Britten with Brahms, Dvorak, and more

Johannes Brahms, born in Hamburg, Germany, was a pivotal Romantic era composer. He masterfully blended classical forms with rich harmonies and lyrical melodies in his symphonies, concertos, and chamber music. Celebrated for works like "Hungarian Dances" and his "Lullaby," he is considered one of classical music's "Three Bs" alongside Bach and Beethoven, leaving an enduring legacy.

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, was an English composer, conductor, and pianist who became a central figure of 20th-century British classical music. A prolific artist from an early age, he studied at the Royal College of Music and privately with Frank Bridge, gaining international renown with his 1937 Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge. He is celebrated for his extensive body of work spanning opera, choral, orchestral, and chamber music, most notably his landmark 1945 opera Peter Grimes, the War Requiem, and The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Along with his lifelong personal and professional partner, tenor Peter Pears, he co-founded the English Opera Group and the prominent Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, and in 1976 became the first composer to be awarded a life peerage.

Antonín Dvořák, a celebrated Czech composer, was born in Nelahozeves, Bohemia. A master of the Romantic era, he infused his attractive melodies and brilliant orchestrations with Bohemian folk influences, later incorporating American elements. He is renowned for works like his Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," Cello Concerto, Slavonic Dances, and the opera Rusalka. Johannes Brahms supported his early career. Dvořák is celebrated for popularizing Slavic music and his versatile compositional style.

Oxford-trained Baroque/classical trailblazer: conductor, scholar and editor. Britten mentor; debuted at Wexford (Cavalli). Led London Mozart Players, now Music of the Baroque; books on Cavalli & *Mozart’s Women*.