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Is writing about music really like

“dancing about architecture”?

Tuesday 2nd February 2016, Senate House
University of London

I am delighted to be involved in this special event exploring the wide variety of writing about classical music today, including concert and opera reviews, academic writing, music journalism, programme notes, blogging and musicians who write about music

Guest speakers:

  • Dr Mark Berry – (Royal Holloway, University of London and blogger at Boulezian)
  • Jessica Duchen – author, classical music journalist and blogger
  • Mary Grace Nguyen – freelance opera and theatre critic and blogger at Trend FEM
  • Simon Brackenborough – blogger at Corymbus

Q&A and discussion session
Networking opportunity

Do join us for what promises to be an interesting and lively event, plus an opportunity to connect with like-minded people

Tuesday 2nd February 2016
7-9pm

Court Room, Senate House
University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU

Tickets £5, students free (with proof of status)
https://billetto.co.uk/en/events/music-into-words

Presented in association with the Institute of Musical Research and the School of Advanced Study

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I was delighted to have the opportunity to try Casio’s latest addition to their Celviano range of digital pianos. The Celviano Grand Hybrid takes the digital piano to a new level: produced in collaboration with renowned German piano maker C Bechstein, Casio have succeeded in producing a top-of-the-range instrument with an affordable price tag and a compact size.

The demo took place at Metropolis Studios in west London (where both Adele and the late Amy Winehouse recorded albums) and it was a privilege to meet acclaimed young British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, who praised the instrument for its superior touch, tone and a host of other features which enable one to practise at all times of the day and night. There was also a chance to chat with Benjamin generally about his busy year of concerts (including performances at the Proms and his debut at Carnegie Hall) and his plans for the forthcoming season. I was then able to try the Celviano Grand Hybrid myself.

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I owned a digital piano when I first started playing again, about 15 years ago. It did the job, at a time when I had neither the space nor the funds to purchase an acoustic piano, but it always felt slightly unsatisfactory, particularly in its limited range of sound and inauthentic touch.

Touch is very important to the pianist and from the moment anyone commences playing, as a child or adult, an awareness of how touch affects the sound we produce is crucial. A keyboard simply cannot reproduce the weighted touch of an acoustic piano. But Casio have achieved something that comes very close to a real piano by combing the same spruce wooden key material used by Bechstein with a hammer action which replicates the action of a grand piano (real hammers inside the instrument follow the same path as the hammers inside a grand piano). This allows the player to fully utilise arm weight in the production of sound, which means that when one goes to play an acoustic piano, the difference in touch is very slight. The player can also adjust the touch to make it heavier or lighter, thus reproducing the differing touches of acoustic pianos.

The other significant feature of this instrument is its sound. Using the Bechstein concert grand as its template, Casio has created deep, nuanced sound, tonal palette and rich resonance. You can also open the lid to increase bass resonance. Settings on the instrument allow one to utilise a Berlin grand sound (Bechstein), Hamburg (Steinway) or Vienna (Bosendorfer), and there are also options to adjust the sound to suit the composer, recreate the reverberation of a concert hall, record oneself playing, playback, and tempo changes.

I was impressed with the quality and range of sound and the touch of this instrument. For the teacher, student or professional pianist, the Grand Hybrid offers superior sound and touch plus a host of other features to enhance the playing experience. In addition, one can practise with headphones, which means you can play any time of the day or night

For more information, please visit www.grand-hybrid.com/uk/

(Photos courtesy of Casio UK)

Key features and technical specification:

  • It is the only piano that has the distinct blend of classical workmanship from world class piano manufacturers C.Bechstein, teamed with the technology that Casio has brought to all of its digital pianos for over 35 years.
  • It is the only piano that combines the world’s most famous piano sounds ­ The Hamburg Grand and the Vienna Grand ­ as well as having The Berlin Grand sound, which was exclusively developed as part of the Casio/C Bechstein collaboration just for this piano.
  • It actually ​feels ​like a Grand Piano unlike other hybrids… right down to the weight of the keys under your fingers. It combines spruce wooden key material as used in C. Bechstein grand pianos, and a new unique action mechanism that delivers the right hammer movement, which has a huge impact on the playing response of a grand piano

AiR* Grand Sound Source:

  • Enables beautiful sound and rich reverberation just like a grand piano.
  • It provides the sound profiles of three grand piano styles with a long history: the Berlin Grand, which is known for its elegant clear sound and a reverberation that gives each performance rich melodic color; the Hamburg Grand, which delivers gorgeous power and strength with plenty of string resonance; and the Vienna Grand, which provides a calm and stately sound with rich bass and beautiful tones when the keys are played softly.
  • Of the three, the Berlin Grand sound was developed in collaboration with C. Bechstein, a piano maker with a history of over 160 years. As a result, the new models have moved beyond the realm of conventional digital pianos, demonstrating a commitment to nuanced sound creation.

Grand Acoustic System:

  • Represents the sound of a grand piano as it emanates from above and below the soundboard. The system delivers three­-dimensional sound with tonal elongation, expansion and depth.

Natural Grand Hammer Action Keyboard:

  • Combines spruce wooden key material as used in C. Bechstein grand pianos, and a new unique action mechanism that delivers the right hammer movement, which has a big impact on the playing response of a grand piano.
  • This allows the pianist to produce nuanced sound with a delicate touch that is essential for demonstrating the expressive power of the piano, while also enjoying reliable key response and supple playing comfort.

Scene feature:

  • Consists of 15 preset types for different composers such as Chopin and Liszt, as well as musical genres such as jazz and easy listening. The presets combine the best optimal tones, reverberation, and effects for the type of piece being played.
  • Users can also create and save their own presets.

Concert Play:

  • The spectacular sound of a live orchestra is recorded in a high­-quality digital format. By playing the piano together with the recorded orchestra, users can enjoy the feeling of performing at an orchestral concert.
  • The technology can also be used in practice, as it allows the tempo to be slowed, and also features rewind, fast forward, and repeat playback of A­B sections.

Hall Simulator:

  • Allows the pianist to enjoy the immersive sound found in different types of venues such as an Amsterdam church, or a classical concert hall in Berlin.
  • Also, the GP­500BP and GP­300 models enable users to switch between the Player’s Position, which provides a sense of playing a real grand piano, and three types of Listener’s Positions, which gives the pianist the effect of listening to the performance from the audience.

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Extraordinary, isn’t it? It’s a classical concert, so presumably the audience are there because they want to hear classical music – and yet the bar is playing “bad pop” (and those two words cover a multitude of sins!). This strikes me as a major “fail” on the part of the management of the venue – it’s also just plain dim.

plugears1

Music, often bad music, is everywhere these days. We used to make jokes about “lift music” (or muzak) or “hotel lobby music”, but now it is inescapable. It’s in shops, bars, cafes, restaurants – the noise often blaring from the invisible speakers so loud as to preclude intelligent or intelligible conversation. It’s leaking tinnily out of other people’s headphones on the tube and bus. And if you dare to ask to turn it down – as I do on occasion – you are met with looks of surprise, as if to say “you don’t like it?”. Or, worst case scenario, the chef gobs in your soup in revenge for your effrontery. I have had to leave certain establishments because the “background music” (ha!) made it impossible to have an audible conversation with the person I was meeting.

Most of this “music” is repetitive, musically simplistic (4 or 5 harmonies at most), and full of banal platitudes. But endure it we must, because it seems that some of us are afraid of silence. (Pause for a moment to consider the composer John Cage’s thoughts on “silence”…..)

Even the bank which I use on London’s High Street Kensington has been invaded by bad pop, the “music” regularly interrupted by the inane gabbling of some fifth-rate “DJ”. Why do we need such “noise” in the bank? Do those that select this noise think it will enhance our “banking experience”? In most cases, it makes me want to run screaming onto the busy street. It is a relief, therefore, to enter High Street Kensington tube station, where classical music plays, as background music, just audible enough to identify Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto or a Handel aria as I make my way down to the westbound platform.

Most of the time I – and I suspect quite a few others – would happily go about my business uninterrupted by bad pop or “background music”. I don’t need a soundtrack to my transactions at the bank (though if one were to choose something appropriate, perhaps ‘Money’ by Pink Floyd, or Beethoven’s ‘Rage Over the Lost Penny’?); I’d like to enter a pub or cafe and hear the sound of other people talking, laughing. Going clothes shopping needn’t be like entering a discotheque (though I was pleased to have my street cred enhanced by correctly identifying ‘Golden Brown’ by The Stranglers in Top Shop recently – the (very young) assistant said “this is nice, what is it?”. Fortunately, I resisted the urge to sound like Michael Winner – “It’s from the 80s, dear”.

Don’t get me wrong: I love music, especially classical music, and most especially live classical music. I enjoy music in the right context and I’ll happily sit and listen to a radio broadcast, CD or live concert for several hours, uninterrupted, given half the chance. But out of context it can grate and intrude, especially when the music being played is someone else’s selection, a playlist made to someone else’s taste. Better in those circumstances to turn it off.

Because my main activity is playing the piano and teaching other people how to play the piano, when I am not engaged in that, I tend not to listen to the radio or music via CDs or a streaming service. Instead, I like to hear the sounds of my house quietly creaking and stretching, the cat mewing, the birds in the garden, the wind in the trees in my garden, the chatter of my neighbour’s grandchildren. These sounds are far more enjoyable and genuine that anything blaring out of a loudspeaker in a shop or cafe.

Pipe Down – the campaign for freedom from piped music

A Point of View: Why it’s time to turn the music off

Pop Music is Literally Ruining Our Brains

 

 

 

 

 

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Who or what inspired you to take up the oboe and make it your career?

I was on my way home from school aged 7 when I heard the oboe on the car radio. As soon as I heard it I knew that was the instrument I really wanted to play. I pestered my parents until they let me start lessons. I have always loved music and playing the oboe but it was probably the summer I turned 19 that I decided that life as an oboist was something I wanted to commit everything to. I had just finished my first year of university when I travelled on to Banff Arts Centre in Canada for an intensive masterclass course there. I spent much of that summer taking extra lessons and practising as much as possible. I felt by the time I went back to university I couldn’t imagine being anything other than an musician.

Who or what were the most important influences on your musical life and career?

There have been so many influences to be honest. My teachers have always been fantastic to me and I feel lucky that I have been surrounded by such kind and generous mentors within the music world. I am hugely influenced from my time studying in Germany with Nicholas Daniel. He taught me repertoire I had never considered before and inspired me to work closely with composers. I remember asking him about why commissioning new oboe repertoire was important. The answer he gave me changed everything for me and working with composers to increase the oboe repertoire is something I care deeply about.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

I found the period in my early twenties very tough going. I knew I wanted to play the oboe for a living but let a fear of failing get in the way sometimes. I’ve always felt I need to turn every experience into something I can draw on so now I look back and think how important that time was for me.

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?

Back in 2010, I gave a recital at Wigmore Hall and that was a very important concert to me that meant a considerable amount to me. It coincided with me finishing my studies and also releasing my first solo disc ‘Fierce Tears’.

Which particular works do you think you perform best?

I’ve found in the past few years I always end up gravitating towards contemporary British repertoire which I love performing. I think the feeling of discovering something new in the repertoire is something that always pushes me so this often informs my approach to programming. I want the audience to leave feeling like they’ve discovered some fantastic repertoire they never knew about before.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I always programme each concert separately and try not to think in terms of a focus for one season. Inevitably I find I go through times where I play a piece several times in a row but generally I try to put together a recital that balances out and suits the particular venue and audience. I always try to include a contemporary piece and also an older piece that may be very rare but an absolute gem.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

I don’t have a favourite venue but I enjoy venues like churches were the acoustic adds something to the atmosphere of the concert. When performing pieces like the Howells Oboe Sonata, having an interesting space with a good acoustic can make a big difference.

Favourite pieces to perform? Listen to?

I have a very strong affinity with Michael Berkeley’s Fierce Tears I & II. Every time I play that it feels very different and changes all the time for me. I also enjoy his Oboe Concerto as well as works like the Strauss Oboe Concerto which is a favourite of mine. I particularly love oboe repertoire by Rubbra, Bowen, Lutoslawski and Antal Dorati too. In terms of listening, I really enjoy lots of different things. Most recently I’m listening to a lot of electronic music but also love vocal recital discs. In particular Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake’s recording of ‘Silent Noon’ always has an incredible effect on me when I listen to it.

Who are your favourite musicians?

This is a tough question as I think there are so many to think of. For me, I tend to think in terms of favourite composers or favourite repertoire. At the moment I’m listening to a lot of Sibelius and Prokofiev amongst other things.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

It is a long time ago now but when I was 18 I performed in Mahler 8 with Simon Rattle at the Proms just before he started his post in Berlin. I’ve enjoyed plenty of memorable experiences in concert since but this contributed to me making the decision to become a musician so for that reason it is probably my most memorable.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

The most important thing is to be very open to various opportunities. Take every experience as a positive one. There are inevitably times where you suffer what feels like a knock back but often these turn into catalysts for better things. My feeling is that you end up exactly where you want to be but usually by taking a completely unpredictable route to get there.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m just putting the final touches on a disc that Champs Hill Records is releasing later in 2015. It is full of fantastic repertoire that I’ve really enjoyed recording. My next big project is establishing a new series of chamber music events with my group Ensemble Perpetuo. It is going to be my busiest year yet but also one I’m incredibly excited about.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

My idea of happiness revolves around balance. It involves me being busy enough with music to feel fulfilled but also relaxed enough to spend time with my family.

What is your most treasured possession?

My answer should probably be my oboe but in reality is something far less poetic like my phone or laptop!

What do you enjoy doing most?

The thing that makes me tick is working on new projects. Sometimes it is a recording project, sometimes it is a new kind of recital programme. That feeling of limitless possibilities is what I find exciting and what makes me keep trying to move forward with my playing.

What is your present state of mind?

Really excited about the future but also slightly sleep deprived!

(Interview date: March 2015)

 

Described by The Independent as “a worthy champion” of contemporary oboe music, James has dedicated much of his performing life to promoting and extending the oboe repertoire. James has performed frequently throughout the UK and Europe including a solo recital at the Wigmore Hall in 2010. He has broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and appeared as a soloist  in numerous UK festivals including Oxford, Leicester, Cambridge, Thaxted, Ryedale, Machynlleth, Swaledale and, King’s Lynn. James has released solo recordings for Champs Hill Records, Quartz Music and the ABRSM as well as featuring on a disc of Thea Musgrave’s works for Harmonia Mundi USA. Gramophone Magazine described his debut recital disc, Fierce Tears, as a “notable debut” and it was selected as the Editor’s Choice Recording by Classical Music Magazine.

James was seven when he began his oboe studies, learning with Irene Pragnell, Melanie Ragge, Celia Nicklin, Tess Miller and Chris Cowie. After gaining a First Class degree in music from Christ Church, Oxford University, James continued his oboe studies at the Royal Academy of Music and under Nicholas Daniel at Trossingen Musikhochschule in Germany, where he was awarded First Class for both his Artist and Soloist Diplomas.

James is deeply committed to expanding the oboe repertoire. He worked closely with Michael Berkeley, John Casken, Jonathan Dove, John Woolrich, Thea Musgrave and Tansy Davies on their compositions for oboe. Composers including Patrick Hawes, Thomas Hewitt Jones and Norbert Froehlich have also written for him. James has a keen interest in researching lost repertoire and bringing to new audiences works which have been rarely performed. In 2011 he worked closely with Christopher Hogwood on preparation for a new edition of Thomas Attwood Walmisley’s Sonatinas for oboe and piano.

James is an active chamber musician and is Artistic Director of Ensemble Perpetuo. Founded in 2013, Perpetuo is a chamber music collective that specialises in multi-art form collaborations and innovative ways of performing chamber music in new contexts. James has also performed with other chamber music ensembles including the Berkeley Ensemble and the Allegri String Quartet.

Aside from his performing interests, James is dedicated to broadening the appeal of the oboe and encouraging young people to learn the instrument. To this end, he has launched the website LearnToPlayTheOboe.com which now receives over a thousand new visitors every month from across the world. James also teaches at the Royal College of Music Junior Department and gives masterclasses across the UK.

James plays a Lorée Royal Oboe and Cor Anglais supplied by Crowthers of Canterbury. For more information about James and his playing, visit www.james-turnbull.com.