Christopher Hogwood (1941 – 2014)

Christopher Hogwood, conductor, musicologist, keyboard player and founder of the Academy of Ancient Music, has died aged 73. Once described as “the von Karajan of early music”, Hogwood was one of the most influential exponents of the early-music movement.

He founded the Academy of Ancient Music in 1973, rapidly establishing a place for it at the forefront of the period-instrument movement. Over the following 30 years, he directed the AAM on six continents and made over 200 CDs, including the first ever complete cycle of Mozart symphonies on period instruments, as well as many other first recordings of baroque and classical masterworks by a period orchestra. His iconic recordings include a 1980 version of Handel’s Messiah with Emma Kirkby that was named by BBC Music Magazine as one of the top 50 recordings of all time… Keep reading on The Guardian