Howard Skempton

Howard While Skempton (born 31 October 1947) is an English composer, pianist, and accordionist.

Since the late 1960s, when he helped to organise the Scratch Orchestra, he has been associated with the English school of experimental music. Skempton's work is characterised by stripped-down, essentials-only choice of materials, absence of formal development and a strong emphasis on melody. The musicologist Hermann-Christoph Müller has described Skempton's music as "the emancipation of the consonance".