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Available for over a year

Tom Service talks to the conductor and composer Oliver Knussen at his home in Suffolk. First broadcast in January 2015. Oliver Knussen (1952-2018) was one of the most widely respected figures in today's classical music world, As a composer, his finely crafted and powerful scores include the operas Where the Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop!, symphonies, concertos for horn and violin, and vocal works including Songs for Sue, written as a requiem for his former wife. Knussen was also a masterful conductor and champion of new music, and an inspirational teacher to younger composers. In this extended interview, recorded at his Suffolk home in 2015, Knussen talks frankly to Tom about the transformative experiences of his teenage years, when he wrote and conducted his since-withdrawn Symphony No.1 and received commendations from Bernstein, Copland and Britten among others. He discusses his subsequent struggles with self-criticism and his years studying at the Tanglewood Summer School. He also explains the influence of Leopold Stokowski on his conducting, Berg, Stravinsky and Ravel on his music and how he views the current and future health of new classical music..