Hough, Stephen
Stephen Hough has emerged as a unique presence on the international concert scene. From highly acclaimed performances of standard repertoire, in recital and with the world’s finest orchestras, to his interest in discovering unusual and neglected works, he combines the imagination and pianistic colour of the past with the scholarship of the present, illuminating the very essence of the music he plays. His recordings have won international prizes such as the Diapason d’Or, the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Classic CD and Gramophone Awards - in 1996 his Hyperion CD of concertos by Scharwenka and Sauer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Lawrence Foster was awarded both Gramophone Magazine’s ‘Concerto Record of the Year’ as well as their overall ‘Recording of the Year’. He plays regular chamber music concerts, is a keen writer (providing liner notes for many of his recordings), and several of his own compositions and transcriptions are published by Josef Weinberger Ltd.
In 2007 Hough’s cello concerto The Loneliest Wilderness was
premiered by Steven Isserlis and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and two choral works - Mass of Innocence and Experience and Missa Mirabilis - were performed at London’s Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral respectively. In 2009 Hough’s trio, Was mit den Tränen Geschieht, commissioned by members of the Berlin Philharmonic, received its world premiere at the Berlin Philharmonie, and a string sextet, Requiem Aeternum: after Victoria, was commissioned by the National Gallery for its major summer exhibition, The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture 1600-1700.
In 2010, after giving the world premiere of his cycle Herbstlieder at the Oxford Lieder Festival, The Prince Consort commissioned Hough to write a companion song cycle to the two Brahms Liebeslieder Walzer sets, and the resulting work was Other Love Songs. Hough also received a joint commission from Wigmore Hall, Le Musée de Louvre and Musica Viva Australia for the Sonata for Piano (broken branches), which will form the centerpiece of an album of his own works - Broken Branches: music by Stephen Hough - scheduled for release in November 2011 on BIS Records. In 2012 the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will perform a newly-commissioned version of Hough’s Missa Mirabilis for choir and orchestra.
TO REQUEST A FREE CATALOGUE OF STEPHEN HOUGH’S WORKS, PLEASE CONTACT THE CONCERT LIBRARY (hirelibrary@jwmail.co.uk)
Stephen Hough has emerged as a unique presence on the international concert scene. From highly acclaimed performances of standard repertoire, in recital and with the world’s finest orchestras, to his interest in discovering unusual and neglected works, he combines the imagination and pianistic colour of the past with the scholarship of the present, illuminating the very essence of the music he plays. His recordings have won international prizes such as the Diapason d’Or, the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Classic CD and Gramophone Awards - in 1996 his Hyperion CD of concertos by Scharwenka and Sauer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Lawrence Foster was awarded both Gramophone Magazine’s ‘Concerto Record of the Year’ as well as their overall ‘Recording of the Year’. He plays regular chamber music concerts, is a keen writer (providing liner notes for many of his recordings), and several of his own compositions and transcriptions are published by Josef Weinberger Ltd.