The Britten-Pears Foundation are continuing to celebrate Benjamin Britten's 100th anniversary this year by launching a new Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra App. Designed with financial backing from the National Lottery and Arts Council England, the free App will introduce a new generation of children to the orchestra and the music of Britten through the latest technology - just as the composer intended when he leant support to a film featuring his Young’s Person’s Guide in 1946.

Featuring illustrations by artist Sara Fanelli, and a specially-recorded performance of the work by Sir Mark Elder and the Royal Northern College of Music Symphony Orchestra, the App includes games, composition exercises, aural quizzes, information about Britten’s life and work, archive photographs, a copy of pages from Britten’s original manuscript, an interactive score, and insight into orchestral instruments and their players.

‘In 1946 Britten was in the vanguard of music education with the film Instruments of the Orchestra, which used the most modern technology of the day to introduce children to the orchestra,’ said Britten-Pears Foundation director Richard Jarman. ‘We started by asking how Britten would have done this if he were alive today and could use our modern technologies. Our answer has been to create an App that will give children and families lots of fun in exploring the orchestra and its instruments. We hope the result will draw children into Britten’s world.’

The App forms part of the British Library exhibition ‘Poetry in Sound: The Music of Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976)’, which runs until September 15 and features the original manuscript of Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra on public display for the first time.

Download the App for free through iTunes. An interactive version will be available on the Britten 100 website from September 2013.