»Writing«

Mendelssohn, Goethe, Andersen.

December 4, 2009

Bach, Goethe and Hans Christian Andersen  Transcription of  a pre concert talk given at Wilton’s Music Hall. December 2008 Most musicians discover the Mendelssohn Octet when we are, or rather, were, around about the same age that he wrote it. Not surprisingly, it seems the most natural thing in the world, a piece of music [...]

Bursting open the salon doors

December 4, 2009

  Bursting open the Salon Doors Talk given at Wilton’s Music Hall-30th November 2008   The one unifying feature of most late 18th century chamber music is that we know next to nothing about the circumstances of its performance. Of course, there is a simple reason for this. Until the third decade of the 19th [...]

Gloria Coates in Billerbeck 2002

December 3, 2009

Gloria and I flew to Munster together on the concert morning, meeting the rest of the quartet who had taken an unconscionably early flight from Stansted that morning. The Lufthansa plane was too small for me, and 20 minutes before landing we ran into the worst turbulence that I have ever experienced , which pitched [...]

Dimensions of the Clouds

December 2, 2009

  Dimensions of the Clouds  In March 1991, I visited Istanbul for the first time. There were two concerts on the agenda; one a performance of ‘Dimensions’ with the Istanbul State Orhestra, the other a recital with Aaron Shorr, which would include S?d?ka’s new work for piano and violin. It was a very interesting time [...]

Interview with University of York Music Press 2008

November 30, 2009

Interview on Collaboration University or York Music Press 2008   The Kreutzer Quartet have commissioned countless (how many?) new works over the years they have been together – what is the motive for commissioning new works when the string quartet repertoire is already so rich?   I think that it is worth beginning by saying [...]

Writing – the start

November 27, 2009

To my suprise-New Scientist Magazine (15th September Issues) has published a letter that I wrote. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727780.300-acoustic-intent.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=letters Scattered thoughts on being a vagrant musician

Scattered thoughts on being a vagrant musician

November 8, 2009

Scattered thoughts on being a vagrant musician. Aaron and I have just played George Rochberg’s entire violin and piano music in one go at the Arsenale as part of the Venice Biennale. I am absolutely shattered, my hands aching, my brain empty, and the inevitable downer that follows a big concert. There was certainly something [...]