Mr Hetherington's Hat

This piece is inspired by the story of John Hetherington, the haberdasher once supposed to have been the inventor of the top hat.  Reputedly charged with a breach of the peace and incitement of a riot in 1797, Hetherington 'appeared on the public highway wearing upon his head what he called a silk hat (which was [of] tiny lustre and calculated to frighten timid people)'.  The officers of the Crown reported that, in the riot that ensued, 'several women fainted at the unusual sight, while children screamed, dogs yelped, and a younger son of Cordwainer Thomas was thrown down by the crowd which collected and had his right arm broken'.  Though sadly apocryphal, the tale's enduring popularity has led to many republications of the story in newspapers and journals throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  This work captures the atmosphere at the first sight of the hat: the astonishment of the crowd, and the jovial insouciance of Mr Hetherington.

This piece was a finalist in the Britten Sinfonia/University of Cambridge Composition Competition 2015.