Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A violinist who mixes classical and jazz, known for his unconventional style and performing everywhere from concert halls to subway stations.
On the island
Eight records
Nocturne in D-flat, Op. 27 No. 2
One of my favourite pieces which I'll always remember is the Chopin Nocturne which we're going to hear played by Arthur Rubinstein who is uh just such a beautiful pianist because there's a such a timeless aspect to his playing. He's not in a hurry to finish or just aiming at getting things technically right. He's like communicating what he deeply believes in.
In BetweeniesFavourite
Being a musician who plays, you know, on live occasions, I'm very much into music which captures the mood of the time when it's being done and also has something new to give whenever it's performed live. Now I went to a lot of [Ian] Dury concerts when he was doing this particular number in betweenies from the album and enjoyed his live concerts more than any other concerts I was going to at the time and it's still a very strong memory for me.
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47: II. Adagio di molto
He's not worried about virtuosity for virtuosity's sake and uh he always states a phrase in the most simple, concise way possible. And uh he also has the most unparalleled understanding of the architecture of a piece. So he's got everything you want in music and none of the other unwanted elements. I've met him once or twice and within two minutes he's told me things which have been more valuable about my playing than you know times like I've spent five years with other teachers and learnt not half as much.
I've chosen this piece which I think shows him to be very much like Isaac Stern in varieties in his music making and phrasing and structure. He was one of the first people to do this and the orchestration on this piece is wonderful.
I think like Weather Report is more symbolic of the kind of music I like because they've taken you know elements out of all kinds of music and put them together in their own individual way and it's just a beautiful combination of uh all the good things in music.
Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45: II. Allegretto espressivo alla romanza
Music is meant to transport people from the world which they're having to put up with into something where time and you know the aggression and aggro which you have to put up with in normal life is like uh somewhere else altogether and you're in this new world and like [Kreisler] is the man on violin who really does this for me. … He's playing with this bloke called [Rachmaninoff] who's pretty okay I think.
[Jean-Luc Ponty] is like a great hero of mine … he showed like that a violin can be used more like a horn … he's a jazz player nothing like [Grappelli] at all … he's got his own identity it's to do with now and uh even though this record was made in the sixties it's a brilliant uh record and shows how much the violin has evolved.
I love soul music and I think that in the area of popular music is really where things are still happening … he was doing his records with live music in a more adventurous way than any you know high-tech production I've heard from over here and so I really love the music.
In conversation
Presenter asks
4:50What was it like going as a seven-year-old and having your life dedicated, you say, four or five hours a day practice from that point on? Did it make you unhappy?
Well, to tell you the truth, when I mentioned four or five hours I was talking about other people, not myself. I'd never get into that kind of scene at such a young age. I did a lot of listening, you know, and really enjoyed that, and that made me a much better musician, I think. And it's only um in the last ten years once I actually realized that I was going to be playing concerts and people wanted me to do them that I started working pretty hard to make sure that I was ready for them.
Presenter asks
5:22Did you get into trouble for your love of jazz at the [Yehudi Menuhin] school?
It definitely wasn't a kosher occupation when I was doing it at first. You know, I was being told all the time by my violin teacher I'd be pulled out of my exams if I carried on playing jazz in my practice time. But I think she was proven wrong on two counts because when I took the exam I got like 100% mark in it. And on the other hand [Yehudi] Menuhin turned up and said, you know, it's great he's playing jazz. It's good for him. It makes him get into music and realise it's a spontaneous occasion.
Presenter asks
The keepsakes
The book
Various
I think I'd like use the Bible and Shakespeare to try and make a raft out of and uh take wisdom and read it. Wisdom? Yeah, 'cause you can get into that and like it transports you in a different world just like reading all the any particular year of wisdom? I think I'd like take the latest because it's got all the stuff in, you know.
The luxury
I think I'd take my fiddle so I can play through the good repertoire. I wouldn't try and survive, I'd just play the violin, you know.
Was it an easy transition to make between living in London at [Yehudi] Menuhin School and then over to New York to study at the Juilliard School?
It was certainly a different kind of environment, you know, like a kind of pastoral existence, listening to music, to being involved in a place which was like a centre of so many kind of avenues of existence. You know, New York's a very vital place. You get like three times as much done in one day as you do anywhere else, and I found it like a really much more stimulating place, but a little bit overawing because of like the aggressive attitude which so many people have. Yeah, you know, people are just gonna go out and get what they want and that's it.
Presenter asks
10:01Did you try and teach them [at Juilliard] a game of cricket, for instance, over there?
Well, I tried to get them to play, but they just didn't know what it was all about. You know, they're not into cricket, they all like start sleeping or going somewhere else in the middle of my sentence. You know, when I started talking about a game, soccer they were more into, and I got all the players to go down to Central Park, or you know, all the fiddle players and piano players to go down there. And there was this one Viennese bloke who was like really shocking. He came along in this trap suit which he'd bought especially for the occasion, you know, spotless. And whenever the ball came towards him, he'd get out of the way because he didn't want to get dirty.
Presenter asks
21:52Do you get much reaction in the world of classical music to people who meet you for the first time? I mean, you're a very unconventional figure. Do people sort of throw their hands up in horror, or whatever?
Well, I find that the way I behave, like, gets rid of a lot of the kind of conformity and stereotype of behaviour which prevents musicians getting to know each other and I find that it doesn't do me any harm, you know, because like all of this calling people maestro very seriously and not talking about anything else but does this suit your desires, Maestro? I mean is the score perfect? I mean all of that stuff. You never get to know what on earth you're talking about, you know. I mean if you can just say that's great and can we go for this bit here and like do it in a certain way, then you can actually get some communication going on which is what music is all about.
Presenter asks
29:24Do you think you'd be any good at all on this desert island? I mean, would you enjoy it?
Not really. You know, I don't like being in the sun. I think like, you know, sitting around on a beach is like the worst kind of occupation for a human being, you know. I mean, what on earth do you want to do that for? You know, I'm not like uh ashamed of being white and I've been like that the whole of my life and uh turning red doesn't do me any good at all.
“I'd never get into that kind of scene at such a young age. I did a lot of listening, you know, and really enjoyed that, and that made me a much better musician, I think.”
“I went to a lot of [Ian] Dury concerts when he was doing this particular number … and enjoyed his live concerts more than any other concerts I was going to at the time and it's still a very strong memory for me.”
“I think many people might say that I still behave in a very immature way. So maybe I'm making up for it now.”
“Music is music and … the only way it should be categorised is alphabetically so you can go in and buy the Beatles or Boccherini or Bach or the Boomtown Rats in the same section of records.”
“I think I'd take my fiddle so I can play through all the good repertoire. I wouldn't try and survive, I'd just play the violin, you know. That's all I can do, man.”