Edward Benjamin Britten was born towards the end of 1913 in Lowestoft, England, the town at the easternmost point of Great Britain. 
His father is a dentist, his mother stays at home playing the piano and singing. Britten has three siblings. He remains the youngest child. He plays the piano with his mother, and at the age of five he is already composing. At the age of 14 he became a pupil of Frank Bridge. Today one of England's most important composers, he was at a low point in his career. But he had a lot to teach the young Edward Benjamin. He introduced him to the modern music of the 20th century, from Scriabin to Schönberg, and taught him how to compose. 
Three years later, Britten begins studying composition and piano at the Royal College of Music in London. Another three years and he is finished with his studies. His piano playing has reached concert level, his compositions celebrate their first successes.  
Britten is 24 when he signs a contract with the music publisher Boosey and Hawkes and meets his future life partner Peter Pears, a British tenor singer. From then on he was able to take off with his compositions, composing commissioned works as well as his own. In 1939 he broke with his homeland Great Britain. Britten and Pears fled to the USA six months before the war began. There he wrote orchestral works and violin concertos before returning to his homeland three years later out of longing. Nevertheless, he continues to vehemently refuse military service there. He is forced to give concerts for soldiers and workers, which changes his view of music. He strives for simplicity and accessibility in his compositions. In 1945, he wrote "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra", still one of the best-known works of music education and outreach.
Also from this period remains Britten's staunchly pacifist stance. His War Requiem was performed in 1962. The preface: "My subject is War, and the pity of War,The Poetry is in the pity ...
All a poet can do today is warn." The setting overloaded with allusions. It is performed in the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, the three soloists deliberately chosen from Germany, Russia and England. The Russian soloist is not allowed to leave the USSR at the end and is not present at the premiere. Only a year later, on the record, they all come together. 
In his later years, Britten suffers from heart disease. In 1976 he was the first composer to be raised to the peerage and from then on bore the title Baron Britten of Aldeburgh. He died the same year at the age of 63.

Britten's music was last performed at the Dresden Philharmonie on 05.05.2022 and for the first time on 10.01.1961.