Kenneth Hesketh

Kenneth Hesketh (born 1968) is a British composer of contemporary classical music in numerous genres including opera, dance, orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo. He has also composed music for wind and brass bands as well as seasonal music for choir.

Biography

Hesketh was born in Liverpool, and began composing whilst a chorister at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, completing his first work for orchestra at the age of thirteen. He received his first formal commission at nineteen for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Charles Groves. He studied at the Royal College of Music, London, with Edwin Roxburgh, Joseph Horovitz and Simon Bainbridge between 1987 and 1992 and attended Tanglewood in 1995 as the Leonard Bernstein Fellow where he studied with Henri Dutilleux. After completing a master's degree in Composition at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, a series of awards followed: the Shakespeare Prize scholarship from the Toepfer Foundation, Hamburg at the behest of Sir Simon Rattle, an award from the Liverpool Foundation for Sport and the Arts, and on his return to London in 1999 Hesketh was awarded the Constant and Kit Lambert Fellowship at the Royal College of Music, with support from the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

From 2003 to 2005 he was New Music Fellow at Kettle's Yard and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge where he curated a series of new music chamber concerts. The Fondation André Chevillion-Yvonne Bonnaud prize was awarded to Hesketh at the 2004 Concours International de Piano d'Orléans after a performance of his Three Japanese Miniatures by pianist Daniel Becker.

In 2007, Hesketh took up the position of Composer in the House with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for two years. The scheme, devised by the Royal Philharmonic Society in partnership with the PRS Foundation, was designed to allow composers the time and space to create new work, and to take their place at the heart of the orchestral community. Hesketh's tenure with the RLPO saw the creation of works for many of the instrumental groups within the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, from the orchestra^[1] and contemporary music ensemble (Ensemble 10/10, with whom Hesketh already has a thriving relationship) to youth ensembles, chamber groups and choirs. He also took part in teaching and outreach projects in Liverpool and Manchester during the two years.

Musical style

An early enthusiasm for Franco-Russian music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was one of the stimuli behind Hesketh's interest in colourful orchestration, and he has always been inspired by the other arts. Several works have their origins in medieval symbolism and iconography, notably three pieces for chamber ensemble: Theatrum (1996), Torturous Instruments (1997-8, after Hieronymous Bosch's depiction of Hell from The Garden of Earthly Delights), and The Circling Canopy of Night (1999). This was Hesketh's first piece to gain international attention. Commissioned by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Faber Music it was first conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and further championed by Oliver Knussen, who has performed many of Hesketh's works. Performances at the Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, London (London Sinfonietta) and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (ASKO Ensemble) soon followed. The Times described this work as "a glistening whirl of nocturnal colours, [with] a driving sense of purpose and onward movement."^[2]

He is also intrigued by children's literature with a sinister or melancholy streak. His 2000-1 work, Netsuke (from the Japanese miniature sculptures called netsuke) – commissioned by the ensemble Endymion at the request of Hans Werner Henze^[3] – comprises five short movements inspired variously by Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince, Hoffmann's Struwwelpeter, and a poem by Walter de la Mare. Other such works include Small Tales, tall tales after the Brothers Grimm, and Detail from the Record after Japanese folk tales.

Hesketh has described Netsuke as 'intricate and ornate', a description which could apply to most of his works. He favours complex textures, though the transparency of his instrumental writing ensures that every note is clearly heard, and the rhythmic flexibility typical of his style gives his music an improvisatory character. His orchestral work At God speeded summer's end (2000, premiered by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra) has a clarity of texture and orchestral virtuosity. Recent pieces show an interest in what the composer describes as 'unreliable machines': short bursts of mechanistic material that repeat, are transformed but ultimately burn themselves out.^[4] More recently as an outgrowth of this, death, loss and entropy (in humanistic as well as thermodynamic terms) feature strongly as stimuli in his work.

Notable commissions, compositions and performances

Hesketh has received numerous commissions from international ensembles and organisations including the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, the Continuum Ensemble, a Faber Millennium Commission for the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the BBC Philharmonic, Hans Werner Henze and Endymion (in honour of Henze's 75th birthday), the Munich Biennale, the Michael Vyner Trust for the London Sinfonietta, an ENO/Almeida joint commission, the 10/10 Ensemble and the Opera Group at the Linbury Theatre, Covent Garden.

His many concert works, including opera, orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo works are published by Schott & Co., London and are performed by leading ensembles and orchestras in Europe and North America. A selection of major works include Two Lapels and a Pocket (from the Overcoat after Gogol) for orchestra, Theatrum for large ensemble, Forms Entangled, Shapes Collided for five instruments, Horae (Pro Clara) for piano solo, Detail from the Record for chamber orchestra, Music of a distant drum for Baritone and ensemble, Small Tales, tall tales for four singers and ensemble, Wunderkammer(konzert)" for large ensemble, and the orchestral works At God speeded summer's end,Knotted Tongues and Graven Image.

Hesketh's other works for symphonic wind band have become contemporary classics of the genre. Tuneful and immediately accessible, regular performances of them around the world have led to British, Japanese, American and Canadian commercial recordings. These are published by Faber Music. His seasonal compositions for choir and orchestra are published by Novello & Co.

Recent performances have been given by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Hessicher Rundfunk), the Sudwest Rundfunk (Baden-Baden), the London Sinfonietta, Psappha, the ASKO ensemble, the Continuum Ensemble (Spitalfields festival). Conductors include Sir Simon Rattle, Oliver Knussen, Martyn Brabbins, Patrick Bailey, Philip Headlam, Christoph Mueller, Vassily Sinaisky and Vasily Petrenko. Soloists include violinist Simon Blendis, Clio Gould and Peter Sheppard-Skaerved, oboists Nicholas Daniel, Christopher Redgate and Hansjorg Schellenberger, sopranos Sarah Leonard, Claire Booth and Marie Vassilliou, baritone Rodney Clarke and pianists Karl Lutchmayer, Sarah Nichols and Daniel Becker.

Recent performances include a series of twelve short pieces for piano titled Horae (pro Clara) for the British pianist Clare Hammond which were premiered in its complete form at the Cheltenham Festival in 2013. Hesketh was a visiting guest composer at the Bowdoin Festival in the USA, and lectured on his works in Seoul, Korea at Yonsei and Ewha Universities. The first NMC recording devoted to large ensemble and orchestral works by the composer, titled "Wunderkammer(konzert)", was released in 2013. Hesketh's recent work for dance, Forms entangled, shapes collided, commissioned by ensemble Psappha and Phoenix Dance Theatre, through the support of The Royal Philharmonic Society Drummond Fund, toured nationally throughout 2013 with final performances in the Royal Opera House, Lindbury Theatre. In 2011 Notte Oscura for piano solo (Peter O'Hagan) was released on the UHR label, Point Forms (after Kandinsky) for Basset clarinet was released on the NMC label (Mark Simpson and Ian Buckle), and Three Japanese Miniatures was released on the Prima Facie label (Clare Hammond) in 2011 and in 2013 on the Teriyaki label (Hanna Shybayeva). Hesketh's third CD was released in 2016 on the BIS label featuring works for solo piano, performed by the British pianist Clare Hammond. A fourth disc concentrating on music for 2 pianos and piano four hands will be released on the Prima Facie label, performed by the Françoise-Green piano duo.

Kenneth Hesketh was made an honorary professor of composition at University of Liverpool in 2008 and is professor of composition and orchestration at the Royal College of Music. He lives in London and is married to the composer Arlene Sierra. They have one child, a son, Elliott.

Chronology of important dates

1968 Born in Liverpool

1977 Chorister at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

1985 Symphony

1987 First formal commission from Sir Charles Groves for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

1992 Now Springs the Spray for soprano and orchestra

1994 Recit. And Aria for Soprano and chamber ensemble

1995 Leonard Bernstein Fellow at Tanglewood

1996 Fromm Foundation commission (Harvard University, USA)

1996 Theatrum for chamber ensemble (Tanglewood/ Fromm Foundation Commission)

1996 Shakespeare Prize scholarship from the Toepfer Foundation, Hamburg

1997 Master's degree in Composition, University of Michigan, USA

1997 Torturous Instruments for chamber ensemble

1998 Die hängende Figur ist Judas (Drei Perspektiven) for solo cello

1999 The Circling Canopy of Night for chamber ensemble (Faber/ BCMG joint commission)

1999 Award from the Liverpool Foundation for Sport and the Arts

1999 Awarded Constant and Kit Lambert Fellow at the Royal College of Music, London

2000 at God Speeded Summer's End for orchestra (BBC Philharmonic Orchestra commission)

2000-1 Netsuke for chamber ensemble (commissioned by Hans Werner Henze for his 75th birthday)

2001 After Verdi for chamber orchestra

2001 Detail from the Record for chamber orchestra (Michael Vyner Trust commission for London Sinfonietta)

2002 Notte Oscura for orchestra

2002 Cautionary Tales for clarinet, violin and piano

2002 Dei Destini Incrociati for six players (Munich Biennale commission)

2002 Fra Duri Scogli for six players

2002 Three Japanese Miniatures for solo piano

2002-3 The Overcoat opera in 2 Acts (ENO/ Almeida Opera joint commission)

2003 A Land So Luminous for violin and chamber ensemble

2003 Appointed Professor of Composition and Orchestra, Royal College of Music, London

2003-5 New Music Fellow, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge

2004 Polygon Window for violin, 2 pianos and 11 percussion

2004 Two Lapels and Pocket (Suite No. 1 from the Overcoat)

2004 Three Japanese Miniatures awarded Fondation Andre Chevillion-Yvonne Bonnaud Prize

2005 Threats and Declamations for chamber ensemble

2005 Three Pieces in the Shape of a Shoe for oboe, bassoon and piano

2005-6 The Doctrine of Affections for chamber ensemble (Britten Sinfonia commission)

2006 Music of a Distant Drum for baritone and chamber ensemble (Spitalfields Festival commission)

2006 Small Tales, tall tales for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone and chamber ensemble (Opera Group commission)

2006 Poetic Conceits for solo piano

2006 Ein Lichtspiel (after Moholy-Nagy) for ensemble (10/10 Anniversary commission)

2007 Appointed Composer in the House with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

2007 A Rhyme for the Season for orchestra (RLPO commission)

2007 Like the Sea, like time for Tenor soloist, SATB chorus, Youth chorus and Orchestra

2007 Theatre of Attractions – for chamber ensemble with film (Ensemble contemporain de Montréal commission)

2008 Graven Image for orchestra (RLPO commission)

2008 The Gilded Theatre for symphonic wind band (National Youth Wind Orchestra commission)

2008 Wunderkammer(konzert) for ensemble (Ensemble 10/10 commission)

2008 Made Honorary Professor of Composition at University of Liverpool

2008 PatterSongs for orchestra

2009 Point Forms (after Kandinsky) for Bassett Clarinet and Piano

2009 La morte meditata (Death meditated upon) Four settings of Giuseppe Ungaretti for Baritone and Piano

2009 La morte meditata (Death meditated upon) Four settings of Giuseppe Ungaretti for Baritone and Orchestra

2010 KLOK for solo percussion

2010 Danceries (set II)

2011 Diatoms I-IV (The Four Horsemen) for two pianos

2011 Sisyphus' Punishment for String Quartet

2011 Knotted Tongues for orchestra (Seattle Symphony Orchestra commission)

2012 Horae (pro Clara) I-XII for solo piano

2012 Chronicles of the time (Lamentations from Macbeth) for Baritone and piano

2012 Forms entangled, shapes collided (music for dance and 5 instruments)

2013 Orchestrations of Fugue and Toccata from Tombeau de Couperin (M. Ravel)

2013 Two piano version of Three Movements from THEATRUM

2013 Two piano version of Notte Oscura

2014 Orchestrations of Au gré des ondes and San Francisco Night (H. Dutilleux)

2015 Spike I (version for violin, violoncello and piano)

2015 Inscription – Transformation for Violin and Orchestra

2015 Hände: Das Leben und die Liebe eines Zärtlichen Geschlechts for Solo Piano & Film

2015 Concerto Salmigondis for Chamber Orchestra

2015 In Ictu Oculi (Three Meditations) for Wind orchestra

External links

• Kenneth Hesketh, Liverpool Philharmonic
• Kenneth Hesketh, Schott Music
• Kenneth Hesketh, Faber Music
• Kenneth Hesketh, Novello & Co.
• Kenneth Hesketh, Royal College of Music
• Kenneth Hesketh, School of Music, University of Liverpool
• Kenneth Hesketh, Royal Philharmonic Society Composer in the House
• Kenneth Hesketh website
• Kenneth Hesketh Youtube Channel