Hugh Wood

Hugh Wood (born 27 June 1932, Parbold, UK) is a Britishcomposer.

Biography

Despite a musical up bringing, it was only after graduating in History from Oxford that Hugh Wood decided to dedicate his energies to composition, moving to London in 1954 to study with William Lloyd Webber, Anthony Milner, Iain Hamilton and Mátyás Seiber. Sometimes violently expressionistic, sometimes poignantly lyrical, his music is powerfully communicative and intensely felt, though when creating lighter moods, such as in the jazzy Piano Concerto, his writing is equally eloquent. He typically prefers chamber music genres, though large scale works such as Symphony and Violin Concerto are amongst his most striking.

Career highlights

• 1965 - highly acclaimed Proms premiere of BBC commission Scenes from Comus.
• 1969 - Proms premiere of Cello Concerto, commissioned by the BBC.
• 1982 - Proms premiere of Symphony by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
• 1998 - UK premiere of Variations for Orchestra at Last Night of the Proms.
• 1999 - Serenade and Elegy premiered at Cheltenham Festival.
• 2001 - The Lindsays premiere String Quartet No 5 in Sheffield.

Key works

• Variations for viola and piano, Op 1 (1958)
• Chamber Concerto, Op 15 (1971; large ensemble)
• Robert Graves Songs, Set 1, Op 18 (1976; high voice, piano)
• String Quartet No 3, Op 20 (1978)
• Horn Trio, Op 29 (1989)
• Piano Concerto, Op 32 (1991)

Selected recordings

• Scenes from Comus; Symphony Op 21 - NMC D070
• String Quartet Nos 1-4 - Conifer 75605 51239-2
• Violin Concerto; Cello Concerto - NMC D082

External links

• Hugh Wood's homepage at Chester Music