Britten for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first

Benjamin Britten was an English composer who lived from 1913 to 1976. He wrote The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, which shows off each instrument in turn. He wrote operas for grown-ups, and he also wrote a great deal of music for children to sing and play themselves. The best first piece for a child is The Young Person’s Guide, in a version with a narrator.

Quick facts

• Born: 1913, in Lowestoft, England
• Died: 1976, in Aldeburgh, England
• Era: Modern
• Played: piano and viola
• Known for: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, the opera Peter Grimes, A Ceremony of Carols, and the War Requiem

The life in short

Britten was born in a town on the east coast of England, in a house that looked out on the North Sea. His birthday, November 22, is the feast day of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.

His mother sang and played the piano, and she gave him his first lessons. He began to write music at five. By his early teens, he had written more than a hundred pieces.

He studied at the Royal College of Music in London. As a young man, he earned his living by writing music for films and radio, where he learned to work fast.

In 1945, his opera Peter Grimes opened in London. It tells the story of a fisherman in a village like the ones Britten grew up near. It made him famous.

Britten believed that a composer should be useful to the people around him. He wrote for the singers and players he knew, and for schools, churches, and village halls. In 1948, he started a music festival in Aldeburgh, the small seaside town where he lived. It still runs each June.

Music for children to perform

Britten did not only write music for children to hear. He wrote parts for them.

In Noye’s Fludde, an opera about Noah and the flood, children play the animals and march into the ark two by two. Children play in the orchestra too. For the first drops of rain, a player taps a row of teacups hung on a string.

In the Simple Symphony, written when he was 20, every tune comes from pieces he wrote between the ages of nine and twelve.

What the music sounds like

Britten’s music is clear, even when the mood is dark. A listener can hear each instrument.

The sea runs through much of it. He could paint a gray dawn or a storm with a handful of instruments.

Four pieces to play first

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Each family of instruments plays the tune, and then each instrument takes a solo. The listening guide lists them in order. It lasts about 17 minutes.

“Playful Pizzicato,” from the Simple Symphony. The string players put down their bows and pluck the whole piece. It is fast, bouncy, and about three minutes long.

“This Little Babe,” from A Ceremony of Carols. High voices chase each other over a harp. It is over in a minute and a half.

“Storm,” from Four Sea Interludes. The orchestra crashes and howls like a gale on the coast. It comes from Peter Grimes. Play it loud.

Things to do together

Pluck along. Play “Playful Pizzicato.” Stretch a rubber band between two fingers and pluck it in time. The word pizzicato means plucked.

Teacup rain. Line up a few mugs or cups. Tap them with a wooden spoon, slow at first and then faster, to make your own rainstorm.

Keep your tunes. Britten saved the tunes he wrote as a boy and used them later. Have your child hum a made-up tune, and record it or write it on big staff paper.

Name the instruments. Use the instrument families listening chart with The Young Person’s Guide.

Print and play

Print the Britten fact sheet. It has the story, three pieces, and room to write and draw. Find him on the composer timeline.

Next, meet another English composer who wrote for his students in Holst for kids. For all 24 composers by era, see classical composers for kids.