A talk and performance to mark the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten. The Badke Quartet will perform Britten's String Quartet No 2 in C major (1945) after a short lecture by Professor Roger Parker FBA. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/britten-and-the-string-quartet-a-classical-impulse-string-quartet-no2 Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently nearly 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website. Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gresham-College/14011689941