Christopher Hogwood
Following an illness lasting several months, the British Early Music- specialist Christopher Hogwood died peacefully on Wednesday 24 September, a fortnight after his 73rd birthday. He was at home in Cambridge, with family present.
Christopher Hogwood has worked with most leading symphony orchestras and opera houses in the world. Once described as « the von Karajan of early music », he is universally acknowledged as one of the most influential exponents of the historically informed early-music movement. He was equally passionate about music of the 19th and 20th centuries: with a particular focus on the Early Romantics and the neo-classical school (Martinů, Stravinsky, Britten, Copland, Tippett and Honegger), he applied the same rigour and supreme musicianship to all his work, striving to discover and to recreate the composer’s intentions both in notation and performance.
Hogwood’s discography, which includes the complete Mozart and Beethoven symphonies, boasts over 200 recordings with the Academy of Ancient Music on Decca, many of which have attracted some of the world’s most prestigious awards.
