Britten’s early love for the cinema - when he was spellbound in particular by the work of Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers - and his later apprenticeship as a composer for documentary films in the 1930s are both charted in this chapter, which analyses his comments on the medium in his youthful letters and diaries and goes on to consider the impact film music had on his later stylistic development as a composer of works for the stage. High points of his own work in film include his scores for the General Post Office (GPO) Film Unit, including two celebrated collaborations with the poet W. H. Auden (Coal Face, 1935; Night Mail, 1936), his score for the feature film Love from a Stranger (1937), and his virtuosic orchestral music for Muir Mathieson’s educational film Instruments of the Orchestra (1946). The chapter concludes with an account of Britten’s close involvement with his own local cinema in Aldeburgh during the late 1960s.

Imogen Holst, Rosamund Strode, and Colin Matthews, who all served in the amanuensis role to Benjamin Britten, represent an important but often overlooked tradition of musical assistantship. This chapter traces the professionalisation of that position with Britten from one of close personal friendship with the composer, in the case of Holst, to something more formal when considering Strode and Matthews. Understanding the relationship between these individuals, alongside their contributions to the culture which surrounded Britten and his music at Aldeburgh, uncovers a rich tapestry of interconnections underscoring the collaborative nature of Britten’s achievements while also revealing how these figures contributed to the composer’s legacy.