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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

Composer of the Week: Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Episode 1

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

Episode 1

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), Episode 1

Donald Macleod presents music from early in Britten's career.

Donald Macleod presents music from Britten's early years, including one of his best known soundtracks written for the GPO, Night Mail, and two works written in America.

Donald Macleod reveals some of the wealth of music English composer Benjamin Britten wrote during his remarkably successful career in the light of two enduring influences - his life partner, the tenor Peter Pears and his beloved native county of Suffolk.

The BBC helped advance Britten's career by broadcasting two chamber pieces he had composed while still a student at the Royal College of Music. He was soon writing soundtracks for the GPO Film Unit as well as incidental music for the theatre, TV and radio. In programme 1, Donald introduces music from those early years including one of Britten's best known soundtracks for the GPO - 'Night Mail', and two works written during his wartime years in America - the Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, written for Pears, and his first opera, based on the story of the mythological lumberjack, Paul Bunyan.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod on two influences in Britten's music: Suffolk and his partner Peter Pears

Donald Macleod explores Benjamin Britten's music in the light of two enduring influences - his life partner, the tenor Peter Pears and his beloved native county of Suffolk

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Composer of the Week

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

Episode 1

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