principally be directed toward the festival,for which he often conducted and performed as pianist. His operas include The Rape of Lucretia (1946),Albert Herring (1947),Billy Budd (1951),The Turn of the Screw (1954),A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960),and Death in Venice (1973). His War Requiem (1961) was greatly acclaimed. Other vocal works include A Ceremony of Carols (1942) and Spring Symphony (1949); his best-known orchestral piece is The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946). In 1976 he became the first British composer in history to be ennobled,and he is generally regarded as Britain's greatest composer since W. Byrd and H. Purcell.