Kenneth Hesketh - Musical Style

Musical Style

An early enthusiasm for Franco-Russian music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was one of the stimuli behind Hesketh's interest in colourful orchestration, and he has always been inspired by the other arts. Several works have their origins in medieval symbolism and iconography, notably three pieces for chamber ensemble: Theatrum (1996), Torturous Instruments (1997-8, after Hieronymous Bosch's depiction of Hell from The Garden of Earthly Delights), and The Circling Canopy of Night (1999). This was Hesketh's first piece to gain international attention. Commissioned by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Faber Music it was first conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and further championed by Oliver Knussen, who has performed many of Hesketh's works. Performances at the Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, London (London Sinfonietta) and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (ASKO Ensemble) soon followed. The Times described this work as "a glistening whirl of nocturnal colours, a driving sense of purpose and onward movement."

He is also intrigued by children's literature with a sinister or melancholy streak. His 2000-1 work, Netsuke (from the Japanese miniature sculptures called netsuke) — commissioned by the ensemble Endymion at the request of Hans Werner Henze — comprises five short movements inspired variously by Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince, Hoffmann's Struwwelpeter, and a poem by Walter de la Mare. Other such works include Small Tales, tall tales after the Brothers Grimm, and Detail from the Record after Japanese folk tales.

Hesketh has described Netsuke as 'intricate and ornate', a description which could apply to most of his works. He favours complex textures, though the transparency of his instrumental writing ensures that every note is clearly heard, and the rhythmic flexibility typical of his style gives his music an improvisatory character. His orchestral work At God speeded summer's end (2000, premiered by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra) has a clarity of texture and orchestral virtuosity. Recent pieces show an interest in what the composer describes as ‘unreliable machines’: short bursts of mechanistic material that repeat, are transformed but ultimately burn themselves out.