Between 1902 and 1904, French film director Georges Melies made Le Voyage Dans La Lune, the world’s first science fiction film. In this CD + DVD project, composer/conductor Robert Ian Winstin has asked four different composers including himself, “Professor Louie Hurwitz, James Guymon and Don Myers to each write their own original soundtracks for this film. The result is four soundtracks that couldn’t be more different – and more effective.
With our recent North American Launch of Gabriel Prokofiev’s “Nonclassical” label we find ourselves fortunate enough to have two fantastic releases by the Elysian quartet. In sept we released Gabriel’s string quartet no. 1 and now on Oct. 27th we’ll release Gabriel’s 2nd string quartet also performed by the Elysians. I can’t rave enough about these recordings, it’s also given Elysha Miracle and I a chance to interview the quartet in anticipation of this second round of Nonclassical releases….
First off of course we’ve become familiar with the quartet through its work with Gabriel Prokofiev and Nonclassical, can you tell us how this relationship came about? Laura went to York University with Gabriel and they had a lot in common musically, both being interested in contemporary and electronic music. A few years later, when she had joined the quartet and we had started working with amplification and electronics, she rang him up and suggested a collaboration. He wrote his first ever string quartet for us, and it went so well that we commissioned him to write us another.
Of course on these Nonclassical releases of Gabriel’s string quartets your performances are also remixed, what’s the groups take on this part of the projects? We thought it was a great idea, especially as Gabriel’s music is so influenced by dance music in the first place, and when we heard the remixes we were all pleased with how they had turned out. They only use sounds from the original recordings, so the remix artists had to find ways of creating new music from original material without resorting to extra drums or beats.
Which remix is most fun to play? Which do you prefer listening-wise? The remixes are not written to be performed live – they were made by people using sounds from the recordings and have had many many effects and layers put on them. We have talked about trying to turn them back into live pieces, but the complications have so far put everybody off! Listening-wise it would be far too cheeky to single anyone out…
Can you give us a little history lesson on the quartet itself? Maybe tell us a bit about each member? The quartet got together at Trinity College of Music in 1999 and gradually morphed from a normal classical string quartet into what it is today, totally dedicated to contemporary, electronic and improvised music. A big turning point for us was playing George Crumb’s music, and then also meeting Gabriel. Each member of the group has a very diverse background in classical, jazz, pop, and improvised music and everyone plays regularly with other groups, and on other instruments. This seems to bring many styles of playing into the group and gives us a great advantage and certain lack of fear when we improvise. You have such a fun and energetic feel as a group. What makes you have such a unique approach to playing and ‘classical music’? Thanks! I think we might come across like this because we all consider ourselves ‘musicians’ rather than ‘classical musicians’ and we bring our different musical experiences to the group. For instance, two of us used to play in a samba band, and that not only teaches you a lot about rhythm and feel, but also a great deal about group vibes. Also each one of us knows what it’s like to play on stage in a pop/folk/rock context, which is usually so much more fun and relaxed than playing classical music. So I think subconsciously we probably bring a bit of that into our concerts.
Have you recorded projects for other labels? If so what were / are they? We recorded a great project with British composer Max de Wardener last year, with cover art by Stanley Donwood (Radiohead collaborator), for Stanley’s record label Six Inch Records. We have also contributed our improvising skills to some pop albums, and recorded our own EP of improvised music. We are also planning a few albums with other people next year – will let you know which label they come out on!
What music / art inspires the quartet as a group? Wow big question. I think our various inspirations would be so massive it would be crazy to list them all! But as far as music goes you could definitely throw in the Crumb, and Gabriel, then Dai Fujikura, Reich, Stravinsky, Hot Chip, Melanie Pappenheim, Can, Janacek, Keith Tippett, Adem, Simon Fisher Turner… Art is a bit less relevant to us as a group, but individually I think we are all pretty modern in tastes…
I see from your facebook updates that you guys play in Germany from time to time, where else do you perform regularly and what rep do you play generally? We have been to Belgium and France several times, and many other countries internationally, but mostly we perform in the UK. Our repertoire has become more and more fully improvised over the last two years, but we also play a lot of British and American contemporary music, most of which is either written for us or commissioned by us. Our concerts at the moment tend to be a mixture of very contemporary music and improvisation, sometimes both within the same piece.
Are the members involved in other music projects? What might those be? Emma and Vince together are remix artists Geese and are becoming quite successful with their string instrument based remixes. Jenny and Emma play in Mercury-nominated Basquiat Strings, which is a jazz based project, and Laura is successfully carving out her own solo career with her music for cello with voice. All four of us are involved with other performers too: James Yorkston, Nancy Wallace, Adrian Crowley, Gilad Atzmon to name a few.
Ok so WoW you’ve worked with Damo Suzuki! how did this come about? Your impressions of Damo? Was this material recorded? How is CAN important to the quartet? Damo is a pretty amazing guy, in that he makes his living going round the world improvising in a made up language every night. i’d like to make a living this way…seems like a nice life! He’s usually very friendly and interesting, occasionally grumpy when he hasn’t had enough sleep and has been flying around the world too much.. He is a total showman on stage with incredible charisma and a great voice. We’ve played with him twice now, and the first time was the best, at the Purcell Room on the South Bank, London. This was recorded, and Damo absolutely loved it, so it was then edited because it was VERY VERY long, and then…don’t think it got released or anything. Hopefully one day… As a group we obviously listened to a lot more CAN prior to and after working with Damo, and I think we all took a lot of inspiration from the spirit and energy in that band. Obviously when we improvised with Damo it was an entirely different thing. But CAN are great. You can always learn a lot from bands like that.I can’t quite remember how the collaboration came about.
Any future plans with Nonclassical? Plans on performing in the USA? Nonclassical’s pop imprint StopStart will hopefully be putting out Laura’s solo album next year, and we are also discussing our future projects with them, but nothing is concrete as yet. We would absolutely love to go back to the USA after our very successful first time out there this March for SXSW, perhaps with composer Graham Reynolds who we met in Austin, or with Meredith Monk who we are working with next year. If anyone wants to book us a tour we’ll be right there….
After hearing this monumental piece of organ music by Langgaard I simply had to find out more, what better place than to go directly to the artist who took the project on.
Flemming, Can you give us a little background on yourself and your playing? Coming from a home where there was an understanding and an interest in classical music, I showed an early interest in sound and timbre and in consequence was taught piano from the age of 5. This led later to studying at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music with a major in piano. Later I switched to a church music education with organ as my main instrument. This education was attractive in preparation for a continued, varied occupation in music, because of the many substitute job possibilities as an organist and the concert challenges provided by the church.
What music inspires you to do what you do? Already as a child when my preferred composer was J. S. Bach – for instance because of his music’s sustained motor dynamics – the ground was laid for what has become a lifestyle for me: playing organ.
Are there any composers that really blow your mind? If early on it was Bach who impressed me, then in my growing years the classical composers like Beethoven, Brahms and not least, Wagner were a considerable inspiration for my perception and way of approaching the matter of improvisation, which is an indispensable and rather essential discipline for professional church musicians.During a study period in Paris in the early 70s, I met the especially gifted improviser, Pierre Cochereau, at the Notre Dame cathedral, and that meeting became a turning point in my musical perception up to then, by leading to my listening to the cathedral organist’s exceptional, daring melodically, harmonically and rhythmically stimulating improvisations.
The fact that Messis is such an epic piece of music, can you describe for us the process behind learning and tackling Messis? In the sound Danish musical tradition of the 60s, there were only a few pioneers who had discovered Langgaard’s stylistically outdated and therefore rather unknown works, but finally there still remained the possibility of getting to know Langgaard, as through a radio-transmitted shorter version of Messis. This was my first encounter with Danish romantic music, that at the same time clearly deviated from the well known ”Golden Age” composers from the same period: the normally otherwise jovial, well balanced and clear forms of composition contrast here in Langgaard’s music with tension, unrest, unexpected lines of development to dramatic climaxes – to once again, in a symphonic tone picture, move towards new, fantastic states of being. A considerably richer emotional palette than among the other romantic composers for organ. Yes, Langgaard was a romantic deep down, but at the same time he was creative in forms of expression that had a clear modernistic and expressionistic appearance.
What does this piece mean to you? Messis is an expression of a continuous ”tale told in tones” and as such, makes no attempt to use artistic effects through prevalent classical idioms or traditional knowledge of technical disciplines.
What was your motivation for approaching it in the first place? For a youth with a tempestuous heart, this music is spontaneously attractive and I harmonized with it in those days, and since then have appropriated Langgaard’s universe as my own.
What is your understanding of Langgaard’s inspiration for the piece? Messis in its foundation is a search away from those chaotic times (there in the 30s) and towards an earlier epoch’s ideal of beauty, drawing a divine picture of reality.
What makes this composition important to Danish culture and to the history of Danish music in general? A characteristic throughout this composition is that ”defiance” with which the composer delivers his message. The basic romantic character is regularly marked by reactive, grotesque effects including use of modern and apparently absurd means such as unprepared dynamic jumps, illogical harmonic relations as well as changing measure. With Langgaard, that kind of musical ”collage” technique blends into a large formal whole and makes for a symphonic concept that no other Dane – not to say no other European composer – has strived for.
Many of us here in America are just now becoming familiar with Langgaard in a very substantial way; where do you see his works fitting in not only the history of Danish music but of classical music itself? The fact is Langgaard’s music is more actual than ever as a bitter commentary on what we contemporaries are witness to the world over; the global political discord, environmental accidents, natural catastrophes and more, but in spite of it all, also a resonance of beauty, understanding and the dream that sustains our present day. It’s true that Langgaard’s written reference is the Bible, but his whole outlook on life is more strongly influenced by the expression he encountered in his own times – and in my opinion, it would have most likely become strengthened if he had lived today.
What projects do you have planned for the future? Gazing into the future, I would like to promote large-format organ compositions like Langgaard’s Messis that, within the formal time-horizon parallel to masses and requiems, create possibilities of pushing emotionally deeper into the topic than is the case of shorter musical forms as, for example, the sonata form.
A similar, more recent example could be the French expressionistically inspired composer, Germain Desbonnet’s ” Symphony Christique” for organ with obligatto mixed final chorus. Poetry, drama and meditative music meet in one work that lifts the soul into a truly optimistic expression.
Today the Nonclassical label officially hits the streets (in shops and online) in North America. Here is the rest of the interview with Gabriel Prokofiev.
From Taylor Vick (Our E-Marketing Manager)
Do you get inspiration from music or from other art forms? Well inspiration can come from anywhere really. I might hear certain rhythmic approach, or an orchestral sound in a piece of music, and then start compose something inspired by that… but often that will only be a initial kernal in the beginning of a bigger piece. A more common inspiration for me is often hearing sounds for the environment around me: I might here a distant rhythm from a train, combined with the accelaration of a car, and then some garbage rattling in the wind, these ‘atmospheric’ sounds can often inspire a melodic or rhythmic idea. I often get intial inspiration for a piece when I’m cycling to my studio in the morning, the experience of motion seems to be quite effective in getting the creative juices going, along with all the stimulus of cycling through a busy city. Of course visual art can also be very inspiring, especially abstract painting, which can inspire the idea to create something that has similar shapes, rhythms and form; though I’ve yet to compose a piece directly inspired by one piece of art.
What does the score look like for turntables? For Fanta Bottles? For Turntables it’s as near a classical concerto score as possible. The DJ part is similar to a percussion part, with rhythms given and approximate hi/lo pitch indication, but with clear written comments giving the type of scratching technique to be used, and indicating with sample should be used by the DJ. There is a little bit of flexibility for the DJ to improvise the finer details of some of the rhythmic scratching, and so that the most important part of the score is to give the cue points. In the fourth movement, when the DJ plays pitched material the score is given at pitch, and is played just like a normal pitch-instrument part. And, in each movement there is a cadenza, where the DJ is free to improvise with the samples & develop new ideas. Fanta Bottles and the rest of IMPORT/EXPORT (the 32 minute piece it is part of) is done as normal percussion score, with clear descriptions of each technique used. A loop pedal is used to create denser textures & rhythms at some points in the piece, and the record & playback point are also clearly marked. For some of the gestures like rubbing two glass fanta bottles together, graphical notation is used to visual represent the movements of the bottle. Generally I try to use existing notation techniques, even though sometimes classical notation isn’t ideal; I find that real subtleties of rhythmcan be hard to notate with exact accuracy (with out looking ridiculously complicated), so it’s often best to use words as well to describe the ‘feel’ of how something should be played.
How do you like running your own record label and leading the charge for a re-energized classical scene? It’s exciting, but also distracting. A couple of years ago I realised that I was spending most of my days just writing emails and talking on the phone; fortunately I know have a few other people, including the brilliant Dave Halliwell helping me run the label. I think it’s so important for any music maker to have an outlet for their work, and Nonclassical provides that for me which is great, and ofcourse we release works by other composers and performers as well, so hopefully we can become a bigger and bigger force for new music. I’m not sure if we are completely ‘leading the charge for a re-energized classical scene’ as you say, but we’re are certainly doing what we can to get more contemporary classical music out into the ‘real world’. There are plenty of really good young composers and ensembles out there, and I just don’t understand why more people haven’t thought of putting on classical club nights and the like so that this good music can get more exposure (only in the last few years have more alternative classical nights really started appearing) . It’s our responsibility to be pro-active and make sure the music is heard… I don’t really understand how classical music has allowed itself to get stuck in such a straight jack of tradition -so that young composers barely have their work heard except for in college end of term concerts and occasional lunch-time concerts or small festivals; imagine telling a Rock band that their songs would only get performed once every 2 years, if at all! Anyway, all in all I’m very excited by our classical club nights, and feedback we get for each CD we release; so I am very happy with what we’re doing, but it’s still early days really.
Do you have plans to expand the nonclassical movement from The Macbeth in London to other cities? I would love to run our club in cities all over the world… but the problem is finding the time to set-up new club nights. We have previously done one-off Nonclassical nights in New York (at Le Poisson Rouge), in Austin (part of SxSW), at Rock Festivals in Oxfordshire, and Yorkshire, and at The SouthBank Centre, London. We are hoping to run more regular events in New York, and hopefully in Holland and Portugal as well. Ideally we will find ‘partners’ who can help run other events, and then we will curate the nights, and some of the Nonclassical regulars will go over and perform. We will be back in the USA in March 2010 for SxSW, and will certainly stop off in NY, but hopefully we can do something before christmas.
What is your favorite food? Like most people involved in music, I really enjoy my food. I eat almost every type of food, and love the variety that’s out there so it’s too hard to find a favourite. It’s like music, different food works for different moods & occassions. If I was to combine several favourite dishes into an imaginary ’symphony’ of cuisines it could consist of something like: I Dim Sum, II Fresh Sea Food platter (oysters and fresh crab), III Cochon de lait Roti IV French Cheese Plate (Chabichou, Pont-l’Evêque, etc..) V Marquis de Chocolat…. And then there are the wines….
What is your take on the physical vs digital delivery of your albums? The big problem with digital download is that many people just download single tracks, so that the experience of listening to a whole album by one artist is becoming less popular. And for classical music this is really tough, because many compositions are conceived as complete works of several movements that need to be listened together and that compliment each other. Also, some listeners might just check a 1 minute sample of a track before buying it digitally, and with classical music 1 minute rarely gives a balanced impression of what a piece of music will be like. Also there is the problem of sound quality; and though higher quality mp3s can be bought online, I don’t think everyone is aware of the reduced sound quality they will be getting with an mp3. CDs always give a much higher sound quality. However digital can be a quick way for people to dip-into and discover new music without commiting to buying a whole album, so that can be a positive way for listeners to broaden their musical horizons.
From Megan McClary (E-marketing and E Press Assistant)
Who are your favorite composers? phew… that’s always the hardest question… there’s plenty: Big fan of Russian music (surprise, surprise): old and new: Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, S Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Schnitke, Gubaidulina French: Ravel, Debussy, Bach of course, late Beethoven, Schubert. 20th century classics like Berio, Ligetti, some Stockhausen, Xenakis And of course young, living composers!: Tansy Davies, John Richards, Larry Goves, are 3 young UK composers doing great stuff at the moment. But I know I’ve missed out plenty…
What was your most recent music purchase? I was recently introduced to the music of irish composer Gerald Barry, so I bought a CD that contained ‘chevaux-de-frise’ – seriously heavy weight orchestral texture, no compromise. A CD that I need to buy is one that has Mossolov ‘Iron Foundry’; it was performed in the same program as my Conerto for Turntables by the RSNO in the Glasgow festival hall last year, and is a killer piece, the original version of techo circa 1928! – I believe NAXOS might have released a recordin of it….
What were the challenges of working with a DJ for your Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra? There were quite a few challenges (several of which you’ve identified). The immediate challenge was, can the Turntables really function as a musical instrument and play with an orchestra? also notation was of course an issue -not only how to notate? but will the DJ be able to read music? Firstly, what sounds should the DJ be using on his Turntables? Yes that was the first most important question. Immediately I was aware that having a DJ scratch a bunch of standard scratch samples and breaks over an Orchestra would probably sound a bit cheesy, and though I was keen to take on board influences from hip-hop, anything too literal in terms of sound material might sound cheap, so the obvious solution seemed that the DJ should scratch with sounds from the Orchestra he is playing with. So I chose various phrase that the orchestra were going to play and decided that we should record them & give them to the DJ. However DJ Yoda had explained that besides using ‘breaks’ (short, loopable musical phrases) there were certain classic scratch sounds that were particularly effective for more elaborate scratching, which are used by most DJs through out the world, like the ubiquitous “ahhhh” and “fresh” voice sounds (sampled from “Change Le Beat” by Fab Freddy Five) and even the simple test-tone sound. To fully represent the extent of what the Turntable can do we would need sounds like them. I realised that these sounds could come from the Orchestra too, but in a less conventional way. So that the loud yawn and then the ‘cough’ from the conductor at the beginning of the 3rd movement actually become useful scratch sounds for the DJ. Then in the 4th movement, a loud gasp/inhale from the flute player is used, and also a long flute note is looped into a test-tone like sound which the DJ then uses to play melodies.
Secondly, how does one compose a ‘concerto’ for an instrument that can actually play-back existing sounds and music!? A main approach I took to composing the DJ part, was that in each movement a few different ‘Scratching’ & DJing techniques would be performed by the DJ, and that created quite a good framework for the piece. Many of the classical DJ techniques, like ’scribbling’ for example have a very distinct sound which they bring to the original sound that is being scratched with, so that it wasn’t all about just playing-back existing sounds at all. A lot of the writing was done as if I was writing for a very expressive percussion instrument; so I was working rhythmically but also bearing in mind that I as using sounds and phrases that had already been played by the orchestra -sometimes it was almost like having 2 orchestras: one live, one on the turn-table, and of course that was fun. The opening of the 2nd movement plays with that; and the DJ play-back the opening opening string phrase, but then brutally stops it; then once the strings enter he plays it back slightl;y out of sync with the live strings creating an interesting jerking, skipping texture. The notation for the 4th movement was different, and I could write for a pitched instrument as the DJ was using the pitch-control to play exact melodies (though the tuning of the turntable was less than exact).
Thirdly, how to notate for the DJ? I notated the DJ part in a similar way to a percussion part, with rhythms given and approximate hi/lo pitch indication, but with clear written comments giving the type of scratching technique to be used, and indicating with sample should be used by the DJ. There is a little bit of flexibility for the DJ to improvise the finer details of some of the rhythmic scratching, and so that the most important part of the score is to give the cue points. In the fourth movement, when the DJ plays pitched material the score is given at pitch, and is played just like a normal pitch-instrument part. And, in each movement there is a cadenza, where the DJ is free to improvise with the samples & develop new ideas. There are a couple of specific DJ-notation methods that have been developed, but they would take quite some time to learn, and I wanted the score to be something most people could look at and understand quite quickly. I don’t think my notation was perfect but it communicates enough information; I prefer to be pragmatic in these situations, rather than try to get all clever and re-invent the wheel.
What have you found is the most common reaction of an audience listening to your music for the first time? hmmm, tough question, it does depend on the gig. But generally people seem to engage, and follow where the music is taking them.
With your cutting-edge, modern style, do you find that your music draws a predominantly younger, hip audience? I suppose there are aspects to my music to which younger audiences can immediately relate to, but in fact I’ve had stuff performed to older, more typically ‘classical’ audiences and it’s gone down really well; so hopefully a whole range of people can appreciate my music. But if I can appeal to audiences who might not usual consider listening to classical music that’s a very positive thing too.
What do you like to do in your free time (if you have any)? Ha ha… Sometimes my free-time does. But once I get away from work, I’m quite good at relaxing and distracting myself with other activities. I love to travel; and besides seeing a lot of Europe, I’ve enjoyed trips to the USA, and also spent quite a lot of time in Tanzania, East Africa where I did one years voluntary work when I was 19; I learnt Kiswahili and actually wrote my student dissertation on Tanzanian music; and I’ve also become a fan of African literature and history. I also love theatre and dance, and used to do a lot of acting when I was a teenager, even considered going to drama school!
Have you ever received any particularly negative feedback from the classical music world? So far so good… At least I’m not aware of any serious negative feedback. But I think that may be some people in the Classical world might have disregarded what we’re doing with Nonclassical Records as ‘cross-over’; because we have ‘remixes’ on most of our releases. I think that’s a real shame, because the remixes we have on our releases are a very interesting, daring, and provocative musical ‘experiment’, which are in no way a callous attempt to ‘cross-over’, and are an exploration of the boundaries of different genres… something that can be of interest to any curious about new directions in music.
Collin: Do you compose music? If so can you describe your style?
Ralph: In fact I never had a big urge to compose music, as there are so many great composers out there, who have more to tell than I do in that respect. I have often thought what I would write if I would be a composer, but I had to conclude that it would be mostly a kind of mixture of all my favorite composers and pieces – some Messiaen, some Ives, some Debussy…However, as an instrumentalist, it is quite likely that one has some more pronounced ideas for a composition than for any other instrument; there are in fact quite a few pianists who do have composed for their own instrument, now and in the past, such as Glenn Gould, Arthur Rubinstein and Horowitz. However, also in these cases, in my opinion, the music sounds, in the first place, remarkably similar to the works by the composers they play as part of their concert repertoire.
That said – I have composed myself a few things, and during my conservatory studies, one work was actually performed at a concert of the composition department, after which I was encouraged to study composition. It strikes me that of the works I did compose (all were for piano solo), that without exception, they were in minor keys, and heavily influenced by the early and middle Scriabin especially, with some hints of Debussy and Chopin. Also I wrote a piece in memory of the great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, but thinking back of it, and although the pieces themselves are not bad I think, they are too much of an imitation.
I do realize that all great composers have started by imitating their great examples, and I think that as an instrumentalist, it is very useful to try composing – just to understand the process and the problems of composing to a greater extent (and ultimately, to perform other composer’s works better). However, I think that in order to seriously compose, one needs hard and serious work, and especially a lot of creativity and urge to add something really original of oneself to the enormous existing canon of great compositions.
Collin: What parts of the US would you like to visit? Do you have any venues that you dream about playing in?
Ralph: As a part of my studies in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, I studied with Ursula Oppens at Northwestern (Chicago) for almost a year. It was a wonderful period to which I think back very often. I was invited to be a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center during two consecutive years at that time as well, and I would love to visit those places again, sniff the atmosphere (perhaps this is a Dutch expression) and see all my friends. During several holidays, I have been to California, Nevada, Arizona and New York, and also thsoe places grabbed me especially because of their natural beauty – the vastness of everything is unknown to us Dutchmen, and it would be something I would like to see and especially feel again. It seems to me that the works by someone as John Adams could only have been created in such environments; in a small, measured, rainy place such as The Netherlands, the mind simply seems not to have enough space to think of such a music style. But I have never been to Florida or Texas, for example, so there are still many places to discover.
Concerning my dream of a concert venue: of course there are many big halls in the US that any musician dreams of. I have attended a lot of concerts at Chicago’s Symphony Center during my studies, so this has a special place in my heart. But often, my mind has wandered to other thoughts. For example, wouldn’t it be great to perform Charles Ives’ legendary Concord Sonata at Walden Pond, in Henry David Thoreau’s cottage? The atmosphere, perhaps even the ‘vibes’ in such a place would certainly beat even the best concert hall in the world, even though the acoustics would probably not be the best ever. And when I let my thoughts go further, I could dream of playing Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux Étoiles (From the Canyons to the Stars), for piano and chamber orchestra, in the place where the composer found his inspiration: right inbetween the canyons of Bryce Canyon, at sunrise for example….A concert inbetween the half-constructed airplanes at Boeing Hall in Everett, Washington, is an even weirder phantasy, to which I would not say ‘no’…
Collin: What music do you buy? Do you have any current favorite recording right now?
Ralph: Sometimes I doubt whether I have a normal musical mind, as there are just so many types of music that I like. I have never understood why there is such a big ‘gap’ between what they call classical, contemporary, pop, world and jazz music. At the moment there is a CD of Coldplay in my car stereo – I must admit that I do not know pop music so well, but many contemporary composers mentioned it to me, and indeed it is good music. At the same time, I am again in a ‘minimal’ period. With me, my music interests go in recurring waves – few months ago I had one of those Scriabin periods, in which I listened to his music any time I was not practising myself. Now, there is Steve Reich in my CD-player in the living room. For some reason I always feel drawn to his music whenever I go travelling. My holidays are nearing quickly, and perhaps the pulse of his music sets my mind to the pulse of the many hours on the highway to come. Other music which is always close by is from Debussy and Keith Jarrett, to name a few. I have not so long ago discovered music by the German composer Hans Otte (1926-2007), who was a piano student of Walter Gieseking and a composition student of Paul Hindemith. He was absorbed by new music, but in his own music you always hear the sensuality of Gieseking’s hallmark: Debussy. In an original and haunting combination, you hear an almost perfect world of impressionism, minimalism, Eastern influences and even some hints of Romantic music.
I have long been a fan of Italian film music of the 60’s and 70’s. Rota was truely one of the most important and influential composers of his generation, the generation that would influence such greats as Ennio Morricone, Bruno Nicolai and many others. Rota of course (like many other film composers) had a “Classical Music” side to his work. I had a chance to chat with conductor Enrico Bronzi about his disc of Rota Concertos on the Concerto label.
Enrico, can you tell us a little bit about the Rota project? What inspired you to make this recording? Why these particular compositions? For a while now I have been looking for an opportunity to study the Concerto n. 2 for cello. So when the Musici di Parma asked me to join them in a project regarding Rota, naturally my reaction was to join them immediately. This recording brings together all aspects of my life as a musician: chamber music, work as a soloist and conducting.
Can you describe for us where Nino Rota fits in the Italian Music Landscape (historically speaking)? Rota’s music is like breathing Italian air. His vocation for melody originates in the lyric traditions of my hometown. Often his music is tinged with a typically Mediterranean mood. It can be playful: in it he frequently alludes to particular sounds, such as a band from southern Italy or the circus. However, he does know where the limits lie and it is done with a gentlemanliness, which keeps everything from becoming mere imitation. And this sense of ‘moderation in all things’ is part of the education of that refined aristocrat from the south, which is a part of the foundations of our culture.
What do you see as being Rota’s most important compositions outside of the film works? What makes these pieces important? Rota’s concert music is contiguous with his music for film. It is sophisticated music that has absorbed all of the lessons of European music. And yet it is not music that feigns solemnity or zeal. When Morricone writes ‘serious’ music, he does it disowning the poetry of his film music. Rota, on the other hand, just enlarges and reinforces the poetic structure of his pieces. We never get the impression that the joy exuding from his enormous melodic streak is running out.
What would you like this recording you’ve made to achieve both in Italy and abroad? I hope this recording will be considered a step toward rediscovering this great composer’s recorded music. Many have begun to re-evaluate all angles of his music and I believe the public will not have to work at all to appreciate him. I am thinking of some rather silly and useless criticisms leveled at Poulenc. In the end the coherence of these authors is worth more than an aesthetic credo or the poorly placed problems regarding the avant-garde. Let it be understood I am a big fan of a wide variety of very different composers, such as Zimmermann, Ligeti, Kurtag. Our age is a Tower of Babel of different and diverse languages. But if we know how to listen we will be able to understand the beauty that can be found in opposites.
While some people in America are familiar with Rota’s film music, by and large his “Classical Compositions” still remain somewhat obscure (when speaking in terms of the “Classical mainstream”), why do you think this is? For many years, in Europe, there was, basically, a kind of censorship regarding this composer who was so far removed from any of the beacons of the avant-garde in the last century. Given that 20th century American music is not so very different from Rota’s aesthetic cannons, I think that, in the United States, he could be warmly welcomed. For people who enjoy Copland or Bernstein, admiring Rota’s spontaneous and luminous music should come naturally.
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Between 1902 and 1904, French film director Georges Melies made Le Voyage Dans La Lune, the world’s first science fiction film. In this CD + DVD project, composer/conductor Robert Ian Winstin has asked four different composers including himself, “Professor Louie Hurwitz, James Guymon and Don Myers to each write their own original soundtracks for this film. The result is four soundtracks that couldn’t be more different – and more effective.
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