Tony Britten is a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
musical director, composer and film maker, also known for adapting the music and writing the text of the
UEFA Champions League Anthem
The UEFA Champions League Anthem, officially titled as simply the "Champions League", is the official anthem of the UEFA Champions League, written by English composer Tony Britten in 1992, and based on George Frideric Handel's ''Zadok the Priest ...
.
[UEFA Champions League anthem]
UEFA.com. Retrieved March 6, 2011
Education and early career
Britten was educated at
Trinity School, Croydon where he sang in the Trinity Boys Choir, and took operatic roles in professional productions as a treble. Among these were Yniold in ''
Pelléas et Mélisande'' conducted by
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music.
Born in Montb ...
at the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
in 1969.
When his voice broke he began to compose, winning a bursary from the
Society for the Promotion of New Music The Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM), originally named The Committee for the Promotion of New Music, was founded in January 1943 in London by the émigré composer Francis Chagrin, to promote the creation and performance of new music i ...
to study electronic music with
George Newson
George Newson (27 July 1932 – 8 March 2024) was an English composer and pianist who made important contributions to British electronic and avant garde music during the 1960s and 1970s. He subsequently composed large and small-scale works in many ...
at
Goldsmiths’ College. He went on to study singing, piano and conducting at the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...
.
Musicals and opera
Britten spent the first few years of his career in theatre as a musical director, including working for
Cameron Mackintosh
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "t ...
as music supervisor on many shows including ''
Godspell
''Godspell'' is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set t ...
'', ''
The Rocky Horror Show
''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 193 ...
'' and ''
Oliver!
''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens.
It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...
''. After that he worked at the
National Theatre, where he was orchestrator and musical director of the National's ''
Guys and Dolls
''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...
'' production in 1982, directed by
Richard Eyre
Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Eyre has received numerous accolades including three Laurence Olivier Awards as well as nominations for six BAFTA Awards and two ...
.
In the 1990s Britten and his Music Theatre London company put on a series of adaptations of the
Mozart/Da Ponte operas at the
Drill Hall
A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills.
Description
In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...
in London. The librettos were translated into modern English with spoken dialogue replacing the recitatives, the music was re-scored for small ensemble, and actors were used in preference to opera singers. He did much the same thing with
Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, s ...
's ''
La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' and
Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...
's ''
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
'', making film versions of those production in 2000 and 2005 respectively.
Film work
Britten has also directed a number of other films and composed film scores. In 1994, he composed the music for the Christmas animated special ''
Mole's Christmas
''Mole's Christmas'' (also known as ''The Wind in the Willows: Mole's Christmas'') is a 30-minute Animation, animated film released in 1994. The voices involved are Richard Briers (Rat), Peter Davison (Mole) and Ellie Beaven (Young Girl) with Ime ...
''. ''Some Little Joy'' (2005) told the life story of mavarick composer
Peter Warlock
Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occult practices, was used for all his published ...
. In 2007 Britten adapted and directed a film version of
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish poet, novelist, playwright, and hack writer. A prolific author of various literature, he is regarded among the most versatile writers of the Georgian e ...
’s comedy ''
She Stoops to Conquer
''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays ...
'' for
Sky Arts
Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...
. In 2013 he made a documentary about his unrelated namesake,
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...
. In 2018 he released ''Through Lotte's Lens: The Story Of The Hitler Emigres''. ''John Craxton - A Life Of Gifts'', a documentary exploring the life and work of artist
John Craxton
John Leith Craxton RA, (3 October 1922 – 17 November 2009) was an English painter. He was sometimes called a neo-Romantic artist but he preferred to be known as a "kind of Arcadian".
Biography
Career
John was the son of musician Harold ...
, was released in 2022.
Music for sport
In 1992,
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
commissioned Britten to arrange an anthem for the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
which commenced in
November 1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Nagor ...
. Britten borrowed heavily from
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.
Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
's ''
Zadok the Priest
''Zadok the Priest'' ( HWV 258) is a British anthem that was composed by George Frideric Handel for the coronation of George II in 1727. Alongside '' The King Shall Rejoice'', '' My Heart is Inditing'', and '' Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened'', ' ...
'' (one of his
Coronation Anthems), and the piece was performed by London's
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England.
The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...
and sung by the
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
.
[ He returned to composing for sports events in 2007, writing the official anthem of Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award.Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award - Official Website]
/ref>
References
External links
*
UEFA video (2016): ''The story of the UEFA Champions League anthem''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britten, Tony
21st-century British composers
Alumni of the Royal College of Music
Musicians from Norfolk
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)