CONDITIONS OF IMMEDIACY: HOWARD SKEMPTON IN INTERVIEW

Abstract

At 65, Howard Skempton is somewhere near the centre of British compositional life: a surprising development for an avowedly ‘experimental’ composer, whose output until his early forties consisted primarily of short pieces written for himself and a few associates. This annotated interview traces Skempton's career, from the early influences of Webern, Feldman and Britten, through the mentorship of Cornelius Cardew and friendship with Michael Parsons, to the influence of text-setting and of the commissioning process on his recent work. Skempton's preoccupation with ‘the sound’ looms large, but is seen to be balanced by an equal concern with questions of structure, and the interview explores issues of continuity both within individual pieces and across his oeuvre, from A Humming Song (1967) for piano to the string quartet Tendrils (2004), the orchestral song-cycle The Moon is Flashing (2007) and the 35-minute, single-movement viola concerto Only the Sound Remains (2009).