We are saddened to hear of the death on 24 September of Christopher Hogwood: a visionary musician, artistic director, musicologist and pedagogue who was a universally acclaimed pioneer in the field of historically-informed performance. It amused him to have coined the acronym ‘HIP.’
HarrisonParrott worked very closely with Christopher from the late 1970s until the early 1990s – not only representing him as an international guest conductor, Music Director and recording artist, but also intensively supporting his Academy of Ancient Music, including many tours throughout Europe, North America, Australia and Japan.
For many music-lovers around the world his ever growing recording catalogue created a wholly new approach to the interpretation, understanding and appreciation of ‘early’ music and of performance from a historically informed perspective. His concert and recording work was also substantially supported by his writings including an outstanding biography of Handel. His recordings, which covered a vast panorama of music from the 17th to the 20th centuries, provide a fitting legacy — but he will be very much missed in the concert halls and theatres of the world.
