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

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

and conductor. Among the most influential British composers of his generation, his relatively few compositions are "rooted in 20th-century

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

, utbeholden to no school but his own"

Early life

Oliver Knussen was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

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 of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

's music. Oliver Knussen studied composition with John Lambert between 1963 and 1969, and also received encouragement from Britten. He spent several summers studying with

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

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, England. 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 G ...

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

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...

asked him to conduct the work's first two movements in New York a week later. Bayan Northcott, "Oliver Knussen", ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...

'', 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 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), that 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. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Send ...

– 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 The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

, 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 ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

'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 music, 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 ...

'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 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 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'':

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 Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...
... 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 Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) is a British chamber ensemble based in Birmingham, England specialising in the performance of Contemporary classical music, new and contemporary music. BCMG performs regularly at the CBSO Centre and Symph ...

, 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. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

. 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 (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

, Ruth Crawford Seeger,

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...

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

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large List of compositions by Hans Werner Henze, oeuvre is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky, Mu ...

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Tōru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Es ...

, Colin Matthews,

Alexander Goehr Peter Alexander Goehr (; 10 August 1932 – 26 August 2024) was a German-born English composer of contemporary classical music and academic teacher. A long-time professor of music at the University of Cambridge, Goehr influenced many notable c ...

Robin Holloway Robin Greville Holloway (born 19 October 1943) is an English composer, academic and writer. Early life Holloway was born in Leamington Spa. From 1953 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and was educated at King's College School, ...

and Poul Ruders.

Personal life

Knussen was married to Sue Knussen, a US-born producer and director of music programmes for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television and for the UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

– 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 *E ...

presented by Simon Rattle in a series of seven one-hour programmes, which won the 1996

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

award for "Best Arts Series". She ran the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

'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 ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

. 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, Benjamin Britten's base during one of his most creative periods. Snape Maltings concert hall is the home of the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

. 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'', Op. 23 (1988), soprano solo *Variations, Op. 24 (1989), for piano solo, written for pianist Peter Serkin *''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), 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

's 90th birthday) (1998), for cello solo *Violin Concerto, Op. 30 (2002), for violin solo and orchestra *''Cleveland Pictures'' Op. 31 (2003-09, unfinished). First performed at Snape Maltings on June 24 2022 by the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

*''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)

* Poul Ruders,

Hans Abrahamsen Hans Abrahamsen (born 23 December 1952) is a Danish composer born in Kongens Lyngby near Copenhagen. His ''Let me tell you (Abrahamsen), Let me tell you'' (2013), a song cycle for soprano and orchestra, was ranked by music critics at ''The Guard ...

– Chamber Works, London Sinfonietta, Paula Records (1985) *Knussen – ''Where the Wild Things Are'', London Sinfonietta, Arabasque Records (1985) *

– Chamber Works,

The Fires of London The Fires of London, founded as the Pierrot Players, was a British chamber orchestra, chamber music ensemble which was active from 1965 to 1987. The Pierrot Players was founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Hacker, and Stephen Pruslin.''Who’s Wh ...

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 Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

– ''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 also performed as a pianist and conductor. Wuorinen composed more than 270 works: orchestral music, c ...

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

– ''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) *

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

Peter Lieberson Peter Goddard Lieberson (25 October 1946 – 23 April 2011, aged 64) 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 la ...

– 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-born American 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. H ...

– ''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, 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 British classical composers 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century Scottish musicians 21st-century British classical composers 21st-century British male musicians 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 Scottish opera composers