Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music?
My Mum and Dad. They gave me the opportunity to have piano lessons and I’ve never looked back. A few years later they encouraged me to learn more instruments so I chose the clarinet and harp initially, but my Mum said no to the harp because it was too big, so I chose the marginally smaller cello as an alternative. I was enrolled in dance lessons from the age of 4 so learnt to love performance from a young age. I loved to put on shows with my cousins for our parents and grandparents. I took this to another level when I forced my sister and a friend to perform a rendition of a track from the show Starlight Express whilst on roller skates in a school assembly. My piano teacher and music teacher encouraged me to pursue performance and composition. To be honest I never imagined doing anything other than music so I think I have always been pursuing a career in music without actually realising it.
Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?
I’ve never really had one or two important influences. More a continual building collection. Daily I’ll be influenced by many different things whether that be a piece of music, a painting, photograph, philosophical article or an approach someone takes on life. I’m a very reflective person so can be influenced by the simplest of things like watching a bird splash about in a puddle. I’m driven by the belief that there is only one life we live in our current form. Therefore we should either be striving to achieve a goal or, at the very least, enjoy what we are doing. Not everyone has this choice so we shouldn’t take it for granted.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
The first thing I think of is staring at a blank page when I know I need to compose a piece for a deadline. But this is a daily challenge. The greatest challenge of my career though is probably getting people to listen to my work when there are so many other artists work they could also be listening to.
Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?
There are two pieces I composed for a pitch for an advert. There are also some cues from a film score that I’m particularly proud of because of their emotive drive. The type of music which makes your hair stand on end.
Favourite pieces to listen to?
This changes weekly, even daily. Today I’m really enjoying Beautiful Lie by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL
Who are your favourite musicians?
There are too many too name. My favourite musicians are ones whose music has elements which will intrigue me and which I have an uncontrollable urge to immediately analyse. Whose music is utterly captivating to listen to because of all the different compositional elements. To name just a small number would be Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Johann Johannson, Max Richter, Clint Mansell, Kronos Quartet, Goldmund, Nils Frahm, The Glitch Mob…there really are too many from so many different styles.
What is your most memorable concert experience?
Unfortunately I have a very poor memory so I expect there have been many. However, there are a few I still talk about. One was when Muse performed at SWSX many years ago before they were as big as they are now. They were absolutely incredible. The type of musicians where you can tell they breath music. For the same reason, Jill Scott and Mumford and Sons were also extremely memorable. But more recently, I’ve seen a few film score composers in concert who have been absolutely wonderful. Namely Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer. I came away more in awe than when I went in. There are a number of theatre productions that have literally left me speechless as well.
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
Explore concepts you feel uncomfortable with. Face your weaknesses. Learn to take a step back from your work and hear it from a different perspective. Don’t ignore your gut instinct. Learn to accept and see criticism as constructive feedback but also be confident in your own mind and opinion where necessary.
Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?
To still be making a living out of composing music.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Working from a studio that looks out to the ocean.
Aleah Morrison-Basu’s first narrative piano and electronics album ‘Evolving Reflections’ is released on 8th July 2016.
Aleah is a London-based composer working out of her studio in central London. Always enthusiastically looking for new and interesting collaborations with musicians, composers, Film, TV and Theatre directors as a composer, arranger, orchestrator, music supervisor and co-composer.
Distinctive melodies, emotive scores. Nominated for 2015 MAS Award for Best Original Score for Feature Film and Best Original Score for Short Film. Music composer for feature films, TV series, short films, TVC’s, branding films, interactive theatre.
Aleah has composed scores for a number of award-winning short films and recently co-composed her first feature film, released in September 2015 in UK, USA and Canada.
Also, has been composing scores for a number of TV documentary series, currently working on her third score.
Clients include BBC, HBO, Head, Adidas, Kia, Hyundai, Wilko, Three mobile, America’s Cup, Philip Stein, The American Heart Foundation, McVities, Georgia Tech, Harvard amongst many others.
While composing, arranging, orchestrating and music supervising for Zelig Sound, Aleah is continuing her passion for collaborations in other creative art forms working as a freelance composer and arranger for film/ TV/ and theatre directors.
Who or what inspired you to take up composing, and pursue a career in music?
My parents and especially my granddad have always been very supportive and encouraging. My granddad always wanted to be able to play the piano and compose, but he wasn’t offered any opportunities to learn when he was younger. I think that’s what drove him to encourage me: he saw that I enjoyed it, and made sure I took all the opportunities I could.
Who or what were the most significant influences on your musical life and career as acomposer?
It may sound obvious, but my parents. I couldn’t have been offered the opportunities I have been today without their help and support.
What have been the greatest challenges/frustrations of your career so far?
I think it’s important to learn how to fail ‘productively’. As a freelance composer you are never going to get every single opportunity you put yourself forward for. It’s important to try and remain positive. Take criticism on board where you think it’s fair, but remember that your music should ultimately be defined by you. There have been times when I have felt it was right to reject criticism. Knowing when to do this can be tricky to navigate when you’re starting out.
With every performance you get better at communicating the music in your mind’s ear to an audience. This process is a very personal one. It operates on many levels between transcription and translation. No-one can tell you whether it has been successful other than yourself. Do not be too self-critical when you make a mistake, because that’s how you learn.
What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?
It’s great when you can shape a piece around a specific group. I always try to feed off the energy and enthusiasm of an ensemble when I write.
What have been your favourite aspects of working with London Music Masters as part of your award over the last year?
I think the performance of my piece “Flutter” in Festival Hall was very exciting. I loved seeing the faces of the children after they had performed the piece, they looked like they had enjoyed performing it, and that was very satisfying for me.
Can you tell me a little bit more about how the piece came about?
I had the idea of using pieces of foil on the strings, to make the piece a bit more fun for the very young performers. This came from the idea of music’s transformative power which has the possibility to effect change in people’s lives. The piece was written for beginner string players and a choir, so this idea became part of the chorus: “Music is a butterfly, filling the air with something you can’t buy, because
it makes my heart-beat flutter”.
What feedback did you receive from the piece?
Well it was lovely to hear that the piece had been well received by the LMM teachers who said that it was aimed at just the right level without being too simplistic. I also had a few parents come up to me to thank me after the concert. One mother said that her child had been singing it all the time, so I apologised as you may expect! When I was writing it I structured the whole piece around the simplest part (just using open strings) and built it up from there. I think this approach worked well rather than taking the hardest part and working back.
You’ve also been writing for a YCAT artist as part of the award, can you tell us who it is yet?
Yes, it’s the trombonist Peter Moore. I was very excited to have the opportunity to write for such a talented performer.
What have you written for him?
The piece is called ‘Three After-Dinner Pieces’. It’s in three movement and each is based on a different type of cheese.
Cheese? Tell us more about this….
I am a big fan of cheese in all it’s different variety. I work part time in a cheese shop in Cardiff called “Madame Fromage” and I thought it would be a unique way of structuring a piece. My ideas have come both from the physical form and taste of the cheese, and its country of origin. For example, in the first movement (Stilton) the mouldy striation reminded me of unsynchronised fanfares, which have become part of the texture of the work. Similarly the viscosity of Epoisses has allowed an exploration of glissandi effects in the trombone part.
Which cheeses did you select for your piece?
Stilton, Caerphilly and Epoisses, the last of these being my favourite.
Are you pleased with the piece?
Yes, I haven’t written for the trombone as a solo instrument before, and Peter is such an excellent performer with an amazing expressive range that I wanted to write something to show this off. I will be looking forward to the premiere very much.
When is the premiere and where will it be performed after that?
27th September in Colston Hall, Bristol, with the first London performance on October 3rd, in Wigmore Hall. I am also lucky to be able to conduct some workshops around this performance in association with LMM. We will be visiting schools to talk about the writing of the piece.
What are you working on at the moment?
I have been commissioned to arrange a recording of Satie’s “Parade” for National Dance Wales, in a performance about the Russian revolution. BBC NOW are recording the piece in early September so I will have my work cut out for me to get everything ready in time for the performances on 25th Oct in Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff and the 29th in Pontio, Bangor.
Of which works are you most proud?
I love the recording of my BBCSO orchestral piece ‘Digital Dust’. Also, the multi-part choral piece ‘Islands (Ynysoedd)’ I wrote for what became a celebration of Sir John Tavener’s life in Southwark Cathedral, following his death. More recently I wrote a piece for Côr Aduniad called ‘We Have No Right To The Stars’. This is a translation of a poem by Hedd Wyn, and I think it’s one of my favourite choral settings to date.
How would you characterise your compositional language?
I like to describe my style as emotional and accessible. When I was first getting inspired by music I used to get the ‘tingle factor’ (when the hairs on the back of your neck used to stand up) when I listened to music I loved. I have tried to find a compositional language which allows others to feel a strong emotional attachment to my work.
How do you work?
I like to write straight into the computer if I am working on a piece. I usually work at a piano to sketch ideas, and when I am happy with them, notate them straight away.
Who are your favourite musicians/composers?
Kaija Saariaho, Jonathan Harvey, Michael Tippett, John Tavener, Benjamin Britten, Tori Amos, Björk.
What is your most memorable concert experience?
I can’t remember the exact details but I watched Vaughan Williams’ ‘Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis’ when I was very young. I can remember the music having a profound impact upon me.
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiringmusicians?
Learning how to listen is probably the most important part of becoming a musician. It takes time to develop and is fundamental to your success in all areas of the business.
Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?
In a studio which would make Hans Zimmer jealous!
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being truly grateful for everything you have.
What is your most treasured possession?
My piano.
What do you enjoy doing most?
Laughing.
What is your present state of mind?
Upbeat.
Jack White studied music at Somerville College, Oxford. His postgraduate studies have been undertaken solely at Cardiff University where he has recently finished his PhD in composition. His research interests are in electroacoustic composition and the combination of this media with traditional ensembles in ‘live’ performance. He is also interested in the scoring methods used by electroacoustic composers and the relationship between such methods and a work’s identity.
Who or what inspired you to take up composing, and pursue a career in music?
My musical life began as a chorister at the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool in 1977 when I was nine, but singing had already been a part of my life (winning local music festivals for solo singing), which is the reason I went to audition at the Cathedral. After joining I was given piano lessons and other basic theoretical training. From about the age of ten, I was composing a number of things which further supported my initial forays into composition; primarily the unwavering support of my mother and grandmother who purchased a piano and reams of manuscript paper. Various BBC programmes on music at the time engaged me; my parents mentioned a James Blades programme on percussion that I was enthralled by before I want to the Cathedral and I subsequently took up percussion alongside piano. I also fondly remember the Stravinsky centenary programmes on BBC 2 in 1982. The support of the organist at Liverpool Cathedral, Ian Tracey, a lovely piano teacher, Dorothy Hill, who was also an opera fanatic who would invite me to accompany her to Opera North seasons in Liverpool for a number of years. Singing high quality choral music of the Italian renaissance, English Tudor and even 20th century periods, all of these cemented my need to live in music.
Who or what were the most significant influences on your musical life and career as a composer?
It dawned on me about 10 years ago that one reason much of my work is saturated by activity against sustained resonances comes from my childhood memories of the acoustical properties of the Cathedral building. The sort of aural glow that is present in that building (and sometimes, musical confusion!) seeped into my head at an impressionable age and has remained ever since. The reverberation of a large acoustic space also suggests ambiguity, doubt and distance to me. Also, the nature of ritual and text, the rich, reflective nature of space and echo, all left their mark on me.
Music of the Franco-Russian period – orchestral music mostly – was important when I was a very young composer and remains a pleasure for me to this day. I was lucky from the age of 13 to have my orchestral work performed by the Merseyside Youth orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. From 2007-2009 I was the RPS Composer in the House with the RLPO which felt like a full turn of the wheel and a wonderful homecoming. About the age of 12 I had composition lessons from composer Steven Pratt (I remember that mine would often follow Steve Martland’s lessons) and he challenged my rather safe musical horizons with works by Berg, Messiaen, Boulez, Hugh Wood (his teacher) and other repertoire I would not have come across myself at this time. Three composers followed who have had a profound influence on how I believe a composer should be, Edwin Roxburgh, Oliver Knussen and Henri Dutilleux – fastidious in work, with acute musical ears and generous in spirit and nature.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
Maintaining space – both physical and mental – to work, to stay on top of commissions, to teach and be an active and present father to my young son. The musical challenges have been to remain true to the real inner voice and how to express it as clearly as possible, which also has a direct impact on technical issues of notation and performer psychology.
What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?
The challenges may come from the terms of the commission, the constraints of the instrumental forces, the duration, the context which the new piece will find itself in (I’m not a fan of ‘themed’ or anniversary commissions but take them anyhow) and so on. The solving of these problems is also the pleasure of working on a commissioned piece. Solving a self-imposed technical issue (formal, harmonic etc.) and conveying something of the deeper intended affect or mood – without simply priming people in a programme note! – is also a challenge/pleasure coupling.
What are the special challenges/pleasures of working with particular musicians, singers, ensembles and orchestras?
As scores are only the best possible ‘model’ to aspire to in realising a work, one hopes that it can be executed as conceived in the rehearsal time allowed. One also hopes that a collective situation can be arrived at where I feel the piece is well represented and speaks as intended (expresses its nature) and that there has been a transformative journey, for all involved – audience, performers, myself. Working with technically brilliant and artistically informed musicians is one of the great pleasures of this musical life, as is the celebratory drink after a premiere!
Which works are you most proud of?
The ones which seem the most authentic to my ‘inner voice’ (perhaps even musical conscience) and also the ones where I’ve taken technical and emotional steps beyond my own initial expectations. This, in the happiest of circumstances, can lead to a synthesis of things I was only dimly aware of but which then become a foundation to build on in the following work.
Who are your favourite musicians/composers?
There are a great deal of established musicians and composers from the past and present who I find exciting, and even close to, that cover different musical genres (art music, medieval music, Moorish music, folk music). But I suppose it is the people that I have established a long-term working relationship with (and usually personal friendship) that are the most interesting and that I favour.
What is your most memorable concert experience?
To be honest I find performances nerve-wracking (perhaps a reason I gave up giving them myself) so I try to put them behind me or at least view them in hindsight. However, my Prom concerts – be they as a performer (I was in the National Youth Orchestra of GB as a percussionist) or composer – are very special memories. Going onto the stage with an audience at the RAH is a hard experience to beat. But then, when I was 17, accepting the applause of a Liverpool Philharmonic Hall audience after the premiere of my early symphony, and more than two decades later accepting the applause on the same stage for a large work for orchestra, choir and tenor and being greeted with a warm and extended applause once more, these will also remain in memory.
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
Strive for technical mastery; be honest to your inner creative impulse; be curious and listen, read and experience art in all its forms; challenge yourself regularly if not daily (ask hard questions); make connections and get your name and work out there, however distasteful or difficult you may feel it is. If you wanted an easy profession you took the wrong turn.
Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?
Still here.
Pianist Clare Hammond has released a disc of solo piano music by Kenneth Hesketh. Featuring Kenneth’s masterpiece, Horae (pro clara), a series of twelve miniatures written for Clare in 2011/12, this disc features a further three works which illustrate his kaleidoscopic approach to colour and the incisiveness of his imagination: Notte Oscura, Three Japanese Miniatures and Through Magic Casements. The disc is available now on the BIS label.
Described by Tempo magazine as “a composer who both has something to say and the means to say it”, Kenneth Hesketh’s work has met with widespread critical acclaim. He is a composer fluent in multiple genres and has worked with leading ensembles and orchestras in Europe, the USA, and the Far East.
He has received commissions from organisations including the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Göttinger Symphonie Orchester and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group amongst others. Hesketh’s work has featured at the Prague Premieres (Czech Philharmonic orchestra), Tanglewood, Munich Biennial, Beijing Modern Music, ISCM (Korea) and Gaudeamus Festivals. Appointed Royal Philharmonic Society/ PRS Foundation Composer in the House with the RLPO, his works were performed and broadcast as part of European City of Culture events. His music has been recorded on the London Sinfonietta label and has been the subject of a number of portrait discs on the NMC, BIS, Psappha and Prima Facie labels.
Hesketh’s early interest in other artforms, be they classical architecture, medieval iconography, poetry or Bauhaus constructivism, have more recently included a fascination with entropy, mutation and existentialism. His work has been described as “pure music, in possessing – because the notes seem to be creating their own harmonic and rhythmic forces and processes – a great freshness.” (Paul Griffiths).
Hesketh has worked with an array of important conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Vasilly Sinaisky, Vasily Petrenko, Susanna Malkki, Ludovic Morlot, Pascal Rophé and Oliver Knussen who was an early champion of his work. Christoph-Mathias Mueller and Clark Rundell have also championed Hesketh’s music in Britain and Europe with orchestras including the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, SWR Sinfonie Orchester Baden-Baden and Ensemble 10/10.
His works for chamber and solo forces have been performed by Nicholas Daniel, Hansjorg Schellenberger, Sarah Leonard, Rodney Clarke, Sarah Nichols, Christopher Redgate, Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Clare Hammond. Commissions in this genre include the Endymion Ensemble (in honour of Hans Werner Henze’s 75th birthday), the Festival Présences (Paris), the Munich Biennale, Kissinger Sommer Internationales Musikfestival, ensemble Psappha, the Continuum ensemble, the Michael Vyner Trust for the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble contemporain de Montréal and the ASKO ensemble.
Hesketh’s music for the stage covers subjects as disparate as the Brothers Grimm and DNA. Commissioned by The Opera Group and Phoenix Dance Theatre, his work has toured nationally (including performances at the Royal Opera House in London). He has also composed music for three art films, all sharing an interest in the bizarre and eerie on celluloid.
Kenneth Hesketh is professor of composition and orchestration at the Royal College of Music, honorary professor at Liverpool University and active as a guest lecturer and visiting professor.
“Hesketh’s music is beautiful, complex and restless … His response to musical form is particularly remarkable … The colorful orchestration and palpable verve in the individual gestures and large-scale construction make me want to return to them again and again.” American Record Guide
The ‘Raymond Variations for Piano’ (Set: 1) by S. G. Potts are based on the Andantino themes from the Raymond Overture of 1851 by French composer Ambroise Thomas (1811 – 1896). The work received its world premiere in London on 2nd December 2015 at the 1901 Arts Club, performed by Lorraine Womack-Banning as part of a concert in memory to her late husband Raymond Banning (former professor of pianoforte at Trinity College London)
The Variations are based on the three Andantino themes which form a central part of the Raymond Overture (although the third andantino theme from the overture is in itself a variant of the second theme). There are nine piano variations in total which include a mix of both full and short partial variations (including a very short declamatory two chord introductory variation). The variations are not numbered or set-apart in a conventional manner, rather they form part of a continuous whole, and are separated only by bridge passages and/or cadence points. They have been written for the most part in an easily accessible tonal style (with a passing nod to Messrs. Beethoven and J.S. Bach). A pdf perusal copy of the score can be downloaded from the British Music Collection at: http://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/… And a more in-depth analysis of the variations can be found at: http://open.academia.edu/StephenGPotts
The recording heard here in this ‘virtual performance’ has been produced through Sibelius 7.5, in anticipation of the next live performance(s) due to be filmed and recorded later in the year. In agreement with the composer, and until September 2016, Lorraine Womack-Banning holds exclusive performance rights to the Raymond Variations, after which time the sheet music will be published and made available for wider performance.
Lorraine Womack-Banning, who premiered the work at the 1901 Arts Club in December 2015, writes about the music:
In April 2015 I received an email from Stephen Potts asking me to consider giving the premiere and making a recording of his new composition.
I agreed to consider this project and Stephen then sent me the MP3along with a couple of pages of the score to help me make my decision. I was stunned to open the title page ‘Variations for Piano on the Andantino Themes from the Raymond Overture (by Ambroise Thomas 1811-1816)’ as I had just arranged to play a Memorial Recital for my late husband the Pianist and TrinityCollege of Music Professor Raymond Banning; it seemed as if fate had sent this score especially as it transpired that Stephen had no knowledge whatsoever of Raymond nor my connection to him.
As soon as I listened to the MP3 I absolutely loved Stephen’s composition and it was agreed that I would premiere it at the Memorial Concert for Raymond at the 1901 Arts Club on December 2nd 2015, the 3rd Anniversary of Raymond’s death.
The longer I live with this work the more I love it: the openingAndantino theme is deeply romantic with little indication of turbulence to come later. I love the drive and dark energy of the Variations and the dramatic ending. It is a work of extremes and a great piece to play. I will always feel strongly connected to it.
The composer, Stephen Potts, kindly took part in the Meet the Artist interview series:
Who or what inspired you to take up composing, and pursue a career in music?
My first hearing of the Tchaikovsky 1st piano concerto when I was 14 sparked my interest in classical music, this inspired me to study music seriously, and in particular to take up composition.
Who or what were the most significant influences on your musical life and career as a composer?
I feel I have been influenced most by the music of Beethoven and J. S. Bach more than any other composers. I admire the raw passion and strength inherent in Beethoven’s style and the contrapuntal and fugal writing inherent in Bach. On a more personal level, I was helped early in my music career by Layton Ring (former harpsichordist with the Northern Sinfonia) who helped stage my first large orchestral work (Romanza for Violin and Orchestra) and who successfully conducted a number of performances of this piece in the Newcastle Chamber Orchestra’s 1992 season.
What have been the greatest challenges/frustrations of your career so far?
The greatest challenge I usually have is in being satisfied with what I have written. I am by far my own most severe critic, this usually results in compositions taking an extremely long time to complete. Frustrations often include raising sufficient awareness of my music, which then leads to difficulties in finding performers to perform the music. I became so frustrated some 20 or so years ago at being unable to get much of my music performed and published that I gave up writing music completely; I instead concentrated on bringing up my young family and began a career in computing. In fact I have only just returned to composition some 3 or 4 years ago, and now that I am older and wiser, I don’t concern myself nearly as much about performances or publication. I am particularly less concerned with publication as there are so many other opportunities available today, especially with the avenues that have opened up thanks to digital media. It is also nice that publishing houses are not now monopolising (so much) what is delivered to an audience.
What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?
The pleasures of working on a commissioned piece include: dedicated performers; a guarantee of a performance(s); and payment. Although with payments currently being so seriously low for a commissioned piece (on average within the UK only £918, Source: Sound and Music Composer Commissioning Survey Report 2015), I feel commissions are a luxury I can ill afford! However, I am fortunate enough that I do not have to rely upon commissions, this also brings with it the advantage that I can write what I choose, whenever I choose.
What are the special challenges/pleasures of working with particular musicians, singers, ensembles and orchestras?
There is the opportunity to write to an individual musician’s strengths, and you are usually ensured of a very committed performance; also the opportunity to learn from individual performers and to receive their feedback during composition can be very valuable to a dedicated composer, particularly in my case, as I am not a performer myself. Therefore I find that not being a performer, I tend to have a very good relationship with musicians performing my music, they tend to trust me to write the music and I trust them to perform it.
Of which works are you most proud?
I am proud of all the work(s) I write, otherwise I wouldn’t class them as ready for release, (I have actually shelved many more works than I have released) this due to being such a stern critic of my own work. I am very proud of the Raymond Variations for Piano (Set: 1) which I have just recently completed, but also equally as proud of the piece I am currently working on, a mixed choir setting of Longfellow’s Christmas Bells, I am particularly proud of the melody I have written for this piece and I believe it captures the essence of the season in the manner of carols from the Victorian age.
How would you characterise your compositional language?
Tonal, with occasional elements of advanced 20th and 21st century harmonies where appropriate. Uppermost in my mind when I write music is that it needs to be passionate and that I need to reach out and engage with the audience. I do not write for academics, critics, or academic/critical praise; with me it’s always the listener first and foremost. I like it if an audience can walk out of a concert whistling or humming one of my melodies, to quote Webern, I will know I am accepted as a composer if I ever hear a Postman whistling one of my melodies!
How do you work?
In many different ways, but the composition process is always very difficult for me, I think long and hard before I ever begin a piece. I have to be fully committed to the idea, and it all stems from an initial melody, motif or text; I won’t begin a piece until these aspects are clear in my mind. Tools I use are a piano for initial improvisation, and (nowadays) Sibelius software to notate and produce the score. The piano improvisation part usually comes first, (although I do often create melodies in my mind away from the piano) then I move onto notating with Sibelius, But once I have devised a theme or motif I am content with, (and this always goes through many changes) I develop that idea thoroughly in my mind and this is where the true composition process takes place. For example, once I decided that I wanted to write some variations on the Raymond overture, my mind couldn’t rest, I developed and mentally wrote the introductory variation in my kitchen while doing some cooking. But even after I have finished a piece, I invariably make changes: days, weeks, months, and sometimes even years later. I also find that if I am unable to sleep at night, that working on a piece as I am lying in bed can be very productive, it enables me to gather my musical thoughts from that day. I especially find the peace and quiet a perfect setting for creating some new snippets of music, and for developing and discarding other music that I might currently be working on.
Who are your favourite musicians/composers?
Composers: J. S. Bach, Beethoven, and Janacek from the Baroque/Classical/Romantic periods, and Carl Vine the Australian composer, and Jennifer Higdon the American composer, from contemporary music.
Some favourite musicians include, pianists Andras Schiff, and Khatia Buniatishvili, and conductor Mark Elder.
What is your most memorable concert experience?
The premiere of my ‘Romanza for Violin and Orchestra’ in 1992 at the Newcastle Gulbenkian Theatre, this was the first time I had heard one of my full orchestral works publicly performed, it was received quite favourably, and I went home that night very pleased.
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
This is tricky…I think one thing I would personally raise to composers is: don’t feel pressured into writing atonal music (or ‘modern’ music) simply to try to impress academics, or to develop the cause of composition, or simply to write in an accepted contemporary style. This can be done in many other different ways (in my own personal opinion) which can incorporate tonal harmony and melodic motifs. Having written in both styles, I can personally state that I find it much more difficult to write in a tonal style, but ultimately it is more rewarding. However, this is not to say that I dislike contemporary art music written in the more ‘modern’ style, there are many pieces I could list that I really do like that are written in just this style.
Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?
Seated in a nice concert hall awaiting the premiere of my 9th symphony…So I’d better get started on those other 8!
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
That’s easy, spending time in and around Southwold, and on Southwold beach with my partner Emma, then later relaxing and watching the sun go down with a nice pint of beer to hand.
What is your most treasured possession?
My late father’s watch, it reminds me just how important time really is.
What do you enjoy doing most?
Studying and learning, I particularly enjoy studying and listening to new pieces of music.
Away from music, I love to spend time with my two year old grandson Harry.
What is your present state of mind?
Hopefully it’s enough to say that I am an optimist.
Stephen G. Potts was born and lives in the North East of England. He has recently returned to composition following an almost 20 year period of absence from music. He has studied: Traditional and 20th Century Harmony; Orchestration; Advanced Composition, and holds a Master’s degree in music. Works in progress (during 2016/17) include: a mixed choir setting of H. W. Longfellow’s Christmas Bells, and Set 2 of the Raymond Variations for Piano.
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