Kenneth Hesketh
 | Hesketh’s work is broad in its range of stimuli, be it classical architecture, medieval iconography, poetry or Bauhaus constructivism. Intrigued by sinister or melancholy children's literature, more recent pieces also show an interest in what he calls ‘unreliable machines’: short bursts of mechanistic material that attempt metamorphosis but achieve only a more rapid burn out. The transparent clarity of his instrumental writing allied to a rhythmic flexibility & colourful orchestration is typical of much of his style. |
Recognised as a versatile composer, much in demand in the UK and abroad, Ken Hesketh’s work covers classical contemporary, wind and brass band and choral music genres. A professor at the Royal College of Music and honorary professor at Liverpool University, he was the PRSF/RPS "Composer in the House" with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 2007 to 2009. 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 and contemporary music ensemble (Ensemble 10/10, with whom Hesketh already has a thriving relationship) to youth ensembles, chamber groups and choirs. You can read about his experience here.
Ken has received many commissions from major performing organisations in Europe, Canada and the US. Susanna Malkki chose his work for her opening concert as Music Director of Ensemble intercontemporain and his music has been performed by leading performers, ensembles and orchestras including Sudwest Rundfunk (Baden-Baden), the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC NOW, the London Sinfonietta, Psappha, the ASKO ensemble, Ensemble 10/10, conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Oliver Knussen, Vasily Petrenko and soloists Nicholas Daniel, Clio Gould, Sarah Leonard, Claire Booth, Sarah Nichols and Hansjorg Schellenberger. Hesketh’s transcription of Aphex Twin’s Polygon Window was part of the hugely successful London Sinfonietta and WARP records collaboration which toured Europe and was released on CD.
Future performances include a specially commissioned work by composer-clarinetist Mark Simpson for bassett clarinet and a song cycle for the Welsh Baritone Jeremy Huw Williams. His work "Detail from the Record" will be released in September 2009 on the London Sinfonietta Jerwood CD Series with an RLPO/ Ensemble 10/10 CD following later in the year.
www.kennethhesketh.co.uk
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Here's what Ken has been listening to...
Zemlinksy: Der Zwerg (EMI) 
The fabulist and sumptuous orchestration junkie in me goes straight for Zemlinsky's work (opera or concert), and the oft-quoted autobiographical undertow to the work aside, this work can be seen as his dramatic masterpiece. The lush and complex, subtly shifting landscape is hard to fault, emotionally taut and colouristically bejewelled throughout. Schoenberg (his son-in-law) said of him "I always firmly believed that he was a great composer and I still believe this. It is possible that his time will come sooner than we think." I'm with Arnold.
Peter Eötvös: Shadows (BMC)
The Hungarian composer/conductor's work for large chamber ensemble with solo roles for flute, clarinet and a percussionist. The textures cover the soloistic to massed tutti, with lean combinations often barely audible to monstrously violent outbursts that evaporate the next minute. A great lover of the mechanistic myself, I appreciate the moments of mechanical clicks, whirrs and ostinati along side the depth and richness of chordal writing towards the end of the final movement.
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life (Universal/Island
)
A classic collection, jam-packed with favourites. Raw production and an authentic 'live' sound (not the Quincy Jones sound of, say, Michael Jackson RIP) with the great timbre of early moog synths make this irresistible. There may be some saccharine tracks but All Day Sucker, Black Man and Contusion have the real edge (though I have a big soft spot for I Wish!) and the subjects of morality, poverty, and childhood leave an afterglow in memory. Original Musiquarium, Vol I, is not far behind...
Philippe Hurel - à mesure (Aeon France)
French, post-spectral composer, his works often run at full-tilt and are wonderfully clear and bright in timbre, but this piece in particular has an obsessional quality I enjoy. Huge blocks of material seemingly repeat but slowly morph - each one a machine bolted onto the previous one. Virtuosity and colour (qualities I'm rather partial to) allied to energetic stamina draws me to this gem of a chamber piece.
Noam Chomsky -The Imperial Presidency (G7)
A particularly interesting time capsule now of George W. Bush's cringe-worthy blunders that the media in the US seemed to gloss over time and time again. His comments on the 2004 'stolen' election are fascinating, and give an alternative perspective to the current Obama presidency, even if it still offers the greatest hope for change. Chomsky's view of the corrupting and accommodating nature of power through the eye of media-friendly reporting helps underline such issues as the currently debated "presidential post-acquittal detention power", a statute held over from the Bush years, and an issue not widely commented upon as yet. To quote writer and commentator Glenn Greenwald, the phrase is "an Orwellian term (and a Kafka-esque concept) that should send shivers down the spine of anyone who cares at all about the most basic liberties". Fascinating and always informative listening.