The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears

Travel diaries reveal musical inspiration, personal encounters, notes on performances.

This volume brings together all the travel diaries of Sir Peter Pears (1910-1986), principal interpreter of Britten's works. Pears accompanied Britten on many of his trips and the record of their tour of the Far East in 1955 is ofspecial interest. Here the sound of the gamelan orchestras enchanted Britten and deeply influenced his musical development.

Philip Reed is an independent scholar whose many publications include co-editing six volumes of Letters from a Life: The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976; Benjamin Britten: Billy Budd (edited with Mervyn Cooke); The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears, 1936-78 and On Mahler and Britten, as well as contributions to studies of Britten's operas and War Requiem, and books on Poulenc and Elizabeth Maconchy.