Editing Peter Pears (section)

==Life and career==

===Early years===
Pears was born in [[Farnham]], Surrey, the youngest of the seven children of Arthur Grant Pears and his wife, Jessie Elizabeth de Visme, daughter of [[Richard Luard]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3RVXAAAAYAAJ&dq=luard+family+genealogy&pg=RA1-PA1135 Sir Bernard Burke, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry''], 14th ed. (London 1925), pp. 1135−1137.</ref> Arthur Pears was a civil engineer and successful businessman, who spent much of his time working overseas. The biographers [[Christopher Headington]] and [[Donald Mitchell (writer)|Donald Mitchell]] both remark on two contrasting strands in Pears's heredity: the [[Luard family]] was notable for its naval and military connections, and on his father's side there was a strong religious tradition, both [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] and [[Quakers|Quaker]], with [[Elizabeth Fry]] counted among his ancestors.<ref>Headington, p. 1</ref> Mitchell comments that Pears's lifelong [[pacifism]] stemmed from the Quaker side of the family, and adds, "There was indeed something of the patrician Quaker in his looks, manners, and deeds. His habitual charm and courtesy rarely deserted him."<ref name=dnb>Mitchell, Donald. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39913 "Pears, Sir Peter Neville Luard (1910–1986)"], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, October 2006, accessed 15 October 2013 {{ODNBsub}}</ref>

Although his father, and sometimes his mother, were absent abroad for long periods, Pears evidently had a happy childhood.<ref name=dnb/> He enjoyed his schooldays at his [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|prep school]], The Grange, and his public school, [[Lancing College]], which he attended from 1923 to 1928.  He showed considerable talent for music, both as a pianist and as a singer, playing leading roles in school productions of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] operas.<ref>Headington, pp. 22–23</ref> He was a capable and enthusiastic cricketer, and remembered all his life the pride he felt in scoring 81 not out in a trial match against [[Surrey County Cricket Club|Surrey]] at [[the Oval]].<ref>Headington, p. 26</ref> Lancing had a strong Christian tradition; while there, Pears felt a sense of vocation for the priesthood, but increasingly found this impossible to reconcile with his growing awareness of his homosexuality.<ref>Headington, p. 15</ref>

In 1928 Pears went to [[Keble College, Oxford]], to study music. He was not at this stage sure whether his musical future was as a singer or as player; during his brief time at the university, he was appointed temporary assistant organist at [[Hertford College, Oxford|Hertford College]], which was useful practical experience.<ref name=h27/> Headington comments that a musical conservatoire such as the [[Royal College of Music]] would have suited Pears better than the Oxford course, but at the time it was seen as a natural progression for an English public school boy to continue his education at Oxford or Cambridge. In the event Pears did not take to Oxford's academic regime, which required him to study a range of subjects before specialising in music. He failed the first-year examinations ([[Honour Moderations|Moderations]]) and though he was entitled to resit them he decided against doing so, and went down from Oxford.<ref name=h27>Headington, pp. 27–29</ref>

===Teacher and singer===
With no clear idea of his future, Pears took a teaching post at his old preparatory school in 1929.<ref name=times>"Obituary: Sir Peter Pears", ''The Times'', 4 April 1986, p. 14</ref> Among his dearest friends were the twins [[Peter Burra]] and Nell Burra; Peter was a close friend from Lancing days, and Nell looked on Pears as almost another brother.<ref>Headington, p. 18</ref> She urged him not to drift into a lifetime of schoolmastering, and he concluded that his future lay in singing. He later said that it was hearing the tenor [[Steuart Wilson]] (a distant cousin) singing the Evangelist in [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J S Bach]]'s ''[[St Matthew Passion]]'' that "started me off".<ref>Pears, p. 225</ref> He successfully applied for admission to the [[Royal College of Music]] in London, first as a part-time student and then, having been awarded a scholarship, studying full-time from 1934. He shared an apartment with [[Trevor Harvey (conductor)|Trevor Harvey]] and [[Basil Douglas]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pears|first1=Peter|title=The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears, 1936–1978|date=1999|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1v-xi4mi9QC&pg=PA12|access-date=23 January 2018|isbn=9780851157412}}</ref> He appeared in student productions of opera, finding himself wholly at home on the stage, and learning from the experience of singing [[Frederick Delius|Delius]] under [[Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham]] and roles in works by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] and [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]].<ref>Headington, pp. 40–41</ref> But, as at Oxford, he failed to complete the course. He chafed at subsisting on a student's limited funds, and wanted a good, steady income. He auditioned for the [[BBC]] and was given a two-year contract as a member of the [[BBC Singers]], a small vocal ensemble.<ref>Headington, p. 42</ref>

In 1936 Pears made his first recording as a soloist, in [[Peter Warlock]]'s "Corpus Christi Carol".<ref name=decca>Stuart, Philip. [http://images.cch.kcl.ac.uk/charm/liv/pubs/DeccaComplete.pdf ''Decca Classical 1929–2009''], accessed 14 October 2013.</ref> Headington comments on "a thoughtful word delivery and a sensitive moulding of quietly flowing phrases, but also a certain whiteness of tone ... a kind of English cathedral sound."<ref>Headington, pp. 53–54</ref> In the same year, after Peter Burra was given a long-term loan of a cottage on [[Bucklebury Common]], Berkshire, Pears began to stay with him regularly, and it was through Burra that he got to be friendly with the rising young composer [[Benjamin Britten]], who had become another good friend of Burra's. In 1937 Burra was killed in an air crash. Pears and Britten volunteered to clear his possessions from the cottage, and their daily contact during this period cemented their friendship.<ref>Powell, p. 130</ref> Pears quickly became Britten's musical inspiration and close (though for the moment platonic) friend. Britten's first work for him was composed within weeks of their meeting, [[The Company of Heaven#History|a setting]] of [[Emily Brontë]]'s poem, "A thousand gleaming fires", for tenor and strings.<ref>Carpenter, p. 112</ref>

Up to this point Pears had not pursued his career or his vocal training with any great determination. With the stimulus of Britten's music written for him he became much more focused. After their deaths [[John Amis]] wrote that Britten would have become a great composer without Pears, but that Pears would probably not have become a great singer without Britten.<ref>Amis, John. "His maestro's silver voice and love", ''The Times'', 13 June 1992, p. 43</ref> Pears took vocal lessons from the eminent Lieder singer [[Elena Gerhardt]], but they were of limited help to him, and it was some time before he found a wholly suitable voice coach.<ref>Headington, p. 75</ref> In 1938 he had his first professional experience of opera, as an understudy and member of the chorus at [[Glyndebourne Festival Opera|Glyndebourne]].<ref>Headington, p. 82</ref>

===America and wartime===
[[File:Benjamin Britten, London Records 1968 publicity photo for Wikipedia (restored).jpg|thumb|Britten, photographed in the 1960s]]
In April 1939, Pears accompanied Britten as he sailed to [[North America]], going first to [[Canada]] and then to [[New York City|New York]]. Their relationship ceased to be platonic, and from then until Britten's death they were partners in both their professional and personal lives.<ref>Headington, pp. 87–88</ref> When the [[World War II|Second World War]] began, Britten and Pears turned for advice to the British embassy in Washington and were told that they should remain in the US as artistic ambassadors.<ref name=p197/> Pears was inclined to disregard the advice and go back to England; Britten also felt the urge to return, but accepted the embassy's counsel and persuaded Pears to do the same.<ref name=p197>Powell, p. 197</ref>

In 1940 Britten composed ''Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo'', the first of many song cycles for Pears.<ref>Headington, pp. 98–99</ref> The composer and biographer [[David Matthews (composer)|David Matthews]] described the cycle as Britten's "declaration of love for Peter".<ref>Matthews, p. 56</ref> The partners made a private recording of the work in New York shortly after it was completed, but the public premiere was not for a further two years.<ref>Headington, p. 99</ref> In 1941, spurred by a magazine article by [[E. M. Forster|E M Forster]] about the [[Suffolk]] poet [[George Crabbe]], Pears bought Britten a copy of Crabbe's collection of narrative poems ''[[The Borough (poem)|The Borough]]''. He suggested to Britten that the section about the fisherman Peter Grimes would make a good subject for an opera. Britten agreed, and, a Suffolk man himself, was struck with a deep nostalgia by the poem. He later said, "I suddenly realised where I belonged and what I lacked". He and Pears began to plan their return to England.<ref>Headington, pp. 110–111</ref> They made the perilous Atlantic crossing in April 1942.<ref>Powell, p. 210</ref>

Having arrived in England, Britten and Pears successfully applied for official recognition as [[conscientious objector]]s, Pears's application running much more smoothly than Britten's.<ref>Matthews, p. 66</ref> One of their early performances together after their return was the public premiere of the Michelangelo cycle at the [[Wigmore Hall]] in September 1942.<ref>Headington, p. 120</ref> Their recording of the work for [[EMI Classics|HMV]] was released in February 1943.<ref>"The Gramophone Company Limited", ''The Times'', 12 February 1943, p. 3</ref> Britten was by now so obsessed with the sound of Pears's "heavenly voice" that he went out of his way to discourage sopranos from singing his earlier song cycle, ''[[Les Illuminations (Britten)|Les Illuminations]]'', though it had been specifically composed for the soprano voice.<ref>Headington, pp. 122–123</ref> For Pears, Britten composed one of his most popular works, the [[Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings]] (1943).<ref>Powell, p. 229</ref>

In early 1943 Pears joined [[English National Opera|Sadler's Wells Opera Company]]. His roles included Tamino in ''[[The Magic Flute]]'', Rodolfo in ''[[La bohème]]'', the Duke in ''[[Rigoletto]]'', Alfredo in ''[[La traviata]]'', Almaviva in ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'', Ferrando in ''[[Così fan tutte]]'' and Vašek in ''[[The Bartered Bride]]''.<ref>Headington, p. 124</ref> His growing operatic experience and expertise affected the composition of Britten's opera ''[[Peter Grimes]]''. The composer had envisaged the central figure, based on Crabbe's brutal fisherman, as a villainous baritone, but he began to rethink the character as "neither a hero nor a villain" and not a baritone but a tenor, written to fit Pears's voice. In January 1944 Britten and Pears began a long association with the [[Decca Records|Decca Record Company]], recording four of Britten's folk song arrangements.<ref name=decca/> In May of the same year, with [[Dennis Brain]] and the [[Boyd Neel]] Orchestra, they recorded the Serenade.<ref name=decca/>

===''Peter Grimes'' and English Opera Group===
As the war was nearing its end, the artistic director of Sadler's Wells, the singer [[Joan Cross]], announced her intention to re-open the company's home base in London with Britten's new opera ''[[Peter Grimes]]'', casting herself and Pears in the leading roles.{{#tag:ref|[[Sadler's Wells Theatre]] in [[Islington]], London, was requisitioned by the government in 1942 as a refuge for people made homeless by air-raids; the Sadler's Wells opera company toured the British provinces, returning to its home base in June 1945.<ref>Gilbert pp. 78, 83 and 98</ref>
|group= n}} There were complaints from company members about supposed favouritism and the "cacophony" of Britten's score, as well as some ill-suppressed [[Homophobia|homophobic]] remarks.<ref>Gilbert, p. 98</ref> ''Peter Grimes'' opened in June 1945 and was hailed by public and critics.<ref name=press>See, for example, "Sadler's Wells Opera – 'Peter Grimes{{'"}}, ''The Times'', 8 June 1945, p. 6, and [[William Glock|Glock, William]]. "Music", ''[[The Observer]]'', 10 June 1945, p. 2</ref> Most of the extensive press coverage was to do with the work, but there was also high praise for the performances of Pears and Cross.<ref name=press/> Dismayed by the in-fighting among the company, Cross, Britten and Pears severed their ties with Sadler's Wells in December 1945, going on to found what was to become the [[English Opera Group]].<ref>Gilbert, p. 107</ref>

Britten's next opera, ''[[The Rape of Lucretia]]'', was presented at the first post-war Glyndebourne Festival, in 1946. It was a chamber piece for eight singers and an orchestra of twelve players. Pears and Cross were the Male and Female Chorus, with [[Kathleen Ferrier]] as Lucretia.  After the festival, the work was taken on tour to provincial cities under the banner of the "Glyndebourne English Opera Company", an uneasy alliance of Britten and his associates with [[John Christie (opera manager)|John Christie]], the autocratic proprietor of Glyndebourne.<ref>Hope-Wallace, Philip. "Opera at Glyndebourne", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 15 July 1946, p. 3; and Carpenter, pp. 242–243</ref> The tour lost money heavily, and Christie announced that he would underwrite no more tours.<ref>Carpenter, p. 243</ref> Britten and his associates set up the English Opera Group; the librettist [[Eric Crozier]] and the designer [[John Piper (artist)|John Piper]] joined Britten as artistic directors. The group's express purpose was to produce and commission new English operas and other works, presenting them throughout the country.<ref>Wood, Anne. "English Opera Group", ''The Times'', 12 July 1947, p. 5</ref> Britten wrote the comic opera ''[[Albert Herring]]'' for the group in 1947. Pears played the title role – one of his fairly rare excursions into comedy. Reviews of the opera were mixed, but Pears's performance as Albert, the mother's boy who kicks over the traces, received consistently good notices.<ref>"Albert Herring", ''The Times'', 21 June 1947, p. 6; "Maupassant Reversed", ''The Observer'', 22 June 1947, p. 2; "A New Britten Opera", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 23 June 1947, p. 3; and "At Covent Garden", ''The Observer'', 12 October 1947, p. 2</ref>

===Aldeburgh===
While on tour as Albert, Pears came up with the idea of mounting a festival in the small Suffolk seaside town of [[Aldeburgh]]. Britten had bought a house there, and the town was his principal residence for the rest of his life.<ref>Headington (1993), pp. 149–150; and Matthews, p. 89</ref> The [[Aldeburgh Festival]] was launched in June 1948, with Britten, Pears and Crozier directing it.<ref>White, p. 60</ref> For the inaugural festival,  ''Albert Herring'' played at the Jubilee Hall, and Britten's new cantata [[Saint Nicolas (Britten)|''Saint Nicolas'']], was presented in the parish church, with Pears as the tenor soloist.<ref>Matthews, pp. 92–93</ref> The festival was an immediate success and became an annual event that has continued into the 21st century.<ref>Hall, George. "Festival Overtures: Britten in Bloom", ''[[Opera (British magazine)|Opera]]'', Volume 64.4, April 2013, pp. 436–438</ref>

New works by Britten featured in almost every festival until his death in 1976. They included operas in which leading roles were created by Pears, and written with his voice in mind. They ranged from the comic (Flute in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera)|A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', 1960) to the deeply serious (Aschenbach in ''[[Death in Venice (opera)|Death in Venice]]'', 1973).<ref>Mason, Colin. "Benjamin Britten's 'Dream{{'"}}, ''The Guardian'', 11 June 1960, p. 5; and Greenfield, Edward. "Britten's Death in Venice", ''The Guardian'', 18 June 1973, p. 8</ref> His other creations at Aldeburgh included the Madwoman in ''[[Curlew River]]'' (1964), Nebuchadnezzar in ''[[The Burning Fiery Furnace]]'' (1966) and the Tempter in ''[[The Prodigal Son (Britten)|The Prodigal Son]]'' (1968).<ref name=grove>[[Alan Blyth|Blyth, Alan]].  [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/21147 "Pears, Sir Peter"], Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, accessed 15 October 2013 {{subscription required}}</ref>

For the English Opera Group during the 1950s, Pears also sang Macheath in Britten's radically revised version of ''[[The Beggar's Opera]]'', Satyavān in [[Gustav Holst|Holst]]'s ''[[Savitri (opera)|Sāvitri]]'', and the title role in Mozart's ''[[Idomeneo]]''.<ref name=grove/> At [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] he created roles in operas by Britten and Walton: Vere in ''[[Billy Budd (opera)|Billy Budd]]'' (1951), Essex in ''[[Gloriana]]'' (1953), and Pandarus in ''[[Troilus and Cressida (opera)|Troilus and Cressida]]'' (1954). Among his roles in older operas were Tamino, Vašek, and David in ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]''.<ref name=grove/>

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s Pears continually expanded his recital and concert repertoire. He sang his first [[The Dream of Gerontius|Gerontius]] in 1944, and the tenor part in ''[[Das Lied von der Erde]]'' in the same year. From the late 1940s he gained an international reputation as the [[Evangelist (Bach)|Evangelist]] in the ''[[St Matthew Passion]]''.<ref>Headington, p. 149</ref> The music critic [[David Cairns (writer)|David Cairns]] wrote, "Pears's interpretation of the evangelist's part in the Bach Passions seemed complete as no other singer's: it encompassed every turn in the drama, the pity, the anger, the despair, the resignation."<ref name=cairns>Cairns, David. [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:LSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F92585F49A10A13&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "A tenor of rare intelligence – Obituary of Sir Peter Pears"], ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', 6 April 1986</ref> In Lieder by [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]], [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]] and others he was almost always accompanied by Britten, a partnership that Headington calls "as nearly an artistic unity as could be imagined";<ref>Headington, p. 147</ref> Cairns calls their Lieder performances "never to be forgotten".<ref name=cairns/> They made recordings for Decca of ''[[Die schöne Müllerin]]'', ''[[Winterreise]]'' and  ''[[Dichterliebe]]'' that have remained in print since their first issue in the 1960s.<ref name=decca/>

===Later years===
Among the highlights of Pears's career in the 1960s was the premiere of Britten's ''[[War Requiem]]'' in May 1962, marking the consecration of the new [[Coventry Cathedral]]. Britten composed it with the voices of Pears, [[Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau]] and [[Galina Vishnevskaya]] in mind. The Soviet authorities prevented Vishnevskaya from taking part ([[Heather Harper]] deputised) but in January 1963 all three intended soloists took part in a Decca recording conducted by Britten, which unexpectedly became a best-seller.<ref>Culshaw, p. 339</ref> As well as his performing partnership with Britten, Pears established another with [[Julian Bream]], who, as a [[lute]]nist, accompanied him in many works, most notably those of English composers of the Tudor period.<ref name=dnb/>

Pears and Britten maintained an arduous international touring schedule, and made many broadcasts and gramophone recordings. In the 1970s Pears created roles in Britten's last two operas, playing General Wingrave in ''[[Owen Wingrave]]'' recorded at Aldeburgh for its premiere, which was on BBC television, and Aschenbach in ''[[Death in Venice (opera)|Death in Venice]]'' (1973).<ref name=grove/> It was in the latter role that Pears made his debut at the [[Metropolitan Opera]], New York, at the age of 64.<ref name=cairns/>

Following Britten's death in 1976, Pears had the good fortune to find another accompanist with whom he could collaborate fruitfully. With [[Murray Perahia]], Pears gave performances of such works as Britten's ''Michelangelo Sonnets'' and Schumann's ''[[Liederkreis, Op. 39|Liederkreis]]'' to critical acclaim.<ref name=cairns/> He continued to perform until a stroke ended his singing career in 1980 shortly after the celebrations marking his seventieth birthday. After that he remained an active director of the Aldeburgh Festival, and taught at the Britten-Pears School which he and his partner had set up in 1972.<ref name=dnb/>
[[File:Peter Pears grave by Arno Drucker.jpg|thumb|Pears's grave in St Peter and St Paul's Church, [[Aldeburgh]], Suffolk]]
Pears died in Aldeburgh on 3 April 1986 at the age of 75. He was buried beside Britten in the churchyard of the parish church of [[St Peter and St Paul's Church, Aldeburgh|St Peter and St Paul]], Aldeburgh.<ref name=dnb/>