Benjamin Britten coast close to Britten's homeland, awakened in him such longings for England that he knew he must return. He also knew that he must write an opera based on Crabbe's poem about the fisherman Peter Grimes. Before Britten left the US, Koussevitzky, always generous in encouraging new talent, offered him a $1,000 commission to write the opera. Britten and Pears returned to England in April 1942. During the long transatlantic sea crossing Britten completed the choral works "A Ceremony of Carols" and "Hymn to St Cecilia". The latter was his last large-scale collaboration with Auden. Britten had grown away from
Opera in English opera Messaline being the first work by an Englishman to be produced at La Scala). In the 20th century, English opera began to assert more independence, with works of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Rutland Boughton and later Benjamin Britten, who, in a series of fine works that remain in standard repertory today, revealed an excellent flair for the dramatic and superb musicality. Nevertheless, foreign influence (now coming mainly from Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Strauss), was still strong. One example is Josef Holbrooke's "The Cauldron of Annwn" trilogy. The influence of Wagner's "Ring" can be seen in the choice of a mythological