He met Britten in 1934, when he was a member of the BBC Singers. Pears and Britten gave their first recital together in 1937 at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1939 they went to America together because of World War II. However, in 1942 they decided to return to their own country. Back in England they performed Britten's song cycle "Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo" together at the Wigmore Hall in London (Britten was an excellent pianist), and then recorded them for EMI, their first recording together.