Benjamin Britten - one of the twentieth-century's most important composers - spent much of his life in Aldeburgh and nearby Snape. The inspiration he drew from the area is most notable in the famous 'Four Sea Interludes' from his opera Peter Grimes. The violinist Yehudi Menuhin once commented, "If wind and water could write music, it would sound like Ben's."

In November 2003, a striking tribute to Britten and his music was unveiled on the beach just north of Aldeburgh. Scallop - a four-metre high steel sculpture - was conceived by Suffolk-born artist Maggi Hambling, and made by Aldeburgh craftsmen Sam and Dennis Pegg. It stands near the Thorpe Road car park on the coast road between Aldeburgh and Thorpeness.

The phrase "I hear those voices that will not be drowned" (from Peter Grimes) is pierced through the steel, to be read against the sky. Images of wings rising in flight, swimming fish and the ripple of waves are all suggested by the work, whose scallop forms also recall ancient symbols of pilgrimage, Venus and the sea.

Indeed, Maggi Hambling thinks of Scallop as a conversation with the sea. "An important part of my concept is that at the centre of the sculpture, where the sound of the waves and the winds are focused, a visitor may sit and contemplate the mysterious power of the sea," she says.

Scallop was given to Suffolk Coastal by the artist and by the Adnams Charity, which co-ordinated the raising of funds from numerous individual donors and grant-making trusts - including the Foundation for Sport & the Arts, the Britten-Pears Foundation, the Monument Trust and the Scarfe Charitable Trust. The Council is grateful to all these, and to Arts Council England East for a grant to install and interpret the work on Aldeburgh beach.

Related links

Listen to a BBC Radio 3 Discovering Music programme about the 'Four Sea Interludes'

Britten-Pears Foundation website