Christopher Hogwood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Christopher Hogwood
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Hogwood leading rehearsals for his final Gresham College lecture in 2014
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Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood
10 September 1941 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
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| Died | 24 September 2014 (aged 73) Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
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| Nationality | English |
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| Organization | Academy of Ancient Music |
Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (born 10 September 1941 – died 24 September 2014) was a famous English conductor, harpsichord player, writer, and music expert. He started the Academy of Ancient Music, a group that plays old music. He was very good at performing music the way it sounded when it was first written, which is called historically informed performance. He was a big part of bringing old music back to life in the late 1900s.
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Early Life and Learning
Christopher Hogwood was born in Nottingham, England. He went to The Skinners' School and then studied music and old languages like Latin and Greek at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He finished his studies in 1964.
He learned how to play and conduct music from many great teachers, including Raymond Leppard and Gustav Leonhardt. He even studied in Prague for a year on a special scholarship.
His Music Career
In 1967, Christopher Hogwood helped start a group called the Early Music Consort. Then, in 1973, he created the Academy of Ancient Music. This group was special because they played Baroque and Classical music using old instruments from the time the music was written. This helped the music sound just like it did hundreds of years ago.
After the Early Music Consort ended in 1976, Hogwood kept performing and recording with the Academy of Ancient Music.
From 1981, Hogwood often conducted music in the United States. He was the main music leader for the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston from 1986 to 2001. He also led the Mostly Mozart Festival in London and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota.
In 1994, he led the Handel and Haydn Society in a special concert. They tried to recreate a famous concert from 1808 where Beethoven's Sixth and Fifth symphonies were first played.
Hogwood also conducted many operas. An opera is a play where the words are sung with music. His first opera was Don Giovanni in 1983. He worked with famous opera houses around the world, including La Scala in Milan and the Royal Opera House in London. In 2009, he conducted Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Handel's Acis and Galatea. He also conducted The Rake's Progress by Stravinsky and The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart.
In 2006, Richard Egarr took over as the Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music. Hogwood became the "Emeritus Director," meaning he still had a special role and planned to conduct at least one big project with them each year. He led a series of Handel operas from 2007 to 2013.
Even though Hogwood was best known for baroque and classical music, he also performed newer music from the 1800s and 1900s. He liked music that sounded like old styles but was written more recently, by composers like Stravinsky and Hindemith.
He made many recordings playing the harpsichord, including music by J. S. Bach. He also helped make the clavichord more popular. A clavichord is a quiet keyboard instrument, often used at home long ago. He owned many old keyboard instruments himself.
In 2010, Hogwood became a Professor of Music at Gresham College in London. He gave free public talks there about music history and how masterpieces were created. He was also a judge for a special piano competition in the United States in 2011.
Editing Music
Christopher Hogwood also worked on editing music by many different composers. This means he helped prepare old music for new performances or publications. He helped create a complete collection of music by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. He also worked on music by Paul Wranitzky and Leopold Koželuh.
Brahms Music Discovery
In 2012, Hogwood's work as a music expert became well-known when news outlets announced he had found a "new" piano piece by Johannes Brahms. The piece was called Albumblatt. However, it turned out that the music was already known and had been performed before. Hogwood's version of the piece was published in 2012.
Later Life
Christopher Hogwood passed away in Cambridge on 24 September 2014, shortly after his 73rd birthday.
Honours and Awards
Christopher Hogwood received many honours and awards for his contributions to music.
He was an Honorary Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge and a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music. He was also an Honorary Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge and Pembroke College, Cambridge.
In 1989, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen. This is a special award in the United Kingdom.
He also received the Halle Handel Prize in 2008 and the IRC Harrison Medal in 2011.
Here are some of his awards:
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (1982)
- Walter Willson Cobbett Medal (1986)
- Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge (1989)
- Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) (1989)
- Honorary Doctor of Music from Keele University (1991)
- Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge (1992)
- Hon RAM Royal Academy of Music (1995)
- Distinguished Musician Award (1997)
- Martinů Medal (1999)
- Honorary Doctorate from the University of Zurich (2007)
- Honorary Doctor of Music from the University of Cambridge (2008)
- Handel Prize, Halle (2008)
- Irish Research Council Harrison Medal (2011)
- Honorary Doctor of Music from the Royal College of Music (2013)
See also
In Spanish: Christopher Hogwood para niños
