Archive & Collections
The archive at the Red House is probably the richest composer’s archive in the world and is open to anyone to visit. It is a rich source of information on a wide variety of topics, held in various formats: music scores, working papers, books, artworks, correspondence, photographs, film and sound recordings and costumes. Britten’s and Pears’ papers are at the heart of it but it also holds material created by other members of their circle.
Stories from the Archive
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Archive Treasures: A new production for a new concert hall
Britten wrote his opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream to celebrate the reopening of Aldeburgh’s Jubilee Hall in June 1960 following building work. Seven…![]()
Archive Treasures: Presentation, parking and formal address: the mechanics of a peerage
The archive at the Red House spans all aspects of Benjamin Britten’s and Peter Pears’ lives: from high art and high society to the most mundane nuts…![]()
Britten and Malcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Arnold’s links with Aldeburgh are recorded in the Archive collections and his centenary year is an appropriate occasion to focus on some of…
