By |

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music and who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

It was at school that my love for the piano blossomed because I heard it every single day in the school assembly. Also, by chance my teacher in infant school happened to have a piano in her classroom, so the tinkling sound of it just occupied me and I loved to explore it and make sounds.

I had formal training as a Junior at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff with my teacher, who I still have, Alison Bowring, who took me back to the technical basics and posture, while also understanding what repertoire would suit me. Alison has been a major influence on my career so far from many difference perspectives.

I also did courses with an organisation called Musicians in Focus, a team who focused on visual impairment, which helped to develop me as a musician.

My greatest influences are listening to opera singers so the idea of singing with the piano is always reinforced. Another influence was being a participant on the North London Piano school every summer. The guest teachers really helped me understand about tone production through physical touch. I had never really experienced that sort of connection before, so that memory will stay with me forever. It made me not only improve as a pianist but gave me ways to connect through performance. Pianistically, I love the physical interaction between keyboard and the body becoming one – it’s an amazing experience.

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

I was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, an autism condition, which affects social and communication skills, so I have support assistance to help build my independence and confidence. I actually find my personal organisation to be more challenging than practising at the piano. I can feel anxious when plans change at the last minute, for example, when a train or flight that I am booked on is cancelled. Being totally blind also affects me when I have to travel for performances, as there is no time to become familiar with new locations and therefore I normally require assistance. Being a member of organisations like the Paraorchestra and RNS Moves, an inclusive ensemble based in Gateshead however, helps me to integrate and develop networks and connections with other disabled and non-disabled musicians.

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

Performing the Beethoven Choral Fantasia with the Royal Welsh College Chamber Orchestra and Chorus:

My final year recital for my Bachelor degree was very atmospheric and some people I knew from school also attended.

Performing at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 2019 was thrilling as I was in an open and resonant space, so I had to adjust myself to both the instrument and the acoustic.

Performing the Scriabin concerto in East Dulwich with Michael Cobb conducting the Lambeth Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately, I am only able to share the encore, an improvisation on some themes suggested by members of the audience.

Which particular works/composers do you think you perform best?

I have a soft spot for Beethoven’s music because both my grandmothers have developed deafness through ageing, especially my grandmother from Northern Ireland on my father’s side. The amazing thing about Beethoven’s music is that it always feels and sounds fresh, however many times you play the same pieces, especially when playing on different instruments and acoustics.

What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?

I love browsing the internet about background of the pieces and always love looking at history and why repertoire was written for specific instruments of the time, especially when dealing with Baroque or Classical period music. Also, I have a grand piano at home that has a distinctive tone colour, which helps me to transfer intimacy across to my public performances. I find that exercise keeps me moving and agile, while breathing exercises or stretches help me to relax before I go on stage.

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

For a recital programme, my teacher and I like to plan the pieces in advance that will complement each other. We always talk about the relationship between each piece regarding tempo and tonality, as well as realistic timelines for learning.

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

I particularly enjoy St. Martin-in-the-Fields as a venue because the acoustics are unlike any other, and it allows the pianist to draw into themselves so the audience can experience the incredible sound. It’s different to a drier acoustic when it sounds like you’re on the same level with the audience when you can hear every nuance. A cathedral is a celestial atmosphere to perform in, feeling like an out of world experience.

What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’s audiences?

I like the idea of pre-performance commentary by the artist involved to help make Classical music more accessible and interesting for younger generations. I also like the idea of museum tours (such as Victoria and Albert Museum in London) to explore the instruments for which music was originally written. This provides essential background as audiences are used to modern instruments as the norm.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Performing in Japan as one of 90 international artists in the True Colours Festival 2022, organised by the Nippon Foundation and live-streamed around the world. The atmosphere was just incredible and I loved having my hair and makeup done for me so I could just sit back and relax. Also, I had never changed into other outfits between musical items, or played with a headset in a live performance. I loved the variety on offer and working with a range of other musicians.

Rachel performing at the True Colours festival in Japan

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Music is not about competition or who can play the best, it is about connecting and sharing with the audience and developing relationships as they can be vital for the future. Have the right support like a teacher who can understand the way you work, encourage and develop your musical journey.

What advice would you give to young/aspiring musicians?

Embrace every corner or avenue of your instrument from physicality/technique to exploring different music styles, so it becomes a part of you. For example, I love playing Jazz which I believe is interconnected with the classical composers that came before. Patience is always a virtue especially in practicing when you don’t get things right the first time. Keep positive and make the most of every opportunity.

On Saturday 27 May, Rachel Starritt gives a concert by candlelight at the inaugural Ludlow Piano Festival, created by impressionist, comedian and actor Alistair McGowan. Rachel will perform new works by three young composers, written especially for herm, as well as her own improvisations. Info/tickets: https://ludlowpianofestival.com/

Blind from birth, Rachel was born in Bridgend, South Wales in 1994. She has received formal training on the piano since 2006 with Alison Bowring and studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) where she recently achieved a distinction in piano performance as a postgraduate student (MMus).

Rachel completed a six month Erasmus placement at the Conservatori Liceu in Barcelona under the tutelage of pianist Alba Ventura.

As a student at RWCMD, Rachel has enjoyed masterclasses with the Labèque Sisters, Stephen Osborne, Peter Jablonski, Angela Hewitt and Valentina Lisitsa. Additionally, she received guidance at the annual NLPS summer course at the Purcell school with renowned professors Dr Michael Schreider (Guildhall), Irina Osipova (Moscow), Irina Berkovich (Israel) and William Fong (RAM).

Rachel’s piano improvisation skills complement her love of jazz and she currently leads a jazz trio ‘The Rachel Starritt Trio’,  which appeared at the Brecon Jazz Festival in 2020 and 2021. At Chetham’s Piano Summer School she studied with Nikki Iles and Douglas Finch and has also received lessons with the renowned Welsh pianist and composer Huw Warren.

Read more

Image credit Daishiro Futakami

By |

Ahead of the opening of his inaugural Ludlow Piano Festival, comedian, impressionist, actor and pianist Alistair McGowan shares his thoughts on what drew him to the piano, the pleasures and challenges of practising, the inspiration of other pianists, and how the piano has enriched his life…..

What are you first memories of the piano?

My mother was always playing the piano when I was young. She was the accompanist at the Evesham Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society and was always practising the score for their latest Rodgers and Hammerstein or Gilbert and Sullivan. She also played a few classical pieces which I would often ask her to play to get me to sleep. 

My older sister, Kay, learnt to Grade Eight. She didn’t touch the piano after her final exam. She is making noises about playing again and I really hope she does go back to it. She was very good!

Did you have piano lessons as a child?

I did two years and passed two grades but stopped when I was 9. I regretted it for the rest of my life and finally took up the piano again for a couple of years in my 30s until my TV show, ‘The Big Impression ’ got in the way. 

Clearing out my mother’s things after her death, I came upon my breakdowns of my Grade exams hoping there would be mention of ‘shows great promise’ but sadly they just talked of a lack of rhythm and expression!

I have really thrown myself at it again since 2016. I first conceived and performed a show about Erik Satie, then from 2018, toured with ‘The Piano Show’ (15 short pieces interspersed with stand-up routines and impressions) and released two CDs, the first of which through Sony Classical somehow briefly, in 2017, got to the top of the classical chart!

And now, I’ve put together the inaugural Ludlow Piano Festival. I’m not sure which has been the hardest but all have been incredibly rewarding !

What kind of repertoire do you enjoy playing, and listening to? 

I’ve always been drawn to Satie and Debussy; I keep finding new Debussy pieces I want to play. I just love losing myself in those chords and those incredible sound worlds he creates. I do like a good tune as well though! I am constantly writing down the names of pieces I hear on Radio 3 – Poulenc, Hahn, Scott, Bowen, Rachmaninov. And I adore John Field’s Nocturnes. 

Alistair McGowan

How do you make the time to practise? 

At first, it was a struggle fitting things in around other work. But I watch less television in general with no regret and play less sport too. Partly because my body doesn’t let me now!

Do you enjoy practising? 

I have to force myself to do scales and arpeggios and Hanon exercises but otherwise, yes. I had some very good advice from fellow comic, Rainer Hersch, who suggested putting a watch by the piano and making sure that every fifteen minutes you change what you’re practising. I try to do that. 

But, generally, I get so lost in hearing a piece come together that it’s never a chore. 

There are masterclasses at the Ludlow Piano Festival with leading pianist-teachers. Have you participated in any masterclasses or piano courses yourself? 

I have attended weekend courses with Paul Roberts in Sussex. And I went on his week-long piano course in France and then attended four courses in subsequent years with James Lisney and latterly Charles Owen at the delightful La Balie (in south-west France, now, sadly, no longer happening). I’ve also recently done week in West Cork with James at a new venue, Castle Townshend. 

As well as learning from such inspirational players and teachers, it’s great to meet other amateur pianists who share your passion. 

What have you gained/learnt from this experience?

I do feel I’ve enriched my life and my soul. And I have been a little surprised by how much I have enjoyed regularly turning my back on the modern world.

As an adult amateur pianist, what are the special challenges of preparing for a performance? 

Not letting the occasion distract you from listening to the sound you are making with every note. I have moments of being very focused but often hear myself or my late mother saying ‘What on earth do you think you’re doing?’. If you can keep that voice out of your head, you will generally be fine!

Also, if you breathe and practise breathing it practise, it helps. As does a touch of lavender under the nose. 

Most importantly, if you think of wanting your audience to hear the piece of music you’re playing and not to hear how well you play it, it takes your ‘self’ out of the equation and some how makes things less nerve-wracking. 

How did you prepare the pieces featured on your recordings? 

I worked very hard, bringing each of them to the boil in turn with my mentor Anthony Hewitt practically conducting me. I also went to listen to a good few pianists in concert and learnt a lot from hearing James Lisney, Lucy Parham, Viv McLean and, of course, Anthony. 

Recording yourself to see what you’re getting wrong – and what you’re getting right – is also a great help these days. 

And how did you find the experience of recording the music?

It was like a lesson, an exam, a recital and the greatest pleasure all at the same time – immensely draining and yet utterly thrilling to hear the music I had learnt and loved coming out of the best pianos in the world!

It was also terrifying knowing that this was the one chance to get each piece recorded. I read a wonderful book called ‘Piano Notes’ by Charles Rosen which has a very helpful chapter on the challenge of recording and refers especially to the need to not worry about mistakes. They can be covered. My teacher/mentor, Anthony Hewitt, was wonderfully helpful (and still conducting!) at the recordings. My producer, Chris Hazel, was unbelievably supportive, helpful and strict!

I had to pinch myself after each recording. I couldn’t believe what I was being allowed to do.

What advice would you give to other adults who are considering taking up the piano or resuming piano lessons? 

I think learning how to learn is as important as learning how to play; it’s important to get the most from your playing time. Setting goals is also important. Perhaps organise small recitals at home, before friends, in order to give yourself a deadline.

If you could play one piece, what would it be? 

Ah! That changes all the time. I have an eye on Debussy’s ‘Ballade Esclave’ – but think that’s still a few years away!

What are you looking forward to at the Ludlow Piano Festival?

This is like a five-day ‘Desert Island Discs’ for me: my favourite music played by my favourite musicians! I can’t believe they’ve all said, ‘Yes!’All the pianists performing at the Festival have inspired or taught me during my own piano journey over the last 8 years. This is a wonderful way to thank them and to share their brilliance with everyone in Ludlow. I hope that as well as piano enthusiasts, the concerts will appeal to people who have never heard (let alone seen) piano music and who will be as inspired by these pianists and the music that they play (as I have been) to go to this beautiful instrument and to make music on it themselves.

Ludlow Piano Festival runs from 24th to 28th May. Info / Tickets

This site is free to access and ad-free, and takes many hours to research, write, and maintain. If you find joy and value in what I do, please consider making a donation to support the continuance of this site

Make A Donation

By |

As the Royal Choral Society prepares to sing Handel’s Messiah on Good Friday, one of London’s great Easter traditions, I spoke to conductor Richard Cooke about his influences and inspirations, and how one keeps a work like Messiah fresh and exciting after conducting it for over 25 years.

Who or what inspired you to take up conducting and pursue a career in music?

I was a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral from the age of 8 to 13. Some pieces we sang as anthems really inspired me, especially Recordare from Mozart’s Requiem, (which we sang in English to a truly terrible translation – *see below). This became my favourite piece of music from the age of 8, and it still is one of them. Also movements from Brahms’ Requiem, which I used to ‘conduct’ whilst listening to my mother’s record player. Seemed like fun.

Who or what are the most significant influences on your musical life?

Those five years at St. Paul’s were massively formative, though the choir was really not good! I could sight-sing music from the age of 11. I then had 4 years in Cambridge singing in King’s under David Willcocks, and after that I was teaching at Tiffin School for seven years. My colleague David Nield who was Director of Music (I was Director of Choral Music) made a huge and transformative impact on my life.

What, for you, is the most challenging part of being a conductor? And the most fulfilling?

My musical life has been choral conducting. The great challenge is to be an orchestral conductor when choirs sing concerts with orchestras. I try to conduct choirs ‘orchestrally’ so that they think that way when it all comes together. The most fulfilling thing is to come away from conducting a great work and feel good. Rare! There is usually something I would wish to have done better – it can be only a moment, but it’s there.

As a conductor, how do you communicate your ideas about a work to the orchestra?

Talk as little as possible. Show them what you want and be faithful to what one considers were the composer’s intentions.

Tell us more about the experience of conducting Handel’s Messiah…..

How do you keep such a well-known, well-loved work fresh for both performers and audience, especially in a large venue like the Royal Albert Hall?

This is the same for any professional. I saw an actor being interviewed about how he felt performing Hamlet 25 times and that was the same. You have to make each performance as unique as it is for the audience. This is easy. I have been fortunate to conduct this concert every year for about 27 years and I tell myself and the choir that it has to reach the audience as if it were brand new each time. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is wonderful in this respect too. I feel it has become bigger for me with the passing years.

What for you are the particular pleasures and challenges of conducting Messiah?

One has different soloists to engage with which is (nearly) always a pleasure, and the work slowly rises to its climactic end – particularly so in the Royal Albert Hall. That final 30 minutes is an inspirational and uplifting experience every time.

The main challenge is the choral writing in Part 1 where the choir is exposed to fast semiquaver ‘runs’ without orchestral support. From the beginning of Part 2 to the very end of Part 3, the strings play these demanding passages with the choir, and the support they provide is always reassuring. Mozart ‘solved’ this problem in his re-harmonised version of Messiah by giving all the fast-running sections in Part 1 to the soloists, with the choir joining only at the very end of each chorus. The only real challenge after that is never to coast along on ‘automatic pilot’.

Is there one work which you would love to conduct?

There are several I would like to return to, all of which are hugely expensive, including Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts and Damnation of Faust. A work which I wished I had been able to do is Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake), but promoters just smile when they see how much it would cost!

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in?

I love conducting in the Royal Albert Hall and Canterbury Cathedral, though each has its challenges with the acoustic. I have other favourites – Birmingham, Bridgewater Hall, Liverpool, Gothenburg. A very beautiful venue for concerts is Lund Domkyrkan (Cathedral) in Sweden. I conduct a concert there each summer.

What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?

The direct reply to that has to be preparing the music and how one is going to interpret it, assuming you are not looking for an answer like ‘take a cold shower’ or ‘walk up a Scottish Munro’.

What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music audiences?

A massive and prolonged revolution in schools. I work with children and it is the most inspirational thing to see how they engage when challenged. Schools are very under-nourished in music, and children are underestimated. Music provision has been declining for decades and there is a misconception that classical music is elitist. Becoming an elite performer does not make it ‘elitist’. There are elite sportspeople. I don’t think Joe Root or Marcus Rashford are elitist but they are elite.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Um…..I’m enjoying still being able to do what I do and have done for my whole life. My hobby is my career and whether I am successful or not is for others to judge.

What advice would you give to young or aspiring conductors/musicians?

I don’t presume to advise other than to say that you have always to prepare and work as much as is needed to master in detail whatever you aspire to.

What’s the one thing we’re not talking about in the music industry which you feel we should be?

The inadequacy of classical music provision in state schools and the value and enhancement it brings to children’s lives and well-being.

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?

Where I am now. Maybe optimistic!

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Not sure but I’m perfectly happy

What is your most treasured possession?

Apart from family and friends I don’t really have one, but it feels special when I dig out a great score like Beethoven Missa Solemnis to prepare for another performance.

What is your present state of mind?

Sober

*Final stanza of Recordare from Mozart’s Requiem, early Novello edition:

“In thy favor’d sheep’s position

Keep me from the goat’s condition,

On thy right complete fruition”.

(I’m quite sure that if I had sung these words as an adult, the last word by many around me would have been change to ‘coition’.)

Richard Cooke conducts the Royal Choral Society in Handel’s Messiah on Good Friday, 7th April, at the Royal Albert Hall. The choir, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary, has performed Messiah every Good Friday since 1876. Only the 1940 Blitz and the 2020 Covid pandemic have prevented the performance of one of the UK’s favourite choral works.

Tickets and information

Richard Cooke was appointed Conductor of the Royal Choral Society in 1995, becoming Music Director in 1998, and has appeared with us in many concerts in the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Most notable of these have been their annual Good Friday performances of Handel’s Messiah, and spectacular Christmas Carol concerts. He has directed concerts with the RCS in the cathedrals of Peterborough, Winchester, Salisbury and Southwark. He has also recorded Orff’s Carmina Burana with the RCS together with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Read more

Image credit: Kevin Day

By |

To coincide with the release of her new recording of Mozart Piano Sonatas Vols 2 and 3, I caught up with pianist Orli Shaham to find out more about her influences and inspirations and why one of her most treasured possessions features Snoopy the dog…..

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music and who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

It was my parents and my older brothers who inspired me to start music more than anybody else. My parents listened to a lot of music, and my older brothers were just enough older that they were beginning to be accomplished at instruments when I was coming into consciousness. I just really wanted to be part of that and be able to play with them and do the same sort of things that they were doing. That was very much the source of the initial inspiration. I also went to an untold number of conservatory concerts to listen to my brothers perform, and then also heard the 49 other pianists or violinists who were on the same program. That was hugely inspirational too.

A big part of my influences are the people in my life who also love music and who also play music. For me, that’s changed over time from being my elders to being my children and my students. I find them all incredibly inspiring.

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

Ultimately, it’s always the last project you just finished that you’re most proud of, because on some level you feel like it’s better than everything you’ve done before. I have certain highlights throughout my career that I think back on quite fondly. At the moment, I’m riding high on recording the complete Mozart sonatas. That was a monumental mountain to climb. I loved every minute of it, and I learned so much from doing it.

Which particular works/composers do you think you perform best?

I would say whatever I’m doing at the moment, which this year has included a lot of Mozart, and a lot of Clara Schumann and her compatriots. With any luck, we keep getting better at all of them – that’s the hope.

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

That’s a really tough one because you have to choose repertoire quite far in advance. I have to project what I think I will feel like playing 18 months from today. Eighteen months is a long way to plan for your emotional state. These days, 18 minutes is a pretty long way.

I’m so lucky to be a pianist; I have so much repertoire to choose from. I have a list that I haven’t even begun to skim the surface of, of pieces that I would like to play. So I just go down that list based on what I think would work best next.

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

I have a favorite concert venue to record in, but I’ve never actually performed there. It’s Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. I love recording there because there’s something about the atmosphere of the building that makes me feel like it’s all about whatever I’m creating on stage (and also there’s an enormous painting of George Washington and the rear end of his horse looking down on me from high above the stage). The hall has an incredible sound. For pianists, performing or recording at a venue is intricately tied up with the venue’s piano. I really love the instrument at Mechanics Hall, as well as the technician who takes care of it. Any time I sit down at that keyboard, I’m inspired to experiment.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

That’s a very long list. One that I happen to be thinking about recently was with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony. I played John Adams’ Century Rolls in Carnegie Hall. The way schedules worked out, the composer couldn’t come to hear any of our performances before that; the first time he could come and hear it was at the Carnegie concert. I was only the second pianist to play that concerto at the time, and there was a great deal of nervous energy.

The orchestra did a magnificent job, and David was incredible. Everything worked, and it was fabulous. When John came on stage for his composer’s bow, he leaned in to me and said, “You got it, you really got it.” There’s really no better feeling as a performer, than for the composer to say, “You got it.” That’s what it’s all about.

I should add that I’m very much looking forward to playing John Adams’ second piano concerto, Why Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? in Finland next season, with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the self-same David Robertson conducting.

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

Being a mother of infant twins was a big challenge. We’ve made it through to the other side – those twins are about to turn 15. Things are a lot a lot less intense than they were 15 years ago around this time. I think it’s true for many parents, certainly for a lot of mothers, that it’s tricky figuring out how to keep your commitment to music while also juggling a commitment to family, both of which are all-consuming.

What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?

I do things that have to do with music, like teaching and listening to repertoire other than what I’m working on, which is very inspiring. I also specifically do things that don’t have to do with music. I’m inspired by books I am reading, or TV shows I am watching, or meditation or cooking, that really allow me to get inside my own head in a different way than when I’m getting inside a composer’s head.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

The not so trite answer is that we musicians don’t have such a definition, because we never think that what we’re doing is good enough, so it can’t possibly be considered a success. Knowing that there will never be a feeling of complete and total success, I set very specific goals for myself, and if I can make those work for an entire performance, then I feel it’s been a success.

Those are often really small things. I had a shoulder injury a few years ago and one of the things that I’ve been working on is maintaining a certain level of muscle relaxation in my upper back, even in performance, from the beginning to the end. That’s no small feat. It has nothing to do with the actual music making, and it has everything to do with the actual music making. When I achieve that, I feel a huge sense of pride, because I know that’s something I wasn’t able to do before.

What advice would you give to young/aspiring musicians?

My biggest piece of advice is that whether other people give you the opportunities you’re hoping for is completely out of your control. But whether you feel that you are constantly improving is entirely in your control, and that way of approaching things will sustain you through the lulls and heartbreaks of a career.

What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’s audiences?

There are really two sides to that question. One, how do we get the next generation to understand that classical music is for them? That’s in part why I started Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard, to get to children at the ripe old age of three or four years old. The other side of it is making sure that what you’re presenting to the audience is relevant to their lives in some way. That may have to do with repertoire choices, it might have to do with venue choices, perhaps programme lengths, and the way that you introduce a programme to an audience and explain to them how it connects to them. It’s all about humanizing the musicians and the composers and making people feel that this is something that is actually designed for them and that they can partake of whether they’re three or 30 or 99 years old.

What’s the one thing in the music industry we’re not talking about which you think we should be?

It’s the question of what’s in it for them: What’s in it for your audience? What’s in it for the students? What are they going to get out of that and through their lives? What’s in it for a subscriber or a single ticket buyer? Why are we actually doing this? Because we in the industry get so caught up in the fact that we love it so much, we see what it’s doing for us that we forget to think about the perspective of the people we’re trying to offer it to.

What is your most treasured possession?

I have two favourite possessions. One of them is the Steinway B that’s been with me since 1997, 25 years. I don’t know how I would get it out of the apartment if there’s a fire.

My other favourite possession is the cartoon that Charles Schulz made for me in 1997 – also 25 years ago. It’s a one-panel strip where Schroeder is playing the Beethoven’s “Pathetique” sonata and the final bar line is missing, so the notes are all falling on the ground with their stems up. Poor Snoopy is trying to walk across the floor and the note stems are pricking his little feet, and he’s saying, “Ouch!”

 

Volumes 2 and 3 of Orli Shaham’s recording of the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas are available now on the Canary Classics label.

A consummate musician recognized for her grace, subtlety, and brilliance, the pianist Orli Shaham is hailed by critics on four continents. The New York Times called her a “brilliant pianist,” The Chicago Tribune referred to her as “a first-rate Mozartean,” and London’s Guardian said Ms. Shaham’s playing at the Proms was “perfection.”

Orli Shaham has performed with many of the major orchestras around the world, and has appeared in recital internationally, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House. She is Artistic Director of Pacific Symphony’s chamber series Café Ludwig in California since 2007, and Artistic Director of the interactive children’s concert series, Orli Shaham’s Bach Yard, which she founded in 2010.

Read more

 

Image credit: Karjaka Studios

 

By |

Who or what are the most significant influences on your musical life and career as a composer?

I didn’t begin to compose until I was sixteen. At that time I had given up piano lessons (I learned the piano between seven and thirteen) and attended a school where there was no music teacher, so composing was something I had to teach myself, or rather with the collaboration of my younger brother Colin, who also began to compose shortly after me. What made me start to compose was hearing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the first time, and thinking that this was the most wonderful music I’d ever heard and that I must write a symphony of my own – so I did, and spent the next two years writing one, and when I’d finished, writing another. Beethoven is still my favourite composer, the ideal of everything I believe in. Meanwhile Mahler, all of whose works I’d got to know, became a huge influence, not just the music itself, but also what he stood for as a composer in Beethoven’s succession. Many other composers too were influential, Sibelius and Stravinsky pre-eminently, as I spent all my spare time listening to music and studying scores.

When I left university – where I read Classics as Music wasn’t possible as I hadn’t got music A level), I had the great good fortune to have got to know Deryck Cooke, who had made the performing version of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony and whom Colin and I later helped with a comprehensive revision. Deryck introduced me to a number of significant people in the musical world, among them Donald Mitchell, who had just founded Faber Music, mainly to publish Britten’s music. I began working freelance for Faber Music and quite soon Britten needed someone to help him with editorial work. Donald suggested me, and I then worked part time for Britten for four years. As the greatest living composer in this country, he was probably the most important influence in my life. He didn’t give composition lessons but I learned from him how to be a composer – see your later question, how do you work?

Other important influences were Michael Tippett, whom I also got to know and on whose music I wrote a short book – I liked his music even more than I liked Britten’s; Nicholas Maw, who became a friend and an unofficial teacher – I thought him the best of the younger composers; and the Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, whom I met in England in 1974 and who became a close friend until his death in 2014. I visited many him many times in Australia and we collaborated on three film scores. Peter said that the music of the whole world was tonal, so why we should we pay attention to a few central European composers who said tonality was no longer possible? From Australia I saw music in a new light.

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

The greatest challenge was getting my music played when I was young. As I hadn’t been to a music college I knew virtually no musicians. But I did send the score of a string quartet to the BBC when I was about 23 – they then had a reading panel – and it was played and broadcast; and when I was 26 I sent two orchestral songs to the Society for the Promotion of New Music (which sadly no longer exists) and they were performed at the Royal Festival Hall by Jane Manning with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Norman Del Mar (who became a friend and who commissioned my Symphony No.1 – I’d withdrawn my three earlier ones). That was a big step forward. However, I didn’t get a full publishing contract from Faber until 1982.

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?

It’s easier, I find, to write a piece if you are given some limitations – i.e. how long it should be, the instrumentation, etc. I wouldn’t want too precise instructions, but that rarely happens.

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working with particular musicians, singers, ensembles or orchestras?

I much prefer writing for musicians I know (as Britten almost always did). I recently wrote an Oboe Sonata for Nicholas Daniel, someone I know well and for whom I wrote a Concerto. He has a very individual sound, a wonderful ability to play long sustained passages without taking breath, and extraordinary virtuosity. It was a real pleasure writing for him and hearing his special sound in my head.

The same with singers, of course, and with string players. I’ve written two CDs worth of solo violin music for my violinist friend Peter Sheppard Skaerved, and his Kreutzer Quartet are recording all fifteen (so far) of my string quartets, of which five were written especially for them. They know exactly what to do with my music as they’ve played so much of it. I’m not a string player but Peter has taught me so much about string technique. And with orchestras, I have a special relationship with the BBC Philharmonic, for whom I’ve written three of the last four of my ten symphonies. I can write for them knowing just how they will sound, and I’m also careful not to write anything that they won’t enjoy playing.

Of which works are you most proud?

I enjoy listening to my own music – well, if the composer doesn’t like his own music he shouldn’t expect anyone else to! There are quite a few pieces I’m proud of; for instance among my symphonies, No.8, several of my string quartets; also my Cello Concerto, Concerto in Azzurro, written for Steven Isserlis and recorded on CD by Guy Johnston. The piece I’m most proud of is my choral and orchestral piece Vespers, of which there is a splendid recording by the Bach Choir and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Hill. And in the last two years I’ve composed my first opera, which hasn’t yet had a stage performance, only a run-through with piano, but I hope I’ll be proud of it if and when I hear it with orchestra.

How would you characterise your compositional language?

It’s tonal, though usually not in a traditional way. I use very wide-ranging harmony. I use counterpoint modelled on the way the great masters of the past used it, and above all I try to write memorable melodies. I think the loss of memorable melody in most contemporary music is very sad.

How do you work?

When I’m composing, I like to work every day from after breakfast until lunch. I may go back for a while in the late afternoon. I learned regular hours from Britten. But I’m always thinking about the piece I’m writing, and I quite often wake up at night with ideas.

I try to start a piece well in advance of the deadline (another thing I learned from Britten: always meet deadlines). I think a lot about what character the piece will have, and its shape, and then I have the first musical idea, generally a melodic idea, and after that I may leave the piece to grow inside my head for some while before I start it properly. Once I’ve started, I don’t often get stuck – just for a day or two perhaps. I revise a lot while I’m writing, and don’t usually write more than ten to twenty bars a day, though sometimes more when I’ve almost reached the end.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

My music is concerned with my feelings about life, expressed to the best of my ability in melody, harmony and counterpoint, and in a form that I hope conveys what I intended. I’m happy if I think I’ve done my best with these aims. I also hope that the musicians, who work so hard to bring my pieces to life, will enjoy playing what I have written.

What advice would you give to young/aspiring composers?

Don’t write pieces that present impossible difficulties to players. Also, be patient, it may take a long time before you can get your pieces played regularly. And find your own voice, don’t get led astray by fashion.

What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’s audiences?

Of course it worries me that a lot of people who are brought up on a constant diet of pop music find classical music difficult, and especially modern classical music. Because of this, audiences for contemporary music are almost always small. It’s this that worries me most: I feel that a lot of new music today supplies very little to move audiences, if it’s written in a virtually incomprehensible language, and often a very aggressive, off-putting one. And then, except (rightly) for the Kanneh-Mason family, none of the brilliant young musicians around now are being praised by the mass media, which now largely ignores classical music. Their extraordinary talent should be widely celebrated.

What’s the one thing in the music industry we’re not talking about but you really think we should be?

I’m worried that decisions about what new music to programme, by the BBC for instance, are no longer based purely on quality, which I think they should, but on other criteria. I’m very happy to hear music by women composers, but it must be good music. To play it just because it’s by a woman is in fact insulting.

What next – where would you like to be in 10 years?

Still alive – as long as I can keep my current good health, and still composing reasonably well, if I’m still able to.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Sharing a meal at home with my wife.

What do you enjoy doing most?

Apart from composing: reading, drinking good wine, walking in the countryside, and watching and listening to birds.

With a singular body of work spanning almost 60 years, David Matthews has established an international reputation as one of the leading symphonists of our time. Born in London in 1943, he began composing at the age of sixteen. He read Classics at the University of Nottingham – where he has more recently been made an Honorary Doctor of Music – and afterwards studied composition privately with Anthony Milner. He was also helped by the advice and encouragement of Nicholas Maw and spent three years as an assistant to Benjamin Britten in the late 1960s. In the 1970s a friendship with the Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe (leading to collaboration and numerous trips to Sydney) helped Matthews find his own distinctive voice.

Read more

David Matthews’ website

By |

Award-winning composer Thomas Hewitt Jones was one of the first people I interviewed for my Meet the Artist series, back in 2012. Ten years on, he has updated his interview with further thoughts on his significant influences and inspirations, and why we should cherish and value the arts.

Thomas Hewitt Jones

Who or what are the most significant influences on your musical life and career as a composer?

Without a doubt, my paternal grandparents (both composers) were hugely significant influences on me, both musically and in terms of my career trajectory so far. My grandfather Tony was a great craftsman and studied with Nadia Boulanger; my granny Anita wrote educational music that is extremely accessible for young string players, yet is of consistently high quality. Both had studied harmony and composition techniques with the lovely man that was Bernard Rose while at Oxford (who told Tony in an early supervision “you’ll never get a girlfriend unless you cut off your beard”… anyway the next week Tony announced with a wry smile that he was engaged to Anita); however, over her lifetime Granny’s music did better commercially than Tony’s, who wrote entirely for himself (and often wrote choral music that was high quality, yet challenging to both listen to and perform). He once got offered a large amount of money to write music for a TV ad for a building company, and turned it down. I like to think that I have ended up with a mix of both approaches to composition, although I personally enjoy writing music for a wide audience which is nevertheless genuine, with…that ever-important word these days…integrity.

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

I think that we live in a difficult time for composers who want to write music that has what I call ‘horizontal’ emotional narrative. There’s so much soundbitey ‘vertical’ contemporary classical music that is constructed like pop music, built around earworms and varying textures over a repetitive chord sequence rather than maintaining melodic, rhythmic and harmonic interest over time. Music can do so much more than just an earworm intended to get high numbers on Spotify.

On the other end of the artistic spectrum, I’ve got an amusing commercial music track called ‘Funny Song Cavendish’ that has gone mega-viral on TikTok (currently 2 billion streams, and countless celebrity videos as I write this). It is a lesser-discussed part of the music streaming arguments that are currently taking place, but newcomer music usage platforms such as TikTok present difficulties for composers and publishers because royalty streams are not always transparent until legislation is fought for in retrospect. I’ve actually recently been voted on the Ivors Academy Senate Committee for this year, and I’m going to be campaigning for this, and many other similar issues that will hopefully make issues of streaming rates more transparent for the composers of tomorrow. My overriding feeling is that composers in the year 2022 feel that they must write a certain type of music that will serve them well financially through the algorithms of streaming services, rather than being musically satisfying – rather than pushing artforms to a new and exciting place – which is, in my humble opinion, a sorry place to be.

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?

It’s always an enjoyable challenge to write to a brief. As artists throughout time have invariably found, the difficult commissions are the ones where there is a clear cognitive dissonance during the creative process – if, for example, there are words a composer doesn’t particularly want to set, or a subject matter that doesn’t really interest him or her. The really great craftsmen can transcend these situations – but the arts at their best are an honest expression of humanity. A composer is invariably emotionally naked, and audiences aren’t stupid so they will realise pretty quickly if music isn’t authentic. I’ve been lucky not to have to deal with such situations, but in the arts there is nowhere to hide!

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working with particular musicians, singers, ensembles or orchestras?

I am incredibly lucky to have worked with some of the finest players around in recording sessions so far, many of whom have become friends as well as colleagues. The COVID lockdowns in 2019-21 were an interesting time because everyone was recording at home, but we managed to still make things work and release albums. As well as writing the music I very much enjoy the music production process as well, so these things came together during that time.

Of which works are you most proud?

I’m not sure that a composer can judge his or her work. Each piece of music you write is like a new offspring, but as soon as it has grown up and left home, it’s no longer yours. For this reason, I make a point of deleting files and throwing away copies of pieces of music that have had copyrights assigned and are published and out in the ether. If people email asking me for copies of pieces, I genuinely can’t help – and I occasionally hear things on the radio that I’ve forgotten I’ve written! As a writer, the thing you are working on is the only piece you are aware of.

How would you characterise your compositional language?

Approachable and mainstream, yet high quality and with integrity. That’s what I hope anyway, but it’s not for me to judge.

How do you work?

I have a lot of technology in my studio, and I love using it. That said, I believe that the key elements of music composition are exactly the same as they were in Bach’s time, that great melody and harmony (or interesting texture used in a way that is satisfying in narrative) are key to an emotional experience that makes great music.

It strikes me that today there are a lot of ‘noodlers’ who can’t look at a score and hear it in their head, and can’t compose away from their DAW [Digital Audio Workstation]. For me personally, that isn’t quite right. There is a place for every approach, and improvisation is incredibly important for all-round great musicianship. But for me, the first idea isn’t necessarily the best one, and while noodling might make for perfectly good underscore underneath an emotive speech in a film, it won’t break the mould as a standalone piece. (It might satisfy a mass radio streaming audience who are using music as background wallpaper though.) The creative process is full of contradictions so I always approach each project differently. As Stephen Sondheim so wisely said, ‘Content dictates form’.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

A second performance. I think many of my peers would agree – if you ever meet a load of composers in a bar, they’ll either be chatting about the PRS, or about second performances.

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

This will sound facetious, but – like the human condition itself, the route into a musical career is also full of contradictions and there is honestly no set way to approach a career in music. I’m sure many would agree that it’s about hard work, luck, and being happy to be poor while you are building up a reputation in your early years. It took me 8 years after leaving university to make a successful living as a composer. Hopefully the horrendous swagger of entitlement of the generation above us (typified by the likes of certain members of our cabinet) will cause a reassessment of honesty, integrity and equal access for talented newcomers that will filter through to the arts as a whole. But that might be wishful thinking.

What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music audiences?

I think that two ends of our industry have to meet in the middle, and everyone needs to be unjudgmental. I think ClassicFM has done such a huge amount for music appreciation in the general population, and I love its straight-to-the-point promotion of great melody. I also really enjoy listening to the Ligeti Piano Concerto. I think that great music needs to be given as much of an airing irrespective of commercial viability, background or composer’s gender.

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?

Last time I did this, I said I would like to be in a hut by the sea, with a wife and kids if I’m lucky. Well now I have a wife, Annalisa and one kid. Maybe next time I do this, I’ll have another kid, but hopefully not another wife!

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Being with my wife and kid.

What is your most treasured possession?

My wife and kid.

What do you enjoy doing most?

Don’t ask.

What is your present state of mind?

I’ve got a huge amount of writing to do at the moment, on top of some mixing, so I’m extremely busy, but happy to be working on projects at the moment which are employing other musicians. Using live musicians is really important, and never more so than post-COVID. Software sampling is really great these days, but still nothing beats many musical brains working as one…

Thomas Hewitt Jones is an award-winning composer of contemporary classical and commercial music. Since winning the BBC Young Composer Competition in his teens, his music has been published by many of the major music publishers and is frequently heard in concert and on radio, TV and in the cinema.

Thomas’s diverse catalogue includes small instrumental, orchestral, choral and ballet works, and his large number of choral titles includes seasonal carols. ‘What Child is This?’ (OUP) has become a choral classic of recent years, garnering large numbers of performances each season. His music is regularly featured on Classic FM, including most recently ‘Christmas Party’ (his seasonal violin concerto, written and recorded for violinist Simon Hewitt Jones). In 2021, he released ‘Can you hear me?’, an acclaimed response to the COVID19 pandemic. 

Read more