Benjamin Britten based on a theme from Britten's Piano Concerto. Works commemorating Britten include "Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten" an orchestral piece written in 1977 by Arvo Pärt, and Sally Beamish's "Variations on a Theme of Benjamin Britten", based on the second Sea Interlude from "Peter Grimes"; she composed the work to mark Britten's centenary. Alan Bennett depicts Britten in a 2009 play "The Habit of Art", set while Britten is composing "Death in Venice" and centred on a fictional meeting between Britten and Auden. Britten was played in the premiere production by Alex Jennings. Tony Palmer made three documentary films about
Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten Britten had died. When Britten died, Pärt felt that he had lost hope of meeting the only contemporary composer whose musical outlook, he believed, resembled his own. It is perhaps Pärt's most popular piece, and a 1997 recording by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra conducted by Tamas Benedek has been widely distributed. Due to its evocative and cinematic feel, the piece has been used extensively as background accompaniment in both film and television documentaries. Scored for string orchestra and bell (only a single chime is used, on the pitch A, the tonal centre of the piece), "Cantus" exemplifies Pärt's tintinnabuli