Reinterred: The Red House Aldeburgh

Wednesday, 7 May 2025

The Red House Aldeburgh

Today we were on another U3A Bury St. Edmunds day trip, this time to the Long Shop Museum in Leiston and The Red House in Aldeburgh, former home of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, Our second stop was The Red House.

This was the what the trailer for the trip said.

"In the afternoon we will have a private visit to The Red House at Aldeburgh home of Benjamin

Britten and Peter Pears. They moved here in 1957 and the peaceful setting which allowed

Britten to work without distraction contributed to his and Pears’ decision to stay there for the

rest of their lives. The house itself is a Grade II 17th century farmhouse. The interior

provides an accurate picture of their life together – telling not only their story but also that of

the family, friends and famous guests who stayed or visited there. The eclectic mix of art,

artefacts, furniture and furnishings give a rare and personal glimpse into the domestic lives and

tastes of two extraordinary musicians, rooted in pre- and post-war Britain. Its presentation is

based on documentary and photographic evidence as well as memories of their family, friends,

colleagues and employees.

In small groups with staggered starts and lasting 90 minutes, we will be guided through the

house, studio and library plus a rare opportunity to visit the Archives where you will get a

chance to see some of the gems of the collection. When not on a tour there is a chance to

explore the garden and the exhibition hall."

Here are a few of my photos.

The wisteria on the wall in the courtyard is in full bloom.

Dawn and I were in one of the groups touring the house first. We started in the library.

It is full of art work as well as books.

Here are Britten and Pears.

I was amused to see "A guide to Nuclear Weapons" in among the music books on this shelf.

I liked this seascape by David Smith (1930-1939)...

...and portrait of Albert Einstein by Joseph Scharl (1896-1954) signed by Einstein.

Next we visited the Composition Studio, reconstructed to be exactly as it was in the photograph.

There are button you can press to hear an extract from some of the pieces composed in this room.

In the main house now. This is the famous portrait Double Concerto at Snape by Maxwell Ashby Armfield.

They had a great collection of maps.

There is art everywhere in the house. This room has a seasonally changing exhibition - this one is called "Darkness" and is a selection of monochromatic works from the collection.

This portrait of Peter is by David Hockney. He didn't like it, saying it made him look old and fat.

An interesting cupboard.

Here is a photo of David Hockney painting the picture of Peter Pears shown earlier.

This was Peter's room.

They used to have a parrot in the kitchen that, we were told, was good at imitating the sound of running water.

A musical cushion. I can't identify what the quote is from, though.

After the house we had a visit to the archive where the librarian Nick Clark told us the touching story of Benjamin Britten and Yehudi Menuhin's special concert tour of the Concentration Camps and the holocaust survivor and cellist Anita Lasker. Anita later travelled to England and married Peter Wallfisch, settled in London and raised two children. You can read all about it on the museum website here.

Then we were free to explore the gardens and the exhibitions.

There was quite a lot in the permanent exhibition about Britten's epic War Requiem.

I rather liked this home-made instrument devised for Noye's Fludde called 'slung mugs'.

We took a short walk across the golf course and along the road opposite to get a view of the sea... and Maggi Hambling's famous sculpture The Scallop in one direction...