His ground-breaking operas, which include Peter Grimes (1945), and The Turn of the Screw (1954) – and his famous War Requiem – tackle contemporaneous issues around psychology and post-war trauma, as well his own homosexuality, which was illegal in Britten’s lifetime.īritten founded the Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk with Pears and librettist Eric Crozier.Įthel Smyth was a prolific composer and an active member of the women’s suffrage movement, and she made no secret of her relationships with women.īorn in South-East London, Smyth studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and there met composers that included Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Clara Schumann and Brahms. He studied under Frank Bridge, John Ireland and Arthur Benjamin among others, and was also a fine pianist. Read more: 9 Black composers who changed the course of classical music historyĮdward Benjamin Britten is one of the finest composers of English operas, choral works, and songs, many of which he wrote for his life partner, tenor Sir Peter Pears.īritten started writing music as young as nine, when he wrote an oratorio.
