Letters from a Life: 1923-45 v. 1 & 2

This two-volume set of letters sheds new light on the composer Benjamin Britten's personal and musical life. "Volume One, 1923-39" opens with a letter from Britten, aged ten, to his mother Edith.

This first volume includes the period he spent at the Royal College of Music where he meets influential new friends, among them W.H.Auden and Christopher Isherwood.

It was during this period that Britten met Peter Pears, the partner with whom his musical and personal relationship was to last a lifetime.

Volume one ends in May 1939 when Britten sets out, accompanied by Pears, for North America.

The letters from "Volume Two, 1939-45" are among the most fascinating of the correspondence, offering an extraordinary over-view of a crucial period in American and British history and culture.

These were years of intense musical activity for Britten - at the same time his personal relationship with Pears deepened.

On their return to England from America in 1942, Britten and Pears were exposed to general public hostility as conscientious objectors and suspected homosexuals.

Even the triumphant premiere of "Peter Grimes" in 1945 was not unaffected by prejudice and subterfuge.