Kenneth Leighton (2 October 1929 – 24 August 1988) was a British composer and pianist. His compositions include church and choral music, pieces for piano, organ, cello, oboe and other instruments, chamber music, concertos, symphonies, and an opera. He had various academic appointments in the Universities of Leeds, Oxford and, primarily, Edinburgh.

Biography

Leighton was born in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, Yorkshire, on 2 October 1929, to parents of modest means, who noted his musical ability as a child and enrolled him as a chorister at

Wakefield Cathedral Wakefield Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, is a co-equal Anglican cathedral with Bradford and Ripon Cathedrals, in the Diocese of Leeds and a seat of the Bishop of Leeds. Originally the pa ...

. Encouraged by his mother and the parish priest (who helped obtain a piano), he began piano lessons and progressed precociously. In 1940, he gained a place at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, played at school assemblies and concerts, and composed settings of poetry for voice and piano and solo piano pieces (including the Sonatina Op.1a, 1946, his first published work). While still at school (in 1946) he obtained the Licentiate of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

(

LRAM Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music (LRAM) is a professional diploma, or licentiate, formerly open to both internal students of the Royal Academy of Music and to external candidates in voice, keyboard and orchestral instruments and guitar, as ...

) in piano performance. With the benefit of a State scholarship to study Classics at University, Leighton was admitted to the

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

in 1947, where he also won a

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Scholarship, obtaining a BA in Classics in 1950. After commencing his Classics degree he began to study simultaneously for a degree in Music, tutored by the composer Bernard Rose, and gained the Oxford Bachelor of Music in 1951. At Oxford he came to the attention of

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...

, an early supporter and friend, who performed some of his works (e.g. Symphony for Strings, Op.3, 1949) with the Newbury String Players and introduced him to

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, who facilitated and attended some of his performances in London.

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 ...

premiered his overture Primavera Romana (Op.14) with the Royal Philharmonic in Liverpool in 1951. In the same year he was awarded a

Mendelssohn Scholarship The Mendelssohn Scholarship (german: Mendelssohn-Stipendium) refers to two scholarships awarded in Germany and in the United Kingdom. Both commemorate the composer Felix Mendelssohn, and are awarded to promising young musicians to enable them to co ...

, which enabled him to study with Goffredo Petrassi in Rome, where he met his first wife, Lydia Angela Vignapiano, by whom he had two children (

Angela Leighton Angela Leighton, FBA (born 23 February 1954) is a British literary scholar and poet, who specialises in Victorian and twentieth-century English literature. Since 2006, she has been a Senior Research Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge. Previousl ...

, academic and poet; Robert, archaeologist). On his return from Italy in 1952, Leighton taught briefly at the Royal Marines School of Music in

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, a ...

. He held a Gregory Fellowship in music from 1953–56 in the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, and in 1956 was appointed Lecturer, then Reader, in Music in the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

. In 1968, he moved to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where he succeeded

Edmund Rubbra Edmund Rubbra (; 23 May 190114 February 1986) was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak o ...

as Fellow in Music of Worcester College. Leighton returned to Edinburgh as Reid Professor of Music in 1970, holding the chair until his death in 1988. He married Josephine Anne Prescott in 1981. Unlike most of his Oxford contemporaries, Leighton came from a working-class area of an industrial northern town; so his early rise to prominence is all the more remarkable. Although he spent much of his adult life in Scotland, he always regarded himself as a down-to-earth Yorkshireman. He eschewed the possibility of a career as a pianist, hoping that a University position would allow him greater creative freedom and time to compose, although he periodically gave recitals and broadcasts, and conducted the University (Reid) orchestra. After the spell in Italy, his life was dominated by composing, which continued uninterrupted, notwithstanding an unsettled period in the late 1970s and early 1980s associated with divorce and remarriage. Leighton was a rather private man, averse to self-promotion and slightly shy of social occasions, who treasured peace and quiet, although he enjoyed family life and teaching (notably harmony and counterpoint). For most of his career he managed to reconcile university commitments with composing, but found this increasingly difficult in later years and was intending to retire early to have more time for composition. Indeed, Leighton never felt entirely at home or at ease with the title of 'university professor' and became disenchanted with the burden of administrative duties at Edinburgh. At Leeds he formed friendships with the poet

Geoffrey Hill Sir Geoffrey William Hill, FRSL (18 June 1932 – 30 June 2016) was an English poet, professor emeritus of English literature and religion, and former co-director of the Editorial Institute, at Boston University. Hill has been considered to be ...

and the painters Terry Frost and Maurice de Sausmarez. A lasting friendship with the Wallfisch family (musicians Peter,

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

and Anita Lasker-Wallfisch) also dates from this period. Amongst his distinguished students at Oxford and Edinburgh were Donald Runnicles, Nicholas Cleobury, and the composer

Nigel Osborne Nigel Osborne (born 23 June 1948) is a British composer, teacher and aid worker. He served as Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh and has also taught at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. He is known f ...

, who succeeded him as Reid professor at Edinburgh. James MacMillan also studied at Edinburgh during Leighton's tenure and described him as "a marvellous teacher". While Leighton wrote a good deal of church music, and has occasionally been categorised too reductively as a church-music composer, he was not a church-goer or member of any congregation, nor even conventionally religious. His interests in literature and love of nature and countryside are reflected in the settings of English poetry in many works, such as Symphonies 2 and 3 (Opp.69 & 90) and Earth, Sweet Earth (Op.94). Fond of walking his dog on the hills, Leighton loved the Scottish highlands and frequently visited the western islands (in the 1960s often in an old camper van). Trips to Mull and Iona in the early 1970s foreshadow the opera Columba (Op.77, 1978). He also had friends on the island of Arran, which he visited regularly. He died at home in Edinburgh in 1988, six months after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. His grave is in the Glen Sannox cemetery on Arran.

Music

Leighton's earliest youthful works, characteristic of his Oxford years and well exemplified by Veris Gratia (Op.9, 1950), were influenced in part by the English tradition as represented by

, Finzi, Herbert Howells, and Walton. His own more distinctive style, however, emerged and consolidated rapidly between 1950 and 1955, and probably owes as much to the period of study with Petrassi in Italy and familiarity with the work of a wide range of 20th-century European composers. He maintained a lifelong passion for the music of Bach (cf. his award-winning Fantasia Contrappuntistica Op.24, 1956). A few pieces reflect experimentation or flirtation with

serialism In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were al ...

, although Leighton's works are more generally typified by a strong sense of lyricism, diatonicism, contrapuntal mastery, chromaticism and rhythmic invention. He composed a wide range of music (over 100 works, 96 with opus numbers, below) for many different configurations of instruments, often for commissions, specific occasions and performers. His output includes church music, chamber, organ and solo piano music, as well as large-scale orchestral works and an opera (Op.77, 1978) based on the life of Columba (libretto by the poet Edwin Morgan). The sacred and liturgical music is widely known and performed regularly across the UK (and extensively recorded, e.g. on Chandos, Hyperion, Naxos, ASV, Priory labels). Leighton did much to keep alive and transform the Victorian tradition of English choral music, purge its piety and drag it into the (late) twentieth century. An enduringly popular early piece is "Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child," Op.25b, a setting of the

Coventry Carol The "Coventry Carol" is an English Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called '' The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors''. The play depicts the Ch ...

, while the hymn "Drop, drop, slow tears" (concluding Crucifixus pro nobis, Op.38, 1961) has also appeared in numerous recordings. The boundaries between sacred, choral and secular music, however, are often blurred in Leighton's oeuvre, which makes extensive use of vocals. Hymns and chorales feature prominently in the instrumental music as well. A good example is 'The Shining River', which is at the core of the Fantasy on an American Hymn Tune (Op.70, for clarinet, cello and piano), and also permeates the 2nd Symphony (Op.69, below), juxtaposed with the Last Sermon of

John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's Cathe ...

in the finale. The solo piano music, which ranges from miniatures for younger players to demandingly advanced works, has been recorded by several artists (e.g. Eric Parkin, Peter Wallfisch, Margaret Fingerhut, Angela Brownridge,

Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...

), as also the works for organ, which include the celebratory Paean (1966), the duet Martyrs (Op.73), the Prelude, Scherzo and Passacaglia (Op.41), Missa de Gloria (Op.82) and an organ concerto with timpani (Op.58, cf. Poulenc), widely credited with injecting new life and vigour into the British organ repertoire of the late 20th century. The works for cello (the lyrical Elegy (Op.5) written while he was a student) appear on various recordings, notably by Raphael Wallfisch; the cello concerto was premiered by

Florence Hooton Florence Hooton (8 July 1912 – 14 May 1988) was an English cellist. She was born in Scarborough, the daughter of a cellist, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Douglas Cameron, then in Zurich with Emanuel Feuermann.Palmer, Russell. ...

and Sir

John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...

in 1956. Chamber works include the prize-winning Piano Trio (Op.46), three string quartets, piano quintet and quartet, and the Fantasy Octet (Op.87), incorporating themes by

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

, commissioned for the 1982 Edinburgh Festival Grainger centenary concert. In recent years the larger-scale works have also become better known thanks to new recordings. Amongst these is the second symphony (Sinfonia mistica, Op.69, 1974), a meditation on death in memory of his mother (CHAN10495). Albeit a profoundly spiritual work, this does not lack theatrical flair, including two scherzos, with jazzy touches (taken as menacing by one reviewer), suggesting a composer with a sly sense of humour. The last piano pieces include three major works. They mark the culmination of a lifetime of writing for the instrument: a Sonata for Four Hands (Op.92, 1984/5) with jazzy rhythms and a haunting chorale; a Prelude, Hymn and Toccata (Op.96, 1987) for two pianos, with a central Hymn (

Abide with Me "Abide with Me" is a Christian hymn by Scottish Anglican cleric Henry Francis Lyte. A prayer for God to stay with the speaker throughout life and in death, it was written by Lyte in 1847 as he was dying from tuberculosis. It is most often sung ...

, heavily disguised), and final Toccata; and the revelatory Four Romantic Pieces (Op.95, 1986), described by one reviewer as some of the most powerful and imaginative piano music of the late 20th century. Most of Leighton's works have been recorded and are commercially available on CD, although some notable exceptions remain. Much of his output is published by Novello and Co.

Works

Works with opus numbers

*1a Sonatina No. 1 (piano) (1946) *1b Sonatina No. 2 (piano) (1948) *2 Sonata No. 1 (piano) (1948) *3 Symphony for Strings (1948-9) *4 Violin Sonata No. 1 (& flute/piano vers) (1948) *5 Elegy (cello; & orch vers) (1949/1953) *6 ''Veris Gratia'', Cantata *7 Scherzo (2 pianos) *8 ''Hippolytus'' (Cantata) *9 ''Veris Gratia'', Suite (oboe/cello/strings) (1950) *10 ''Just Now the Lilac is in Bloom'' (Cantata Baritone/String Orch) *11a ''Napoli, Rhapsody on Neapolitan themes'' (piano/orch) *11 Piano Concerto No. 1 (1951) *12 Violin Concerto (1952) *14 ''Primavera Romana'' (orch) (1951) *15 Concerto for Viola, Harp, Timpani & String Orch (1952) *16 ''The Light Invisible'' (chor/orch) (1958) *17 Sonata No. 2 (piano) (1953) *18 Passacaglia, Chorale and Fugue (orch) (1957) *19 ''Burlesque'' (orch) (1957) *19a Serenade (flute/piano) (1949/53) *20 Violin Sonata No. 2 (1953) *21 ''A Christmas Carol'' (orch & org vers) (1953) *22 Five Studies (piano) (1952) *23 Concerto for Oboe & String Orchestra (1953) *24 ''Fantasia Contrappuntistica'' (piano) (1956) *25 Three Carols (inc. Lully Lulla) (1948/1956) *26 Concerto for Two Pianos, Timpani, Orchestra *27 Piano Sonata No. 3 (1954) *28 ''The Birds'' (chor) (1954) *29 Fantasia on the name Bach (viola/piano) (1955) *30 Variations (piano) (1955) *31 Cello Concerto (orch; & cello/piano vers); (1956) *32 String Quartet No. 1 (1956) *33 String Quartet No. 2 (1957) *34 Piano Quintet (1959) *35 Partita for cello/piano (1959) *36 Nine Variations for piano (1959) *37 Piano Concerto No. 2 (1960) *38 ''Crucifixus Pro Nobis'' (choir/org) (1961) *39 Concerto for String Orchestra (1960-1) *40 ''Missa Sancti Thomae'' (choir/org) (1962) *41 Prelude, Scherzo and Passacaglia (org) (1963) *42 Symphony No. 1 (1964) *43 Seven Variations (string quartet) (1964) *44 Mass (Double Choir) (1964) *45 Communion Service in D *46 Piano Trio (1965) *47 ''Pieces for Angela'' (piano) (1966) *48 ''Metamorphoses'' (violin & piano) (1966) *49 ''Et Resurrexit'' (org) (1966) *50 Missa Brevis (1967) *51 ''Conflicts: Fantasy on Two Themes'' (piano) (1967) *52 Sonata for Solo Cello (1967) *53 Dance Suite No. 1 (orchestra) (1968) *54 Three Psalms (1968) *55 ''Easter Sequence'' (chor/org) (1969) *56 Six Study–Variations (piano) (1969) *57 Piano Concerto No. 3 (1969) *58 Organ Concerto (org/str orch) (1970) *59 Dance Suite No. 2 (orch) (1970) *60 Dance Overture (orch) (1971) *61 ''Laudes Animantium'' (chor) *62 Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Second Service) (1959) *63 Piano Quartet (''Contrasts and Variants'') (1972) *64 Piano Sonata (1972) *65 ''Six Elizabethan Lyrics'' (women's choir) (1972) *66 ''Sarum Mass'' (1972) *67 ''Mass for Ampleforth'' *68 ''Laudate Pueri'' (choir) (1973) *69 Symphony No. 2, "Sinfonia mistica" (1974) *70 Fantasy on an American Hymn Tune (clarinet/cello/piano) (1974) *71 Laudes Montium (chor) (1975) *72 Six Fantasies on Hymn Tunes (org) (1975) *73 ''Martyrs, Dialogues on a Scottish Psalm Tune'' (organ 4-hands) (1976) *74 ''Hymn to Matter'' (chor/orch) *75 ''Sequence for All Saints'' (chor) (1978) *76 Improvisations, De profundis (harpsic) (1977) *77 ''Columba'' (opera) (1980) *78 ''Columba mea, Song of Songs'' (voc/orch) (1977) *79 ''Awake my Glory'' (voc/chor/org) (1979) *80 Fantasy on a Chorale (" Es ist genug") (violin/org) (1979) *81 ''Missa Cornelia'' (chor/org) (1979) *82 ''Missa de Gloria'' (org) (1980) *83 ''Animal Heaven'' (chor/orch) (1980) *84 ''These are thy wonders'' (voc/org) (1981) *85 ''Alleluia Pascha Nostrum'' (cello/piano) (1981) *86 ''Household Pets'' (piano) (1981) *87 Fantasy-Octet (Strings) (1982) *88 Concerto for Harpsichord, Recorder (or flute) and String Orchestra (1982) *89 Dance Suite No. 3: Scottish Dances (orch) (1983) *90 Symphony No. 3, "Laudes Musicae" (1984) *91 ''The World's Desire'' (chor) (1984) *92 Sonata for Piano Duet (1985) *93 ''Veni Redemptor'' (org) (1985) *94 ''Earth, Sweet Earth'' (voc/piano) (1986) *95 Four Romantic Pieces (piano) (1986) *96 Prelude, Hymn and Toccata (2 pianos) (1987)

Works without opus numbers

*''Winter Scenes'' (piano) (1953) *''God's Grandeur'' (choir) (1957) *''Jack-in-the-Box'' (piano) (1959) *Nocturne (violin/piano) (1959) *''Hymn of the Nativity'' (choir) (1960) *''Alleluia Amen'' (choir) (1961) *Festive Overture (orch) (1962) *''Give Me the Wings of Faith'' (choir) (1962) *''O Leave Your Sheep'' (choir/org) (1962) *''Preces and Responses'' (choir) (1964) *''Te Deum Laudamus'' (choir/orch) (1964) *''Wassail All Over Town!'' (choir) (1964) *Elegy (organ) (1965) *''Lazy Bones'' (piano) (1965) *''Let All the World in Every Corner Sing'' (choir/org) (1965) *Study (piano) (1965) *Fanfare (org) (1966) *''Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates'' (choir) (1966) *''Paean'' (organ) (1966) *''Morning Canticles'' (choir) (1967) *''Quam Dilecta!'' (choir) (1967) *Festival Fanfare (organ) (1968) *Improvisation (organ) (1969) *''Adventate Deo'' (choir/org) (1970) *Lament (guitar) (1974) *''Rockingham'' (organ) (1975) *Ode (organ) (1977) *''An Evening Hymn'' (choir) (1979) *''Fanfare on Newtoun'' (choir/brass/org) (1983) *''The Christ-Child Lay'' (choir) (1984) *''What Love of this is Thine?'' (choir) (1985) *''Missa Sancti Petri'' (choir/org) (1987) *''Veni Creator Spiritus'' (organ) (1987) *''The Beauty of Holiness'' (choir/org) (1988) *''Missa Christi'' (choir/org) (1988) *Preludes (piano) (1988)

Awards

*1951 –

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

Prize *1956 – Busoni Prize for composition (Fantasia Contrappuntistica op.24) *1960 –

National Federation of Music Societies Making Music (formerly the National Federation of Music Societies) is a UK membership organisation for leisure-time music groups of all musical genres, representing over 200,000 musicians and promoters of all levels and experience. Making Music ...

Prize for the best choral work of the year *1960 – Doctorate of Music, University of Oxford *1965 – City of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

First Prize for a new symphonic work (Symphony no.1, op.42)Premiered by

Aldo Ceccato Aldo Ceccato (born 18 February 1934) is an Italian conductor. Ceccato was born in Milan. He worked as assistant to Sergiu Celibidache and was music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1973 until 1977. Then, from 1976 until 1982, he ...

in the Teatro Verdi, Trieste, Italy, 31.5.1966; UK premiere, with

Charles Groves Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE (10 March 191520 June 1992) was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors. After accompanying positions and conducting v ...

, RLPO, 17.10.1967; Brabbins/BBC Wales, Chandos 10608. *1966 –

Bernhard Sprengel Dr. Bernhard Sprengel (17 April 1899 – 22 January 1985) was a German chocolate manufacturer and modern art collector. Life Sprengel studied at the Goethe school and later took courses in political science. In May 1919 he became one of the fir ...

Prize for chamber music (Piano trio op.46) *1967 –

Cobbett Cobbett is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Hilary Dulcie Cobbett (1885–1976), British artist * William Cobbett (1763–1835), British radical agriculturist and prolific journalist. * Walter Willson Cobbett (1847–1937), ...

Medal for distinguished services to chamber music *1977 – Honorary doctorate, University of St Andrews *1982 – Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Music

References

Sources

* There is also information in the booklets accompanying various Leighton CDs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton, Kenneth 1929 births 1988 deaths British classical composers Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of the University of Edinburgh British classical pianists Musicians from Wakefield 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century English composers 20th-century British composers Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford