Music of the united kingdom

The music of the United Kingdom, which is part of British music, refers to all forms of music associated with the United Kingdom since its creation, including music inherited from the states that preceded it.

Throughout its history, the United Kingdom has been a major exporter and source of musical innovation, drawing its cultural basis from the history of the United Kingdom, from church music, from Western culture and from the ancient and traditional folk music of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. In the 20th century, influences from the music of the United States became most dominant in popular music. The United Kingdom has one of the world’s largest music industries today, with many British musicians having had an impact on modern music.

Folk music of England is a type of traditionally based music, often contrasted with commercial music, for which evidence exists from the later medieval period. It has been preserved and transmitted orally, through print and later through recordings. The term is used to refer to English traditional music and music composed, or delivered, in a traditional style. English folk music has produced or contributed to several important musical genres, including sea shanties, jigs, hornpipes and dance music. It can be seen as having distinct regional and local variations in content and style, particularly in areas more removed from the cultural and political centres of the English state. Cultural interchange and processes of migration mean that English folk music, although in many ways distinctive, has particularly interacted with the music of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. There remains a flourishing sub-culture of English folk music, which continues to influence other genres and occasionally to gain mainstream attention.

Edward benjamin britten

Edward Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist; and one of the central figures of 20th century British classical music. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the choral work. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to international fame. For the next fifteen years he devoted much of his compositional attention to writing operas, establishing him as one of the leading 20th century figures in this genre.

Britten's interests as a composer were wide-ranging; he produced important music in such varied genres as orchestral, choral, solo vocal, chamber and instrumental, as well as film music. He also took a great interest in writing music for children and amateur performers, and was an outstanding pianist and conductor.

He founded a new English-language opera tradition, with works such as “Peter Grimes”,  “Billy Budd” (1951),  “The Turn of the Screw” (1954) and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1960) now established in the international repertoire.

Words & Expressions:

a conductor – дирижер

to come to public attention – привлечь внимание публики

choral – хоровой

wide-ranging – широкий, обширный

chamber – камерный

an amateur performer – самодеятельный исполнитель

“Peter Grimes” – «Питер Граймс»

“Billy Budd” – «Билли Бадд»

“The Turn of the Screw” – «Поворот винта»

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” – «Сон в летнюю ночь»

a hornpipe – волынка