BRITTEN, BENJAMIN (1913-1976), British Composer

Recognized as perhaps the greatest English composer since Purcell, Britten's reputation rests primarily on his most famous operas - The Turn of the Screw, Peter Grimes, Death in Venice - his massive War Requiem and numerous orchestral works, including the popular, often performed Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. He and British tenor Peter Pears were lovers for over forty years; in fact, it was for Pears that Britten wrote most of his solo vocal works and all of his major tenor roles. The two are buried side by side in Aldeburgh, England, the site of a music school and an annual music festival the two men founded in 1947.