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On 7 April, 1968, a stupendously precocious young composer was preparing to hear the London Symphony Orchestra premiere his First Symphony at the Royal Festival Hall in London. But the conductor fell ill, and 15-year-old Oliver Knussen found himself standing in instead. There鈥檚 a photograph of him backstage, snatching an earnest glance in the mirror and fixing his tie. Within days, his name would be in newspapers across the world, and within a couple of years, Knussen would would know all about the pressure and the creative demons that come with hype.

Knussen had been writing music as long as he could read it. He knew the LSO from the inside, and his father was the orchestra鈥檚 principal double bassist. Olly had spent much of his childhood sitting in rehearsals, learning the workings of the orchestra from the inside. 鈥淭hese days, one would have sent the symphony off to be done in a workshop, quietly, and that would have been the end of it,鈥� he later said. 鈥淏ut with the LSO it became a nine-day wonder 鈥� press photographers on the doorstep next morning and all that. My inclination at such times is to flee.鈥�

And he did in a way. Knussen withdrew his first symphony, withdrew himself from the limelight, and went to Tanglewood Music Center in the States to study the nuts and bolts of composing intensively. He became a creator of fantastically intricate, crystalline, delicate miniature worlds. He had a spectacular imagination, a formidable knowledge of repertoire and a forensic ear for detail that he applied to the music he conducted as well as the music he wrote. He was also notoriously self-critical.

Later, Knussen would call that painful early premiere 鈥渁 sort of wound that has never really healed, an occurrence I wish would be calmly forgotten and put away鈥�. He attempted to make up for all the ridiculous privileges he had had in his own youth by helping the musicians who won his admiration. Knussen died in July 2018, aged 66. As well as a composer, his legacy will be as a champion, spokesperson, catalyst, teacher, mentor, conductor and curator. 鈥淚n a way,鈥� he once said, 鈥淚鈥檓 paying my dues.鈥�

This is one of 100 significant musical moments explored by 麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 3鈥檚 Essential Classics as part of Our Classical Century, a 麻豆官网首页入口 season celebrating a momentous 100 years in music from 1918 to 2018. Visit bbc.co.uk/ourclassicalcentury to watch and listen to all programmes in the season.

This archive recording features Oliver Knussen conducting the 麻豆官网首页入口 Symphony Orchestra in a performance of his Symphony No 3 at the 麻豆官网首页入口 Proms in August 2012.

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