Hesketh: Horae (Pro Clara) – Hammond

   in Piano International (Sep, 2016)
Kenneth Hesketh, one of the UK’s most vibrant voices, has a brand of modernism that reveals true love for sound itself, and in the sure hands of Clare Hammond, Hesketh’s sure voice shines powerfully forth. The major work is the 42-minute, 12-movement Horae (pro Clara (‘Breviary for Clare’) written for Hammond. Suffused with beauty, this is highly evocative and fragile (as markings such as ‘as fleet as a humming bird’ and ‘like intertwining chime clocks’ indicate). Perhaps Hammond could have given even more to the contrastive ‘maniaco ed instabile’ section, but it seems a small point in the majesty of this performance. Inspired by Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale, Through …