Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
One of the most successful contemporary classical composers; 90th birthday in 2018 was celebrated with a Prom and Queen's Medal for Music.
On the island
Eight records
Nicholas Daniel, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Nicholas Kramer
Nick arrived on stage in a bright red dinner jacket. He was the sun god.
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550: I. Molto allegro
Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis
It brings back wonderful memories of learning music through your body, not playing it, but dancing it.
Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93: IV. Allegro vivace
Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis
There's this sudden loud C sharp which doesn't really belong in F major… Tovey explains that it is only explained later in the movement. I thought this was incredible—it's what he called long-term harmonic planning.
Octavia's Lament from The Coronation of Poppea
Cathy Berberian, Concentus Musicus Vienna, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Seeing this opera made me realize what an absolutely superb opera composer he is, and how apt and well handled the libretto was, and it made me think about the relationship with librettist and composer.
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
I think at the first performance there was a sort of outcry of rage from the audience and they left. So this piece began as a scandal. Hard not to love the drama.
Mary's Lullaby from Mary, Queen of ScotsFavourite
Ashley Putnam, Gloria Capone, Virginia Opera Orchestra, Peter Mark
I was commissioned by the Scottish Opera, and I decided that I was going to write about Mary, Queen of Scots. I remember when I was writing the libretto, I said, Mary, don't marry Bothwell, can't you see? That was a really stupid idea.
Elegy for Viola and Orchestra (from Lady Caroline Lamb)
Peter Mark, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Marcus Dodds
When we got married, he decided to give us a wedding present. And the wedding present was when he wrote his next film score for Lady Caroline Lamb for viola solo and orchestra.
Prologue from Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Op. 31
I met him by chance and he suddenly said to me, You know, I'm not going to play what Ben said. I'm going to use the valves. Because the critics keep saying I'm playing out of tune.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:05How much does the reality of performed music differ from what you've written on a page as a composer?
Well, if it's different, you want to know why. And sometimes it's your fault because you've written things that are just not possible, and sometimes it's their fault. So if it's really important, you talk to the performers and sort it out.
Presenter asks
10:14Thea Musgrave, you were born in Edinburgh in 1928. What do you remember about your early childhood years?
As a kid I ran wild. We lived just outside Edinburgh. I think probably it's inside Edinburgh now, but in those days it was a little bit outside Edinburgh, so I ran pretty wild. But then I had to be tamed to go to school. But then came the war… I remember the day of Dunkirk… the whole of the coast from Norway all the way down to Spain was in Nazi hands and I felt so alone… I was still having nightmares about that when I married my husband many years later.
Presenter asks
15:02After school you went back to Edinburgh to study medicine at university, but it didn't take. Why not?
Well, with the arrogance of a young person, I decided music was always going to be part of my life, but as an amateur, but I was going to discover the cures for everything… I had found that I hadn't done the right subjects to get right into medical school. I went into pre-med and I found myself doing sort of chemical experiments and cutting up frogs, and I didn't see how this was going to realise my dream… So guess what, when I got very bored with cutting up frogs, I would find myself going into the music school to see what was happening, and I was much more intrigued with that than the frogs. And so I made the inevitable decision. I thought you live once, you go where your passion lies.
The keepsakes
The book
There was a wonderful book recently called Anthology of World Poetry... It was first printed in America in 1925, and I think it was one of the first books of poetry which showed poems of all centuries worldwide.
The luxury
I wanted actually to take my iPad along with a solar charger. But I heard that's not allowed. ... So what you must give me are two packs of cards. because there are some very good games of patience to play.
Presenter asks
16:16What was the first Edinburgh Festival like? What do you remember?
Well, there was no fringe to begin with. But imagine this is just two years after the end of the war. We were still rationed… But the first Edinburgh Festival… on every holder where the lines of the electric lines were held, there was a huge bouquet of flowers all the way along the main street of Edinburgh… It was wonderful. That was just a glimmer of how it could be in peacetime.
Presenter asks
19:18You won a scholarship to study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. What kind of teacher was she?
She was absolutely amazing. She could look at a score and know immediately what it sounded like and how to advise you… I'll tell you one story… I put the music up on the stand and she looked right away at this what I just put in late. She said, 'Kes kse k sa what's that?' … She then took off her ring and said, 'Look at this… Do you see it's also beautiful underneath.' In other words, you make things as perfect as you possibly can, so you don't put in a a note like that for the bassoon because you're late.
Presenter asks
23:30When you moved to London in the mid 50s, did you have that sense of post-war optimism and desire to experiment as a musician working in the city?
Absolutely. Yes. You one had a chance. I think there's always there, but I think it's much, much more difficult nowadays than it was then, partly because it was still very close to the war. People all remembered that, and here was a new beginning and a new era.
“What I had just begun to conduct, and here I was in my dream conducting an orchestra. And all of a sudden one of the players stood up and started playing something quite different.”
“I thought you live once, you go where your passion lies.”
“You make things as perfect as you possibly can, so you don't put in a a note like that for the bassoon because you're late.”
“My imagination can go all sorts of places my ears won't follow.”