Composer Olivier Knussen knew exactly what he wanted to hear

His orchestral style was as clear as his own music, although he also possessed one, according to the British, "a shameless pleasure". On Sunday, British composer and conductor Oliver Knussen (66) died suddenly. He had been sick for a while, but had hoped for more time to put the music in his head on the paper.

& # 39; Olly & # 39; Knussen was a prodigy. From the age of six, he wrote music, at the age of eleven he officially began studying composition and at age 15, he made his debut in his father's orchestra , double bassist at the London Symphony Orchestra. First Symphony . The young Knussen had the news with him and was allowed to (re) share his work the following week in New York, at the invitation of Daniel Barenboim

Early Work

also very soon after. Even before his eighteenth birthday, he already had a handful of important commissions from big names such as Benjamin Britten, André Previn and Yehudi Menuhin, with the most remarkable realization that these early works, around 1970, have already been written in a recognizable and mature idiom.

He is considered one of the most important composers of his generation

Although his work remained small and his works compact, Knussen in the UK was an absolute greatness. He is considered one of the most important composers of his generation.

His concentrated rigor as an orchestral conductor and his limited productivity as a composer come from the same source: Knussen knew exactly what he wanted to hear and was very perfectionist. One of his most famous works – the fantastic and colorful opera, very varied Higglety Pigglety Pop! – appeared in a definitive version in 1999, 15 years after the beginning of Knussen's

loaded agenda

What also played a role in his limited productivity as a composer, is that his agenda began to dominate. In addition, from 1983 to 1998, he was one of the artistic directors of the Aldeburgh Festival. On one side, Knussen said, he had hoped for a better balance, with more attention for the composition. On the other hand, he is recovering as an orchestral conductor for young composers he believed in, such as Mark-Anthony Turnage, Julian Anderson and Ryan Wigglesworth, and for the composers through whom he had him – even been influenced as a composer. Like Harrison Birtwistle, whose work he directed at the Aldeburgh Festival last month at one of his last public appearances.

In the Netherlands, Knussen could be listened to regularly. Between 1992 and 1996 he was the first guest conductor of Residentie Orkest, in 2004 and 2008 he conducted the Concertgebouw Orchestra and in 2009 he was composer in residence at the National Orchestra of Youth. Knussen was also a welcome guest in other Dutch ensembles and orchestras (ASKO | Schönberg, RFO).

Knussen was married to the horn and musical documentary artist Sue Knussen, who died in 2003 and for whom he was a handsome, with only fifteen minutes very short but emotionally the most charged Requiem – Songs for Sue compound.