Britten wrote Peter Grimes in 1944 to 1945 and the opera was first performed at the newly re-opened Sadler's Wells on 7 June 1945. The acquisition of these leaves sheds light on the gestation of the work and provide evidence of the composer's changes of mind. Most of these pages began as part of the main draft, but were removed when the music they contained was revised or rejected. The composition draft of Peter Grimes is also held by the Britten-Pears Library.
