Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

and conductor.

Early life

Oliver Knussen was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

of the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, and also participated in a number of premieres of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's music. Oliver Knussen studied composition with

John Lambert John Lambert may refer to: * John Lambert (martyr) (died 1538), English Protestant martyred during the reign of Henry VIII *John Lambert (general) (1619–1684), Parliamentary general in the English Civil War * John Lambert of Creg Clare (''fl.'' c ...

between 1963 and 1969, and also received encouragement from Britten. He spent several summers studying with Gunther Schuller at

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...

in Massachusetts and in Boston.

Musical life

Knussen began composing at about the age of six; an ITV programme about his father's work with the London Symphony Orchestra prompted the commissioning for his first symphony (1966–1967). Aged 15, Knussen stepped in to conduct his symphony's première at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I li ...

, London, on 7 April 1968, after István Kertész fell ill. After his debut,

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Barenboim (; in he, דניאל בארנבוים, born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin. He has been since 1992 General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera and "Staatskapellmeist ...

asked him to conduct the work's first two movements in New York a week later.

Bayan Northcott Bayan Peter Northcott (24 April 1940 – 13 December 2022) was an English music critic and composer. Biography Born in Harrow on the Hill (London), Northcott read English at Oxford University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford i ...

, "Oliver Knussen", ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

'', Vol. 120, No. 1639. (September 1979), pp. 729–732 In this work and his Concerto for Orchestra (1968–1970), he had quickly and fluently absorbed the influences of modernist composers Britten and

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states * Berg (state), county and duchy of the Hol ...

as well as many mid-century (largely American) symphonists, while displaying an unusual flair for pacing and orchestration. It was as early as the Second Symphony (1970–1971), in the words of Julian Anderson, that "Knussen's compositional personality abruptly appeared, fully formed". Anderson, Julian, "The later Music of Oliver Knussen. Catching up with Knussen in his 40th Year"', ''

'', Vol. 133, No. 1794. (August 1992), pp. 393–394. His major works from the 1980s were his two children's operas, '' Where the Wild Things Are'' and ''Higglety Pigglety Pop!'', both libretti by

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book '' Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 20 ...

– and based on Sendak's own eponymous children's books. ''Where the Wild Things Are'' received its New York premiere in November 1986 by New York City Opera, which also performed the work in April 2011. Knussen was the head of contemporary music activities at Tanglewood between 1986 and 1993. A much-admired orchestral work from 1994 is his Horn Concerto written for Barry Tuckwell, which "combines the colorful sound world of early 20th century music with a contemporary approach to time and melody". He was awarded CBE in the 1994 Birthday Honours. Knussen was principal guest conductor of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

's Het Residentie Orkest (Residentie Orchestra) between 1992 and 1996, the Aldeburgh Festival's co-artistic director between 1983 and 1998 and the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—giv ...

's music director between 1998 and 2002 – and became that ensemble's conductor laureate. In 2005, Knussen was the music director of the Ojai Music Festival. Knussen wrote his ''Songs for Sue'', a setting of four poems for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

and 15-piece ensemble, as a memorial tribute to his late wife, and the music received its world première in Chicago in 2006. Knussen told Tom Service in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'':

I knew there were a number of Dickinson poems addressed to her sister, Sue, so one week I read all 1,700 poems of Emily Dickinson ... and I copied out about 35 of them by hand, I have no idea where the notes for this piece come from ... It seemed to want to be written ... I wasn't sure whether it ... ought to be let out at all ... because I didn't want it to be a self-indulgent thing. But actually it's very restrained. It's not a huge work – about 13 minutes – but it's a big piece emotionally.

From September 2006, Knussen was artist-in-association to the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and from 2009 to the BBC Symphony Orchestra. As of autumn 2012, Knussen was writing a symphonic adagio for the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscriptio ...

. He was also planning to finish two concertos that he had worked on for several years: one for piano and one for cello. His recordings as a conductor include works by

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Elliott Carter,

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

, Hans Werner Henze, Toru Takemitsu,

Colin Matthews Colin Matthews, OBE (born 13 February 1946) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Noted for his large-scale orchestral compositions, Matthews is also a prolific arranger of other composer's music, including works by Berlioz, ...

Alexander Goehr Peter Alexander Goehr (; born 10 August 1932) is an English composer and academic. Goehr was born in Berlin in 1932, the son of the conductor and composer Walter Goehr, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. In his early twenties he emerged as a centra ...

, Robin Holloway and

Poul Ruders Poul Ruders (born 27 March 1949) is a Danish composer. Life Born in Ringsted, Ruders trained as an organist, and studied orchestration with Karl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s. Ruders regards his own composi ...

Personal life

Knussen was married to Sue Knussen, a US-born producer and director of music programmes for BBC television and for the UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

– for which she made ''Leaving Home'', an introduction to

20th-century music The following Wikipedia articles deal with 20th-century music. Western art music Main articles *20th-century classical music *Contemporary classical music, covering the period Sub-topics *Aleatoric music *Electronic music *Experimental music *Ex ...

presented by

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principa ...

in a series of seven one-hour programmes, which won the 1996 BAFTA award for "Best Arts Series". She ran the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

's education department in the late 1990s. Oliver and Sue Knussen had a daughter, Sonya Knussen, who is a

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middl ...

. Sue Knussen died of a blood infection in London in 2003. The Sue Knussen Composers Fund (previously, the Sue Knussen Commissioning Fund) "honours her memory and professional legacy...and...commissions works from emerging composers to be performed by contemporary music ensembles worldwide." Knussen lived in

Snape, Suffolk Snape is a small village in the English county of Suffolk, on the River Alde close to Aldeburgh. At the 2011 census the population was 611. In Anglo-Saxon England, Snape was the site of an Anglo-Saxon ship burial. Snape is now best known for ...

, Benjamin Britten's base during one of his most creative periods. Snape Maltings concert hall is the home of the Aldeburgh Festival. Knussen died on 8 July 2018, aged 66.

Compositions

*Symphony No. 1, Op. 1 (1967–68), for orchestra (withdrawn) *''Processionals'', Op. 2 (1968/78), for chamber ensemble *''Masks'', Op. 3 (1969), for solo flute and glass chimes 'ad lib' *Concerto for Orchestra (1969) *Symphony in One Movement, Op. 5 (1969/2002), for orchestra – a revised version of the Concerto for Orchestra *''Hums and Songs of Winnie-the-Pooh'', Op. 6 (1970/83), for soprano solo, flute, cor anglais, clarinet, percussion and cello *''Three Little Fantasies'', Op. 6a (1970/83), for wind quintet *Symphony No. 2, Op. 7 (1970–71), for high soprano and chamber orchestra inner: Margaret Grant Prize, Tanglewood*''Choral'', Op. 8 (1970–72), for wind, percussion and double basses *''Turba'', (1971/76), for double bass solo *''Rosary Songs'', Op. 9 (1972), for soprano solo, clarinet, piano and viola *''Océan de Terre'', Op. 10 (1972–73/76), for soprano and chamber ensemble *Study for ''Metamorphosis'' (1972, rev. 2018), for bassoon solo *''Music for a Puppet Court (after John Lloyd)'', Op. 11 (1973/83), "puzzle pieces" for two chamber orchestras *''Trumpets'', Op. 12 (1975), for soprano and three clarinets *''Ophelia Dances'' Book 1, Op. 13 (1975), for flute, cor anglais, clarinet, horn, piano, celesta and string trio oussevitzky centennial commission*''Autumnal'', Op. 14 (1976–77), for violin and piano *Cantata Op. 15 (1977), for oboe and string trio *''Sonya's Lullaby'' Op. 16 (1978–79), for piano solo *''Scriabin Settings'' (1978) *''Coursing'', Op. 17 (1979), for large chamber ensemble *Symphony No. 3, Op. 18 (1973–79), for orchestra *''Frammenti da Chiara'', Op.19a (1975/86), for two antiphonal 'a cappella' female choirs *'' Where the Wild Things Are'', Op. 20 (1979–83), fantasy opera, libretto by

*''Songs and a Sea Interlude'', Op. 20a (1979–81), for soprano and orchestra *''The Wild Rumpus'', Op. 20b (1983), for orchestra *''Higglety Pigglety Pop!'', Op. 21 (1984–85, revised 1999), fantasy opera, libretto by

*''Fanfares for Tanglewood'' (1986), for thirteen brass and three groups of percussion *''The Way to Castle Yonder'', Op. 21a (1988–90), for orchestra *''Flourish with Fireworks'', Op. 22 (1988 revised 1993), for orchestra *''Four Late Poems and an Epigram of

Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogn ...

'', Op. 23 (1988), soprano solo *Variations, Op. 24 (1989), for piano solo *''Secret Psalm'' (1990), for violin solo *'' Whitman Settings'', Op. 25 (1991/92) for soprano and piano; Op. 25a (1992) version for soprano and orchestra *''Songs without Voices'', Op. 26 (1991–92), for flute, cor anglais, clarinet, horn, piano and string trio *''Elegiac Arabesques'' (in memory of

Andrzej Panufnik Sir Andrzej Panufnik (24 September 1914 – 27 October 1991) was a Polish composer and conductor. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philh ...

), Op. 26a (1991), for cor anglais and clarinet *''Two Organa'', Op. 27 (1994), for large chamber ensemble *Horn Concerto, Op. 28 (1994), for horn solo and orchestra *''"...upon one note" (fantasia after Purcell)'' (1995), for clarinet, piano and string trio *''Prayer Bell Sketch'' (in memory of Tōru Takemitsu), Op. 29 (1997), for piano solo *''Eccentric Melody'' (for Elliott Carter's 90th birthday) (1998), for cello solo *Violin Concerto, Op. 30 (2002), for violin solo and orchestra *''Cleveland Pictures'' Op. 31. First performed at Snape Maltings on Friday 2022-06-24 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra *''Ophelia's Last Dance'', Ophelia Dances Book 2, Op. 32 (2004/2009–10), for piano solo *''Requiem: Songs for Sue'', Op. 33 (2005–6), for soprano and chamber ensemble * ''Reflection'', Op. 31a (2016) for violin and piano * ''O Hototogisu!'' (fragment of a Japonisme), for soprano, flute and large ensemble (2017)

Discography (as performer)

Hans Abrahamsen Hans Abrahamsen (born 23 December 1952) is a Danish composer born in Kongens Lyngby near Copenhagen. His '' Let me tell you'' (2013), a song cycle for soprano and orchestra, was ranked by music critics at ''The Guardian'' as the finest work of t ...

– Chamber Works, London Sinfonietta, Paula Records (1985) *Knussen – ''Where the Wild Things Are'', London Sinfonietta, Arabasque Records (1985) * Elliott Carter – Chamber Works, The Fires of London London Sinfonietta, Wergo Records (1985) *

– ''The Prince of the Pagodas'', London Sinfinietta, Virgin Classics (1990) *

– Chamber Works, London Sinfonietta, Unicorn-Kanchana (1991) *Carter – Orchestral Works, London Sinfonietta, Virgin Classics (1992) *Goehr – ''Sing, Ariel'', ''The Mouse Metamorphosed into A Maid'', Lucy Shelton, Eileen Hulse, Sarah Leonard, Instrumental Ensemble, Unicorn-Kanchana (1992) *Ruders – Chamber Works, Capricorn, Bridge Records (1992) *

Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...

– Chamber Works, London Sinfonietta, NMC (1993) * Aaron Copland – ''Grohg'', etc., The Cleveland Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Argo Records (1994) *

– ''The Flood'', etc.,

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor. He composed more than ...

– ''A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky'', London Sinfonietta, Deutsche Grammophon (1995) *

– ''Broken symmetry'', ''Suns dance'', ''Fourth Sonata'', London Sinfonietta, Deutsche Grammophon (1995) *Goehr – Piano Concerto, Peter Serkin, London Sinfonietta, NMC (1995) *Knussen – Orchestral, Vocal and Chamber Works, Barry Tuckwell, Lucy Shelton, London Sinfonietta, Deutsche Grammophon (1996) * Robert Saxton – Orchestral Works, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen, EMI Classics (1997) * Hans Werner Henze – ''Undine'', London Sinfonietta, Deutsche Grammophon (1997) *Stravinsky – ''The Fairy's Kiss'', ''Faun And Shepherdess'', ''Ode'' – Lucy Shelton, The Cleveland Orchestra, Deutsche (1997) * Ruth Crawford Seeger – ''Portrait'', Lucy Shelton, Reinbert de Leeuw, New London Chamber Choir, James Wood, Schönberg Ensemble, Deutsche Grammophon (1997) * Toru Takemitsu – ''Quotation of Dream'', London Sinfonietta, Deutsche Grammophon (1998) *Carter – ''Symphonia'', Clarinet Concerto, London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon (1999) *Takemitsu – ''Riverrun'', ''Water-ways'', Paul Crossley, London Sinfonietta, Virgin Classics Digital (1999) *

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and has been the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence since the ...

– ''Aura'', ''Engine'', BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Deutsche Grammophon (2000) *

Peter Lieberson Peter Goddard Lieberson (25 October 1946 – 23 April 2011) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. His song cycles include two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Music: '' Rilke Songs'' and '' Neruda Songs''; the latter won t ...

– Chamber Works, Asko Ensemble, The Cleveland Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon (2001) *Knussen – ''Higglety Pigglety Pop!'' & ''Where The Wild Things Are'', London Sinfonietta, Deutsche Grammophon (2001) *Knussen – ''Hums And Songs of Winnie-the-Pooh'' and Other Chamber Works, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, EMI Classics (2002) *

, orch

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

– ''Pictures at an Exhibition, Boris Godunov, Khovanschina, Night on a Bare Mountain'', The Cleveland Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon (2004) *Carter – Orchestral Works, London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Asko Ensemble, Bridge Records (2005) * Julian Anderson – Orchestral Works, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Ondine (2006) *Takemitsu – Orchestral Works, London Sinfonietta, Rolf Hind, London Sinfonietta Label (2006) *Knussen – Violin Concerto, ''Requiem'', ''Songs For Sue'', Soloists, BBC Symphony Orchestra, NMC (2012) *Goehr – ''Marching To Carcassonne'', Peter Serkin, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Naxos Records (2013) *Britten – ''The Rape of Lucretia'', Kirchschlager, Bostridge, Gritton, Purves, Russell, Coleman-Wright, Summers, Booth, Aldeburgh Festival Ensemble, Virgin Classics (2013) * Charlotte Bray – ''Caught in Treetops'', Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, NMC (2014) *Takemitsu – Orchestral Concert (to Mark the 20th Anniversary of his Passing), Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tower Records (2017) *Carter – Late Works, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Colin Currie, Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ondine (2017) *Anderson – ''The Comedy of Change'', ''Heaven Is Shy of Earth'',

Susan Bickley Susan Bickley is a British mezzo-soprano singer who performs in opera, Baroque and contemporary classical music. Personal life and education Susan Rochford Bickley was born into a Welsh family in Liverpool, England. Her father was a primary sc ...

, BBC Symphony Chorus, London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ondine (2018) *Henze – ''Heliogabalus Imperator'', Works For Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Wergo Records (2019)

References

External links

CompositionToday – Knussen article, review and interview

Knussen biography at the website of his publisher Faber MusicBirmingham Contemporary Music Group websiteOliver Knussen (1952–2018): Music of New Epiphanies by Michael Schell at Second InversionNotes on Symphony No. 3 by Thomas May
17 December 1988 & 13 March 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Knussen, Oliver 1952 births 2018 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century British composers 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century Scottish musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century British male musicians British classical composers British male classical composers British male conductors (music) Scottish conductors (music) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deutsche Grammophon artists Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society Musicians from Glasgow People educated at Purcell School Pupils of Gunther Schuller