George Rochberg -Caprice Variations Conversations and Commentaries listen: Rochberg-Pachelbel Variations (Authorised Transcription by Peter Sheppard Skaerved) I Solisti di Zagreb (directed by PSS) (From conversations in Philadelphia, London, and Saarbrücken 2001-2002) In Banja Luka, I first ‘got’ ‘Caprice Variations’, or…
Schubert-The Strange case of the Quintet Pre-concert talk/lecture-given at York University, and Royal Academy of Music. Autumn 2009 Arnold Schoenberg to Bud Behrens, January 31st 1949, Lost Angeles “Generalisation produces too often the ridiculous./ Whether music should arouse…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Scattered thoughts on being a vagrant musician. or how I saw things in 2009, and still do… Aaron and I have just played George Rochberg’s entire violin and piano music in one go at the Arsenale as part of the…