Hedges, Anthony (John)

Hedges, Anthony (John), English composer and teacher; b. Bicester, March 5, 1931. He studied at Keble Coll., Oxford (M.A., B.Mus.) and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After teaching at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow (1957–63), he was on the faculty of the Univ. of Hull from 1963, where he was made senior lecturer in 1968 and then reader in composition in 1978. He publ, the book Basic Tonal Harmony (1987).

Works

dramatic:The Birth of Freedom, ballet (1961); Shadows in the Sun, opera (1976); Minotaur, musical (1978); music for films and television. ORCH.: Sinfonietta (1955); Comedy Overture (1962; rev. 1967); Sinfonia Semplice (1963); Expressions (1964); Prelude, Romance, and Rondo for Strings (1965); Concertante Music for Piano and Orch. (1965); Variations on a Theme of Rameau (1969); An Ayrshire Serenade (1969); 4 Diversions for Strings (1971); Sym. (1972–73); Celebrations (1973); Festival Dances (1976); Heigham Sound, overture (1978); 4 Breton Sketches (1980); Scenes from the Humber (1980); Sinfonia Concertante (1981); A Cleveland Overture (1984); Concertino for Horn and Strings (1987). CHAMBER: Rondo Concertante for Clarinet, Horn, Violin, and Cello (1967); Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord (1967); String Quartet (1970); Piano Trio (1977); Fantasy for Violin and Cello (1981); Cello Sonata (1983); Variations on a Tyneside Air for Wind Quintet (1984); Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano (1985); Clarinet Quintet (1987).VOCAL: A Manchester Mass for Chorus, Brass Band, and Orch. (1974); many pieces for Chorus and Orch., including Cantiones Festivals (1960), Epithalamium (1969), To Music (1972), Songs of David (1977), The Jackdaw of Rheims (1980), I Sing the Birth (1985), I’ll Make Me a World (1990), etc.; anthems; part songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire