Composer, born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, E England, UK. During the 1930s he wrote incidental music for plays and documentary films. He then went to the USA (1939--42), where he wrote his violin concerto and the Sinfonia da Requiem. Back in the UK, his works were largely vocal and choral - exceptions include the famous Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell (also known as The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra). He then wrote three operas: Peter Grimes (1945), Billy Budd (1951), and Gloriana (1953), as well as several chamber operas and children's operas. His later operas include A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960) and Death in Venice (1973). He was also an accomplished pianist, often accompanying Peter Pears. He helped to found the annual Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, and became a life peer in 1976.