Britten’s Spring Awakening
Fifty years after the composer’s death, writer and broadcaster Tony Scotland traces Benjamin Britten’s stormy journey to self-discovery through three defining – and technically illegal – relationships in the late 1930s: with the composer Lennox Berkeley, ten years his senior; the German poet Wulff Scherchen, still a teenager; and the tenor Peter Pears, who was to become his lifelong partner.
Once a voice of Radio Three, Tony Scotland is the author of ten books, including Wulff – Britten’s Young Apollo.
Tony Scotland writer and broadcaster
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The Newbury Spring Festival
Newbury Spring Festival is one of the most popular and successful music festivals in the South of England.
Over the last years the Festival has grown hugely in size and quality building up a reputation of international status.
The very best young musical stars appear alongside some of the world’s most distinguished and famous names.
Newbury Spring Festival is a glorious fortnight of world class music in Newbury and its beautiful neighbouring villages, with up to 45 events in 18 venues, and where international symphony orchestras, ensembles and soloists rub shoulders with jazz legends, world music artists and the stars of tomorrow.
The Festival was founded in 1979 to provide the opportunity to promote culture in the region by creating an annual festival accessible to all.
It aims to bring excellent, new and innovative work from around the world to a variety of local venues adding to the economic and cultural wellbeing of the area, and to continue to create opportunities for young people, existing and new audiences to enjoy the arts.
Newbury Spring Festival is funded entirely by private donation, charitable giving and corporate sponsorship and enjoys its reputation as one of the most important cultural events in the region, attracting audiences of several thousand each year from the immediate area and beyond.
Over the past few years, highlights have included the Soweto Gospel Choir at Douai Abbey which has become one of the Festival’s major venues and established a tradition of world class choirs.
Also in 2006, the Victoria Mullova Ensemble performed an unforgettable concert at Englefield House.
In 2008 John Williams and Emanuel Ax both performed in the Corn Exchange, developing a pattern of an International Celebrity Recital Series in this venue.
In 2004 the Tibetan Monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastry took part in an exciting week long Festival residency.
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