5 December 2018

Britten’s diary entry for 5 December 1931

From a young age Britten was composing music, and at the age of 18 on Saturday 5 December 1931 he wrote in his diary that “After ten begin copying out a soprano part of my Carol variations which I present after dinner.” This most likely references ‘Variations of a French carol’, a project which he began working on earlier that week in time for the Christmas season.

Britten’s diary entry on 5 December 1931