Benjamin Britten Britten was a celebrated pianist and conductor, performing many of his own works in concert and on record. He also performed and recorded works by others, such as Bach's "Brandenburg concertos", Mozart symphonies, and song cycles by Schubert and Schumann. Together with Pears and the librettist and producer Eric Crozier, Britten founded the annual Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, and he was responsible for the creation of Snape Maltings concert hall in 1967. In his last year, he was the first composer to be given a life peerage. Britten was born in the fishing port of Lowestoft in Suffolk, on the
Martin Snape Martin Snape Martin Snape (31 December 1852 – 24 November 1930) was an English painter of the Victorian and Edwardian era. Bron in Gosport in 1852, Snape worked in a variety of media (oils, watercolours, engraving, etc.). He concentrated mainly on topographical subjects including landscapes from the Meon Valley, and shore and maritime scenes around Portsmouth Harbour and his home town of Gosport. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1874 and 1901. Living in Spring Garden Lane, near Gosport railway station, Snape was associated with the Gosport area all his life. In 1922 he was commissioned to design the