In offering a context for Benjamin Britten, we approached his milieu from vantage points that could adequately represent the fullness of his position in England and in the twentieth century. We were rewarded by the richness of Britten’s engagement with his contemporaries in music, art, literature, and film, British musical institutions, royal and governmental entities, and the church. Equally, his ground-breaking projects that intersected across diverse entities and explored his philosophical and ideological tenets provided food for thought.

Benjamin Britten died before most of his closest friends and colleagues, so in one important sense his legacy ensured their participation in the continuation of the special contribution to local and national musical life represented by the Aldeburgh Festival. More than forty years after his death, that legacy remains a living force. It was a measure of Britten’s perceived significance in the years that passed between his death and his birth centenary thirty-seven years later that attempts to trace his possible impact on younger composers are often combined with critical perceptions concerning the many substantial publications about him. Collections of letters and diaries, biographies, overviews of the music, and more specialised studies of particular works have flowed in profusion at the same time. Thisexamines Britten’s influence – or lack of influence – on, and his continued intersections with, successive generations of composers.