Two years later, Britten sailed for America, accompanied by Auden and the renowned tenor Peter Pears (1910–86)—a lifelong collaborator and partner for whom Britten wrote many outstanding works. Upon arrival in New York, the trio joined an artists' commune, and, while there, Britten demonstrated his love of writing for voice with some striking new pieces, including the song cycle, Les Illuminations (a musical setting of poems by the 19th-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud), and a short opera,...