Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A virtuoso keyboardist and conductor, known for his versatility across Bach to Gershwin, and currently organist-in-residence at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall.
On the island
Eight records
Piano Concerto in F: III. Allegro agitato
André Previn & London Symphony Orchestra
The first record is um is the Gertrude Piano Concerto in F major, and it's a piece which I heard when I was about seven years old. I remember hearing it on a rather crackly medium wave radio at home. And, you know, my first impressions of this music was something like You know, this is actually great music, and it is something that I want to discover.
Organ Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 20: III. Scherzo
Now we move to the organ and uh great American virtuoso Virgil Fox, who I remember hearing At school. Just the way he played. It was so different from anything I'd heard before. It was as if Virgil Fox was improvising this piece.
I heard this music. And of course I immediately rushed upstairs to know what on earth it was. And you can imagine it when I walked upstairs, everybody says, Oh, look, it's Wayne Marshall, he's come to he's come to the party, what's he doing here? And of course I sort of was in there just listening and transfixed and walked up to the record player and uh said, What was that piece of music?
Symphonie Concertante, Op. 81: I. Allegro con moto
Virgil Fox & Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra, conducted by Georges Prêtre
We're back to Virgil. It's a it's a work that's not that well known, but in a way it ought to be much better known because works for organ and orchestra are few and far between. But this is a piece by the Belgian composer Josef Jongen. It's the the Samphoni concertanti, and I still think that this is probably the finest piece of music. for organ and orchestra.
The Planets, Op. 32: VI. Uranus, the Magician
André Previn & London Symphony Orchestra
But when I was when I was at Chatham School of Music, I was drafted into the school orchestra and I'd never played Timpany before, so it was quite a an interesting aspect here. Timpany was something new, and one of the most memorable concerts was a performance of the Planet Suite by Holst in the Free Trade Hall.
This is um again when I really was back at school. I remember the discovery of course of Steven Wonder, which then led to the discovery of all this kind of stuff, you know, of all the seventies disco hits and things. And I became very fascinated with Earth, Wind and Fire, and uh this is their classic track, September.
Turangalîla-Symphonie: VI. Jardin du sommeil d'amour
Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa
Mr. Messian, well, this is a discovery again when I was at Chatham's, and there was a Friday night when about four of us we. Sat up late, it's a beautiful night, and a friend of mine then put on this recording. of Messian's Truangelilla symphony, and I had never heard it before. But we made a point of lying on our backs on the floor. And we put this piece on very, very loudly. And I must say it was one of the most amazing experiences, hearing this music in total darkness.
The night that that I met uh Anne was significant because she asked me to play something from the sound of music, and this is the piece that she asked me to play. But I'm not going to play the the version from the soundtrack. I'm going to play you a version by Harry Connick, Junior, and this is his version of The Lonely Goatherd.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:46How did you first discover your musical ability?
It seemed to happen that way. I mean, it was you know, I was very young, I was three. My mother was having piano lessons. I was fascinated by what she was doing and would always interrupt her practice sessions and would always somehow tell her that she was playing wrong notes, because I'd remembered. … I could hear it. … I didn't start having piano lessons until I was seven, and that was hard because I imagined my piano lessons would be exactly like how I could play.
Presenter asks
12:00What do you remember about playing the organ for the first time when you were nine?
Well, it was a an amazing experience to me. I mean, of course I was always attending church with my parents every Sunday, and hearing this instrument. But I mean, to be in the church with the school And then I remember the moment when my music teacher said, Look, please go and give me a chord on the organ, and I sort of trotted up to the organ. and uh didn't know what to do with this instrument, and just pulled one of these knobs, as I used to call them, and played this chord. And then sat down on the bench, and then I thought, my goodness, this is a fascinating instrument, and saw immediately that the pedal board beneath me was a large keyboard.
Presenter asks
19:04Did you mind missing out on normal student life while being an organ scholar?
The keepsakes
The book
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians
George Grove
It would have to be the complete grove. Because that then has everything that one would possibly want to know about every aspect of music.
The luxury
Steinway Model D piano (tropicalized)
My luxury would be a Steinway Model D piano, which would be tropicalized to make it withstand the climactic uh improprieties of a desert island.
Well, I was never really a normal student in that in that respect. Never have been. I was never really interested in that aspect of being a normal student.
Presenter asks
22:29How do you convey the sound you want to the orchestra when conducting?
Well, I mean if we're talking about conducting music of of Gershwin or jazz, I mean there's obviously you know the certain way that I want it to be and I sing a lot to the orchestra, I play a lot to the orchestra. … Yeah, you gotta sing how you want it to sound. But conducting technique, I mean is is hard. I mean there's no question about it. I was very fortunate to work as assistant music director for Carmen Jones … I worked then with Henry Lewis. He taught me in about fifteen minutes a lot about the technique of conducting that I will be eternally grateful for. Because the one thing that that um is very important about conducting, of course, is everything needs a preparation.
Presenter asks
27:06Have you ever had a crisis with an organ during a live performance?
Well, there was one actually, one very famous incident, which took place in Dublin a few years ago. I came out on stage to start the first piece. I pressed one of the generals which control the all the various sounds which you have to pre programme. And nothing happened. Absolutely blank. Press the next one and so on. Nothing. … all my accommodations for the entire concert had been wiped. … the battery, which which then supplies the power for the computer, had failed. … So I had then had to sit and set there as much as I could for memory. In twenty-five minutes whilst the audience sat there, it was very embarrassing as you can well imagine.
“I just knew when I heard Gershon's music at a very young age, that I just knew that this was music that I was going to be performing a lot of.”
“I think that the music needs to be shared with people. And I think that in a concert hall situation you always get this feeling of the performer and the audience, and there's nothing in between. So I think it's important to talk about the pieces.”
“There's nothing academic about music at all. I mean, in for me. It's all about the oral perception of it.”