SHAKESPEARE PICTURES for Symphonic Wind Band by NIGEL HESS (England, 1953)
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
[#351] April 20, 2026
England | 2008 | Symphonic Wind Band | Grade 5 | 12’ | Suite
Premiered by Birmingham Symphonic Winds conducted by Keith Allen
on November 11, 2008 in Birmingham, UK
Available for purchase Faber Music
Shakespeare Pictures by British composer and conductor Nigel Hess is our Composition of the Week.
Shakespeare Pictures was premiered on November 8, 2008, by the Birmingham Symphonic Winds with Keith Allen conducting.
This concert suite is structured in three movements, for a total duration of 12 minutes.
1. Much Ado About Nothing
2. A Winter's Tale - The Statue
3. Julius Caesar - The Entry to the Senate
Shakespeare Pictures is scored for standard wind band setting, including String Bass, Harp, Keyboard and 4 percussion parts.
“Shakespeare Pictures, originates from incidental music composed by Nigel Hess for productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and London, and is now expanded and re-orchestrated to form a new three-movement suite for symphonic wind orchestra. Much Ado About Nothing: Actually, used as the entr’acte in the production itself, this concert overture uses material from the joyous dance sequences scattered throughout the well-known love story of Beatrice and Benedict, played on this occasion by Sinead Cusack and Derek Jacobi. A Winter’s Tale – The Statue: “Music, awake her, strike!” So says Paulina as the statue of Hermione comes to life at the end of this magical play. “Descend: be stone no more; approach; strike all that look upon with marvel.” In this production Jeremy Irons played a memorable Leontes. Julius Caesar – The Entry to the Senate: starring Peter McEnery and David Schofield, this production featured a spectacular Senate scene, complete with cathedral organ and a battalion of brass players fanfaring the imminent death of Caesar himself.” Program notes by the publisher.
View the score here:
Nigel Hess works extensively as a composer for television, theatre, film, and the concert hall. He has scored over twenty Royal Shakespeare Company productions and received the New York Drama Desk Award for Much Ado About Nothing and Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway, while scores for Shakespeare's Globe have included The Merry Wives of Windsor, Romeo and Juliet, Henry VIII and Nell Gwynn. He also devised Admission: One Shilling, the story of the National Gallery's lunchtime concerts during the Second World War (founded by his great-aunt, pianist Dame Myra Hess), and this has been performed extensively around the UK and abroad by Dame Patricia Routledge and Piers Lane.
Television scores include A Woman of Substance, Vanity Fair, Campion, Maigret, Dangerfield, Just William and Wycliffe. Nigel has received the Ivor Novello award twice for Best TV Theme (Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and Testament) and is well-known to Classic FM listeners for his film soundtrack to Ladies in Lavender played by violinist Joshua Bell and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra which was nominated for a Classical Brits award.
Nigel has also composed much concert music, particularly for symphonic wind band, including commissions from the Royal Air Force and the Band of the Coldstream Guards. Other notable works include the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Classical Brits Nomination for Composer of the Year), commissioned by HRH The Prince of Wales in memory of his grandmother, and premièred and recorded by internationally-renowned pianist Lang Lang, and a ballet based on The Old Man of Lochnagar, a children’s story written by the Prince of Wales in 1980, commissioned and premièred by the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain. A Christmas Overture was commissioned by John Rutter and premièred by the RPO at the Royal Albert Hall; an orchestral version of his choral work Jubilate Deo was commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Celebration Overture commissioned by Classic FM Live was premièred by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, again at the Royal Albert Hall.
Nigel was honoured to be asked to arrange and direct the music for Her Majesty the Queen’s private 90th birthday celebration at Windsor Castle and for Prince Charles' 70th birthday dinner at Buckingham Palace. He has recently received an Honorary Fellowship from St.Catharine’s College, Cambridge.
Other works for winds include:
• Global Variations (1990)
• Thames Journey (1991)
• Stephenson’s Rocket (1992)
• The Lochnagar Suite (2012)
• Chansons de Normandie (2014)
• Song of Farewell (solo cornet and Brass Band) 2023
More on Nigel Hess
