Skempton's work is characterised by stripped-down, essentials-only choice of materials, absence of formal development and a strong emphasis on melody.
[2] He started composing before 1967, but that year he moved to London and began taking private lessons in composition from Cornelius Cardew.
This ensemble, which had open membership, was dedicated to performing experimental contemporary music by composers such as La Monte Young, John Cage and Terry Riley, as well as by members of the orchestra itself.
However, tensions arose during the politicising of the Scratch Orchestra in the early 1970s, when Cardew and a number of other important members pushed the ensemble in a Maoist direction.
[8] Skempton was the winner in the Chamber Scale Composition category at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards in 2005 for his string quartet Tendrils (2004).
[7] Formative influences on Skempton's music included the works of Erik Satie, John Cage and Morton Feldman.
[2] For example, A Humming Song (1967), an early piano piece composed before Skempton started lessons with Cardew, is a miniature with static, gentle sound.
1 (1969), composed for the Scratch Orchestra, consists of just a few written instructions to the performers and is clearly inspired by similarly realised works by La Monte Young, whose music Cardew was enthusiastically propagating in the late 1960s.
"[15] Other early works include two pieces for tape, a medium Skempton rarely used later: Indian Summer (1969) and Drum No.
For instance, in the series of Quavers piano pieces (1973–75) the music consists solely of repeated chords with no pauses between them.
Skempton's first major success came in 1991 with the premiere of Lento (1990), an orchestral piece that gained a larger audience for the composer.