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

, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

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 symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

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

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 Julian Anderson (born 6 April 1967) is a British composer and teacher of composition. Biography Anderson was born in London. He studied at Westminster School, then with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music, with Alexander Goehr at Cambri ...

, 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 ''Where the Wild Things Are'' is a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published in hardcover by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several tim ...

'' and ''Higglety Pigglety Pop!'', both

libretti A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

by Maurice Sendak – 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 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

, 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 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1994 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday. Publication dates vary from year to year. Most are published in supplements to the ''London Gazette'' and many are formally conferred by the monarch (or ...

. 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—givi ...

'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 The Ojai Music Festival is an annual classical music festival in the United States. Held in Ojai, California (75 miles northwest of Los Angeles), for four days every June, the festival presents music, symposia, and educational programs emphasizi ...

. Knussen wrote his ''Songs for Sue'', a setting of four poems for soprano 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 Tom Service (born 8 March 1976) is a British writer, music journalist and television and radio presenter, who has written regularly for ''The Guardian'' since 1999 and presented on BBC Radio 3 since 2001. He is a regular presenter of The Proms f ...

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 Gu ...

'':

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 new and contemporary music. BCMG performs regularly at the CBSO Centre and Symphony Hall in Birmingham, tour ...

, and from 2009 to the BBC Symphony Orchestra. As of autumn 2012, Knussen was writing a symphonic adagio for the Philadelphia Orchestra. 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 Ruth Crawford Seeger (born Ruth Porter Crawford; July 3, 1901 – November 18, 1953) was an American composer and folk music specialist. Her music was a prominent exponent of the emerging modernist aesthetic and she became a central member of a g ...

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

, Igor Stravinsky,

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: * TORU, spacecraft system * Toru (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 ...

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,

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 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 compositi ...

Personal life

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

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Early life

Musical life

Personal life

Compositions

Discography (as performer)

References

Further reading

External links