Kenneth Leighton

Kenneth Leighton ( born October 2, 1929 in Wakefield, † August 24 1988 in Edinburgh) was an English composer and university teacher.

Life

Leighton, who sang early on as a chorister at Wakefield Cathedral and during his school days in 1946 a diploma acquired as a pianist, studied 1947-1951 at Queen's College (Oxford) first classical philology, then at Bernard Rose (composition), followed in 1951 a study visit joined with Goffredo Petrassi in Rome. 1952 to 1953 he taught at the Royal Marine School of Music in Deal (Kent), from 1953 at the University of Leeds. From 1955 to 1968, Leighton member of the music faculty of the University of Edinburgh in 1968 and Lecturer in Music at Worcester College, Oxford. In 1970 he became Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh, and held this position until his death in 1988. As a pianist, Leighton frequently made ​​its appearance several times as a conductor of his own works.

Already during his studies, Leighton was awarded several prizes for composition ( including 1951 Mendelssohn Scholarship ), which was followed by others, so in 1956 the Busoni Piano Composition Prize, 1960 of the National Federation of Music Societies Award for the best choral composition of this year or 1965, the City of Trieste price for a new symphonic work (his first symphony ).

Work

Leighton's musical output covers almost all kinds of art, including three symphonies (the third, entitled Laudes musicae involves a solo tenor, a fourth remained unfinished), solo concerts (including three piano concertos ), 2 operas, chamber music and vocal works, a number of sacred works and organ music. Many of the approximately 100 works published Leighton emerged as commissions, such as for the BBC.

Many of his works are on tape, including at the British label Chandos and Hyperion.