Stephen Hough | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hough inSan Sebastián, Spain, 2021 | |
| Born | (1961-11-22)22 November 1961 (age 64) |
| Occupations | Composer pianist writer |
Sir Stephen Andrew Gill HoughCBE (/ˈhʌf/;[1] born 22 November 1961) is a British-Australian classical pianist, composer and writer.[2]
Hough was born inHeswall (then inCheshire) on theWirral Peninsula, and grew up inThelwall, where he began piano lessons at the age of five. His father, who was born in Australia, worked as a technical representative forBritish Steel before his death at the age of 54.[3]
At an early age, Hough was able to memorise approximately 100nursery rhymes. After much pleading, his parents agreed to buy a second-hand piano for £5 from a local antique shop. At the age of 12 he suffered what he has described as a "mini-nervous breakdown", triggered by amugging incident, which resulted in him taking almost a year off school.[4]
Hough studied atChetham's School of Music, which he later called "not a wonderful place while I was there",[4] and at theRoyal Northern College of Music.[5] In 1978, he was a finalist in theBBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and won the piano section. In 1982, he won theTerence Judd Award in England. In 1983, he tookfirst prize at theNaumburg International Piano Competition inNew York City.[6] In 1985, he was a soloist with theNaumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell summer series inCentral Park.[7]
Hough holds a master's degree from theJuilliard School, where his studies were assisted by the receipt of the firstRoyal Philharmonic Society Julius Isserlis Scholarship for study abroad. He has studied withHeather Slade-Lipkin,Gordon Green,Adele Marcus,Martin Canin,[8] and Derrick Wyndham. A prominent soloist, he is also a composer and transcriber, and often includes his own works in his recitals. He has published over 30 pieces.[4] His cello concerto, written forSteven Isserlis, premiered in 2007. Also in 2007,Westminster Abbey andWestminster Cathedral performedmasses he wrote for them.[9]
In 2009, members of theBerlin Philharmonic premiered Hough's trio for piccolo, contrabassoon and piano (Was mit den Traenen geschieht) at the Philharmonie. His song cyclesHerbstlieder (2007),Other Love Songs (2010), andDappled Things (2016) were premiered by members of The Prince Consort. He premiered hisSonata for Piano (broken branches) at the Wigmore Hall in 2011. In 2012, theIndianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir gave the world premiere of the orchestrated version of hisMissa Mirabilis. TheColorado Symphony andAndrew Litton recorded this work forHyperion Records in 2015.[10] Hough has written four piano sonatas,Partita and Sonatina Nostalgica for solo piano, and the test piece,Fanfare Toccata, for the 2022Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. TheTakacs Quartet commissioned His String Quartet and recorded it forHyperion Records. TheUtah Symphony commissioned his Piano Concerto (The World of Yesterday) and premiered it in 2024. The European co-commissioner,The Hallé, recorded the piece for Hyperion in 2024 with SirMark Elder.
In 2020, Hough's essay collection,Rough Ideas, won theRoyal Philharmonic Society Award in the Storytelling Category.[11] Faber published his memoir,Enough: Scenes of Childhood, in 2023.
At the 2024Last Night of the Proms, Hough accompanied sopranoAngel Blue in his own arrangement of twospirituals and was also the soloist in Saint-Saëns'sEgyptian Concerto, followed by an encore of his own fantasia on "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".[12]
In 2025, Hough's piano concertoThe World of Yesterday had its Asian premiere at the Esplanade show in Singapore with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and conductor Rodolfo Barraez.[13]
Hough has recorded more than 60 albums, one of his most notable being a set of the fourRachmaninoffpiano concertos and theRhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, recorded during live performances with theDallas Symphony Orchestra under then music directorAndrew Litton, which have been compared to Rachmaninoff's own recordings. These recordings won him his seventhGramophone Award as well as the Classical BRIT Critics Award.[14]
Hough's recording ofSaint-Saëns's piano concertos won theGramophone Record of the Year in 2001 and was later voted the Gold Disc, "winner of winners" in a poll commemorating 30 years of the award.[15] His recording of the complete Chopin waltzes[16] won theDiapason d'Or de l'Année in 2011.
Hough is also known for championing lesser-known composers considered outside the standard repertoire, such asJohann Nepomuk Hummel,Xaver Scharwenka,York Bowen, andFederico Mompou.[17]
Hough's compositions can be heard on theBIS Records albumBroken Branches[18] and on thePrince Consort albumOther Love Songs, onLinn Records. His second piano sonata (notturno luminoso) appears on his albumIn The Night, and his cello sonata on a recital disc withSteven Isserlis. His sequenceHallowed for unaccompanied choir was recorded byHarry Christophers andThe Sixteen on their CD 'Star of Heaven'.Yo-Yo Ma recorded two of his transcriptions on his album withKathryn Stott, Song of Comfort and Hope. Hough's fourth piano sonata is the title track on his 2021 album Vida Breve. The Takacs Quartet recorded his String Quartet for Hyperion.
In 2017,Pentatone-Oxingale Records released an album commemorating the inaugural opening of theTippet Rise Festival, featuring Hough,Christopher O'Riley, andMatt Haimovitz, among others.[19]
Hough is a visiting professor of piano at theRoyal Academy of Music in London and the International Chair of Piano Studies at theRoyal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He is also on the faculty of theJuilliard School.
Hough joined theRoman Catholic Church when he was 19. Twice in his life he considered becoming a priest, in particular joining theFranciscan Order.[4]
Hough has written about his homosexuality and its relationship with both his music-making and his religion.[20][21] For 15 years, following his Catholic conversion, he was celibate.[4] In 2007, he publishedThe Bible as Prayer: a handbook forlectio divina.[22]
Nosing Around, his little book on perfume, was published in 2014.[23] In 2018, Sylph Editions published his first novel,The Final Retreat, which explores the inner world of a priest dealing with sex addiction and religious despair. His bookRough Ideas: reflections on music and more is a collection of essays and short musings published byFaber & Faber in 2019 and byFarrar, Straus and Giroux in 2020. In February 2023, Faber published his memoirEnough: Scenes from Childhood.
In 2008, Hough won the Sixth International Poetry Competition.[24]
From 2010 to 2015, he wrote a blog forThe Daily Telegraph.[25]
Hough had a solo exhibition of his paintings at the Broadbent Gallery in London in October 2012.[26]
In October 2016, Hough was the guest onBBC Radio 4'sDesert Island Discs. His choices were Cortot's recording of Chopin'sPrélude No. 17 in A-flat, Rachmaninoff's recording ofKreisler'sLiebesleid,Led Zeppelin'sStairway to Heaven, theKyrie eleison from Bach'sMass in B minor, the third movement ofAlban Berg'sLyric Suite, his own sonata for cello and piano left hand ("Les adieux"), andBird Songs at Eventide byEric Coates.[4]
His favourite was "Proficiscere, anima Christiana (Go Forth)" fromElgar'sThe Dream of Gerontius. His book choice was a bilingual edition of Proust'sÀ la recherche du temps perdu, and his luxury item was apanama hat. He made a special request for a copy of theTyndale Bible.[4]
Hough's father was born an only child inMayfield, a suburb ofNewcastle, New South Wales, in 1926. Before his first birthday his mother took him to England, settling in the North, and leaving her husband behind in Australia. The boy was always told his father had died, but in fact his father lived 30 more years, working in the steel industry at Newcastle. Hough's grandfather wrote Hough's father letters, none of which he ever received.
Stephen Hough says his assumption of Australian citizenship was in part a tribute to his father, who wanted to return to the land of his birth but was unable to do so before his death in 1980 at the age of 54.[27]
Hough is an Honorary Member of theRoyal Academy of Music in London, where he is a visiting professor, a Companion of theRoyal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he is the International Chair of piano studies, and an Honorary Fellow of theGuildhall School of Music and Drama. He received an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Liverpool in 2011.[28]
In 2001, Hough became the first classical music performer to receive aMacArthur Fellowship. In 2009,The Economist andIntelligent Life magazines named him one of 20 living polymaths. In 2010, he was named Instrumentalist of the Year at the prestigiousRoyal Philharmonic Society Music Awards. He was a Governor of theRoyal Ballet Companies (The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School). He is a patron of the charity The Nightingale Project, which takes music and art into hospitals[29] and of Music in Prisons (Irene Taylor Trust).[30]
Hough was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to music.[31][32] He was made an Honorary Bencher of theMiddle Temple in 2017. In 2018, he was made anhonorary member of theRoyal Philharmonic Society. From 2019 to 2022 he was a visiting fellow atLady Margaret Hall at theUniversity of Oxford. In 2024, he was made an honorary fellow ofGirton College, Cambridge. He was created aKnight Bachelor, for services to music, in the Queen's2022 Birthday Honours.[33]
