Principal player focus: Jonathan Morton

The start of the Music Programme 2012/13 sees a new Principal player join the London Sinfonietta.   Jonathan Morton, who is also currently Artistic Director and Leader of the Scottish Ensemble, will be taking up the position of Principal player violin 1.  Jonathan has performed with us for many years and we’re delighted to welcome him to the ensemble. We asked him a few questions to get the inside track…

Violinist Jonathan Morton

Tell us a little about yourself.  What projects have you been involved with recently?\

I recently performed at Orchestra in a Field, an outdoor festival in Glastonbury. I played in the Scrapheap Orchestra, on a violin mostly made with plastic waste pipe, nails, and a fork.  I’ve also been having fun performing Schubert’s Trout Quintet and a new quintet by Alasdair Spratt with the wonderful pianist Alasdair Beatson & the Scottish Ensemble.

What was the first recording you bought?

 Probably some cheesy Belgian pop (I grew up near Brussels).

When did you realise you wanted a career in music?

Very late actually. I’m not very good with career strategies.

Although you’ve just become a London Sinfonietta Principal player you’ve performed with us many times before.  Do you have favourite London Sinfonietta experience to date?

So many to choose from… I’d have to pick one of my first experiences with tthe London Sinfonietta, which was a recording of Oliver Knussen’s two operas Where the Wild Things Are & Higglety Pigglety Pop!. I had recently left music college, and to find myself at Abbey Road studios playing this extraordinary music under the composer’s baton was overwhelming. And I’ll never forget a performance of Louis Andriessen’s medieval metal masterpiece De Snelheid at Lincoln Centre in NYC.  (Co-incidentally, Jonathan’s first performance as Principal violin 1 will be in our upcoming BBC Proms performance, when we’ll be re-visiting De Snelheid).

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve been asked to do in a musical work?

Playing the mandolin in Hans Werner Henze’s  ‘Voices’.

What piece of music brings a smile to your face when you see it on your music stand?

Anything by Mozart.

Who or what inspires you?

The landscapes, sea and skies of Suffolk, where I have recently moved to.

And finally, name your 3 most listened to pieces of music at the moment…

I listen to music mainly in the car, where our two children have complete artistic control over what’s played. The three most requested tracks are Stick Stock by Emily Portman, Short Ride in a Fast Machine by John Adams and In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.  My latest album purchase is Ground of its own by Sam Lee. You should definitely listen to it.

Jonathan’s next performance with the London Sinfonietta will be on Tuesday 14 August at the Royal Albert Hall when we’ll be performing with the London Sinfonietta as part of the BBC Proms. Click here to find out more.

Combining Dance and Music

At the start of April, the London Sinfonietta Academy joined forces with Rambert Dance Company’s Participation and Learning team for a weekend in which London Sinfonietta Academy Alumni collaborated with young dancers to explore new ways of working and creating new work.  London Sinfonietta Academy Alumni flautist Chloe Vincent and dancer Lewis Wheeler blog about the weekend…

Lewis Wheeler writes:

During this weekend of workshops, which was led by Deborah Galloway (Dance Animateur) and Mark Bowden (Rambert Company’s Music Fellow), we wanted to experiment with what would happen when various groupings of dancers and musicians worked and improvised together.

Early in the weekend we worked in small groups of 2 or 3 and I found this most productive as our roles were obviously clearly defined and the short solo I created around ritual with Alice, a flautist, was selected for the end of workshop ‘sharing’.

We spent most of our devising time working on different ways to improvise with each other. We started with the music leading and me following the music, sometimes dancing with it and sometimes contrary to it, then we tried the same process but with Alice following my movement. It felt great when I would move my body and suddenly the sound would be echoing my movements. We decided that we wanted to create more of a conversation between the sound and the dance so we would incorporate elements of the music and the dance leading.  We would trust our instincts through the improvisation rather than set up a precise structure to follow. I think this worked well because it stopped any predictable patterns becoming evident to the audience, and it also meant that we could inject vigour and energy into each other’s work when we felt like the piece needed boosting. Other experiments included working in groups with more dancers than musicians, more musicians than dancers and even numbers of each.

I had a great time doing this workshop and have kept in touch with some of the people involved and hopefully will be working with them on creative projects in the future so attending the workshop was extremely worthwhile!

Lewis Wheeler, Dancer
(You can follow Lewis on Twitter @lewiswheeler)

 

Chloe Vincent writes:

London Sinfonietta Academy 2011

During April, I spent 2 days working with dancers and other musicians at Rambert Dance Company in Chiswick. This intensive weekend, a joint venture by London Sinfonietta and Rambert, was focused on collaboration and involved dancers and musicians composing and choreographing pieces under the leadership of composer Mark Bowden and choreographer Deborah Galloway.

Most of the musicians were more used to performing notated music and not all of the dancers were used to choreographing, especially creating larger works with lots of dancers. This allowed us to experiment with different ideas and composition methods as none of us had worked on a project like this before! It was amazing to have an insight into how another art form works and how their creative process differs from my own as a classical musician.

My favourite aspect of the weekend was creating a duo piece with a dancer where we improvised to develop material

with Debussy’s L’apres midi d’aune faune as our stimulus. As a flute player it was refreshing to look at the piece as a complete work as I often have to prepare the flute solo as an excerpt for auditions.

I came away from the weekend feeling inspired to learn more about dance and to try and include more collaborative work in my music making.

Chloe Vincent, London Sinfonietta Academy Flautist 2011
(You can follow Chloe on Twitter @Chloeflute)

 

 

Principal Player Focus: Michael Thompson

 This month, we catch up with our Principal horn, Michael Thompson, who’ll be featured as soloist in our concert on Saturday 12 May when he’ll be performing Ligeti’s Hamburg Concerto.

What has been your favourite London Sinfonietta experience?

Can I pick two? Performing Hans Werner Henze’s Voices at La Scala, Milan is particularly memorable.  I was still a student and as such it was one of my early London Sinfonietta experiences.  The work is scored for 15 instrumentalists, plus tenor and mezzosoprano, and all of the players are required to play additional instruments, and sometimes sing – so I can claim to have sung in La Scala!

I’d also pick out performing Messaien’s Des canyons aux étoiles (From the Canyons to the Stars) which is famous amongst horn players for the sixth movement scored for solo horn, but the whole piece is an incredible journey.

 What is the most unusual thing you’ve been asked to do in a musical work?

 I was asked to burst balloons once during a BBC Proms performance!

Michael Thompson, London Sinfonietta Principal horn

What, or whom, inspires you most?

By now, I’ve reached the point in my career where I am inspired by my students.

 Soon you’ll be revisiting Ligeti’s Hamburg Concerto, which you gave the UK premiere of with the London Sinfonietta in 2001.  Can you tell us a little about the work?

It’s a challenging work (which I’ve enjoyed revisiting a number of times since the UK premiere), with the soloist being required to play both natural and valved horns.  The ensemble itself contains 4 horn natural horns, each in a different key, which results in the most extraordinary harmonies which include quartertones.

I think Ligeti was a composer who really understood the capabilites of the horn- his writing is challenging, but very idiomatic.

 And finally, what upcoming London Sinfonietta performance are you most looking forward to?

 In Portrait: George Benjamin on Saturday 12 May, including the Hamburg Concerto, of course!

 

Poetry and music does not mix easily… that is perhaps what is attractive about the union…

The London Sinfonietta’s Blue Touch Paper programme nurtures and promotes the next generation of composers and interdisciplinary collaborators by providing the context and space to develop new work. On Wednesday 16 May collaborative works currently being developed by 3 groups of composers and artists on the programme will be showcased in a works-in-progress preview event at Village Underground, Shoreditch.

Composer Philip Venables and poet Steven J Fowler’s work The Revenge of Miguel Cotto, explores the violence, sanctioned by society, that is boxing.  Steven writes…

Tragedy is a subject best approached indirectly, certainly one runs immense risks in writing tragic poetry in 2012. We opened ourselves up to that contingency when we decided to take on the narrative that we did. When first Philip and I agreed, at my gentle urging, to formulate a piece about the boxer Miguel Cotto, he had yet to rematch the man who beaten him into a state of near death using (discovered posthumously) hand bandages loaded with plaster of paris. It is boxing’s own particular brand of madness that such a rematch with this man, Antonio Margarito, was allowed to happen at all. All to our advantage. The point being our work together was born of possibility, of chance, of contingency and we welcomed that into our process and our collaboration. Poetry and music does not mix easily, nor gently, and that is perhaps what is attractive about the union. And beyond that, when first scores were being drawn, staging arranged, poetry mooted we did not even know whether the piece would be a story of tragedy or of revenge.

As Philip has trusted me into the world of boxing (and poetry) so I have trusted him to shape the narrative beyond the narrative, and therein lies the key to our work being successful, that it might utilise notions apparent in the subject to embody something original, and powerful, perhaps even aggressively so. And as I have suggested, it has always been my experience that music doesn’t synthesis easily with poetry – it requires innovation, intention and a fair measure of sacrifice. So I believe our piece, as it nears its beginning (which can feel like an end, strangely, for the preview show) has become defined by its rough edges and at its core, will retain something of the volatility of both our subject and our method. I have been asked already if our piece might allow those who don’t appreciate boxing to enter into my perception, and thus appreciation of the sport … I can only say I feel it’s not for me to say, nor has it become a concern of ours. Boxing is a repository for a palpable sense of being, of alive-ness, whether it is enjoyed or not. And I would venture the same goes for good music and good poetry. If our piece comes close to achieving the same sensation, we will be exceedingly happy.

Steven J Fowler, poet, The Revenge of Miguel Cotto 

Principal Player Focus: John Constable

John Constable, the London Sinfonietta’s Principal pianist and YouTube clip enthusiast is March’s featured Principal player.

When did you realise you wanted a career in music?

John Constable, London Sinfonietta Principal pianist

At school.  All I ever wanted to do was to play the piano and listen to music.

 What was the first recording you bought?

I don’t remember the first recording I bought myself but I well remember two that I was given by my parents; Artur Schnabel playing Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto and Victoria de los Angeles singing The Maiden and the Nightingale by Granados.

 What piece of new music changed you?

The Whale by John Tavener, the first piece I played with the London Sinfonietta which started me on this fantastic journey with my marvellous colleagues.

 What piece of music brings a smile to your face when you see it on your music stand?

Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro.

 What has been your favourite London Sinfonietta experience?

There have been so many marvellous experiences that it is impossible to pick just one! I suppose it has to be a tie between our first ever tour of Europe with Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio and David Atherton and our performances of the Quartet for the End of Time in the Italian Chapel on Orkney in a building built by Italian prisoners of war and so close to Scapa Flow.

 What is perfection?

Something which every performer aspires to but knows they well never reach.  There is always something more one could have done with the music.

 What is your most valued posession?

Something which is not a posession at all. My family.

 And finally, which London Sinfonietta concert are you most looking forward to in 2012?

It has to be In Portrait: Harrison Birtwistle on 24 May.  Harrison Birtwistle has been such a central part of our concert giving from very early days and the concert will be conducted by David Atherton, our founder!

John’s next performance with the London Sinfonietta will be on Friday 23 March in Glasgow where we’ll be perfoming a double-bill as part of the Minimal Extreme Festival.  Click here for more details.

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Principal Player Focus: Joan Atherton

Joan Atherton, London Sinfonietta Principal second violin

In our second Principal Player Focus, the London Sinfonietta’s Principal second violinist Joan Atherton tells us about touring to the Arctic Circle, her most valued possession and which London Sinfonietta concert she’s most looking forward to in 2012…

What was the first recording you bought?

When I was ten I received a record token for Christmas.  I chose Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite (attracted by the pretty cover) and would spend many hours dancing to the music.

What has been your favourite London Sinfonietta experience?

It’s difficult to pick one just one because there have been numerous good ones. I particularly enjoyed a ten day tour of Norway in January 1994, when we went to many places including the Arctic Circle.  Everywhere we played the local people were so hospitable and the landscape at that time of year was breathtaking; the sky exhibiting different shades of blue and turquoise.  I enjoyed the tour so much that I chose to go back the following year with my two daughters on our annual skiing holiday.

When did you realise you wanted a career in music?

I was about twelve, but at that stage I wasn’t sure in which direction I would go.  I loved singing, playing the piano accompanying my friends and adored orchestral playing and chamber music.

Who or what inspires you?

My late father, who taught me the piano, was a great mentor.  Today, I’m inspired by my wonderful colleagues.

Who would play you in a film of your life?

Meryl Streep

What is your most valued possession?

My Italian violin (Mantegatia) made in Milan in 1764.  I once accidentally left it in a restaurant in Basel and was distraught when I realised.  Fortunately, when we returned, the violin was where I’d left it.

And finally, which London Sinfonietta concert are you most looking forward to in 2012?

I’m looking forward to In Portrait: Harrison Birtwistle on Thursday 24 May at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, when we’ll perform Cortege.  We have challenging solos to play and the piece, which was written for us, has become like an old friend.  It’s also an opportunity for me to catch up with my brother David who will be conducting the rest of the concert.

Joan Atherton’s next performance with the London Sinfonietta will be in Wolfgang Rihm at 60, on Tuesday 24 January.

Principal Player Focus: Mark van de Wiel

London Sinfonietta Principal clarinettist, Mark van de Wiel

Over the coming months we’ll be profiling a selection of the London Sinfonietta Principal players, giving you the chance to learn a little more about the people you watch on stage at our concerts.  This month, Principal clarinettist Mark van de Wiel tells us about his favourite London Sinfonietta experience, what piece of music makes him smile, and what inspires him…

What was the first recording you bought?

I can’t remember that, but I can remember the first recordings I listened to as a child on LP’s belonging to my father, of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, and Mahler’s First Symphony.

What has been your favourite London Sinfonietta experience?

Our week in Sydney during January 2003 when we started out with lunch for the whole group at Doyle’s fish restaurant on Watsons Bay and played a wide range of repertoire in the Sydney Opera House over three concerts, was very special.  However, playing Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time in the Italian Chapel on Orkney a few years ago was probably the most special of all. We played this very emotional piece twice, at 10 pm and then 11.15 pm, I think, emerging after midnight- and it was still daylight.  An amazing experience!

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve been asked to do in a musical work?

To sing down the clarinet while its bell rested on top of a timpani, adjusting the angle of the bell and making fast pedal changes to the drum with my right foot, all at the same time, in Vinko Globokar’s Dedoublement.

What piece of music brings a smile to your face when you see it on your music stand?

Ligeti’s Piano Concerto. It’s very difficult, but great fun and exhilarating to play- and I know that my trying to negotiate the ocarina solo (which the clarinettist is required to play) will always amuse my colleagues….

Who or what inspires you?

My colleagues and my students.

What piece of new music changed you?

Ablauf, by Magnus Lindberg, for clarinet and two bass drums. It was the first piece I performed with extensive use of such techniques as multiphonics, quarter tones, and simultaneous singing and playing, and encouraged me to make this type of music a major part of my career.

Who would play you in a film of your life?

It would have to be myself. Nobody else would accept the part.

And finally, which London Sinfonietta concert are you most looking forward to in 2012?

In Portrait: Harrison Birtwistle, on 24 May, which contains so much great music, including Cortege, which was written for us, and the marvellous Five Distances for Five instruments, for wind quintet.

Mark van de Wiel’s next performance with the London Sinfonietta will be in Wolfgang Rihm at 60, on Tuesday 24 January.

London Sinfonietta on Tour: Reflections by John Constable

During November we visited both the Wien Modern Festival in Vienna, and the Melos-Ethos Festioval in Bratislava.   London Sinfonietta Principal pianist John Constable kept a diary, and shared some of his reflections with us…

Sunday 30 October, Vienna

The Mozart Saal, Konzerthaus, Vienna

I had been looking forward to revisiting Vienna and going to Bratislava for a long time.  It is always a very special occasion to play in Vienna, partly because you are treading the same streets trodden by the world’s greatest composers and also because of the many marvellous experiences I have had there.  I first went to Vienna in 1969 at three hours notice to assist Sir Georg Solti in a Decca recording of The Magic Flute.  In the cast were two of my singer friends from Covent Garden, Yvonne Minton and Stuart Burrows who I later accompanied in the Brahms Saal of the Musikverein many times. The Musikverein has one of the most important collections of original scores in the world and on several occasions I was allowed to see manuscripts of Mozart piano concertos, the Eroica Symphony, Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, Brahms’ Four Serious Songs and on one occasion a Beethoven song that I had performed the night before.

But enough of the past!  We arrived at our hotel, which was near the Belvedere Garden which Mahler walked round at lunchtime,  in good time to have dinner at an atmospheric beer house set in the Belvedere itself.  After dinner my colleagues went back to the hotel but I had plenty of energy left to walk round the floodlit centre, past the opera to the Hofburg and round the Musikverein.

Monday 1 November, Vienna

It was a ten minute walk to the Konzerthaus in warm sun for our 11 o’clock rehearsal.  I remembered as I walked in that it was here that the London Sinfonietta gave it’s first concert outside the UK with Luciano Berio, followed by concerts around Europe with Pierre Boulez and David Atherton. (Click here to view the programme for this first concert).  This time we were not in the main hall where we gave a Steve Reich concert a few years ago but were in the very lovely Mozart Saal. Vienna has what, apart from the Wigmore Hall, I believe we don’t have in London, halls which not only have a rich and warm acoustic but also are beautiful and have an atmosphere that positively demands music.  All this without lighting effects or an auditorium so dark that you can’t read the programme!

After lunch overlooking the Burggarten there was time to see the Gustav Klimt exhibition in the Belvedere and an afternoon sleep before the concert.   We played an all British programme including works by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Simon Holt, George Benjamin and Thomas Adès which we had (or most of us had ) played many times before, and the programme was very warmly received. At a reception after the concert Cathy Graham, our previous Cheif Executive, said it was a programme of “London Sinfonietta Greatest Hits”.  She also said how lovely the magical chords near the end of Adès  Living Toys sounded. We were all very excited that Christian Barraclough, our young trumpeter deputising for London Sinfonietta Principal Alistair Mackie, had played so superlatively well in both the Benjamin and the Adès.  After the concert we all went to the beer house near the hotel taking up two large tables, hoping to play at the Wien Modern festival again soon.

Friday 11 and Saturday 12 November, Bratislava

We didn’t arrive at our hotel until after midnight so I went to bed straight away, however, we did have the next morning free so I explored the old town which most of us had not seen before.  It was brilliantly sunny but much colder than Vienna had been, there were no cars in the old town and very few people either. I happened to find an exhibition of Picasso drawings and etchings in a baroque palace after visiting the cathedral and wandering along deserted cobbled streets.  In the afternoon we presented a workshop of works by Slovakian composers plus Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s Silbury Air to a public audience.  It certainly enhances a visit when we can do something involving local composers as well as playing a concert.

In the evening we had to rehearse for our concert partly because we had a different first violin to the concert in Vienna, but also because we were playing a new work for wind quintet and piano which involved quite a lot of unusual techniques, by Slovakian composer Iris Szeghy.

Sunday 13 November, Bratislava

John Constable, London Sinfonietta Principal pianist

The coach took us over the Danube to the theatre where we were going to perform. It was immediately obvious that it was a typically dry theatre acoustic unlike the Konzerthaus.  After the rehearsal we all walked back over the bridge, and, after listening to the Police Band play outside the National Theatre and watching a busker who appeared to be sitting suspended in mid-air, a group of us had a good Italian lunch before a sleep and then the coach back to the theatre.  After the concert, there was a lovely reception with food, excellent Slovakian red wine and speeches as it was the end of the festival. Iris was delighted with the way her piece had been played, we all felt that it was the sort of music which has a lot of atmosphere and really comes off in performance. We met many interesting people, all of whom were very enthusiastic about the concert and we certainly hope we will be invited back very soon.

Monday 14 November, Bratislava

We drove to Vienna airport along country roads in, at times, quite thick fog, however, luckily we were not delayed very much and our last trip abroad in a very active 2011 was over.

The Return of Written/Unwritten

In June this year we collaborated with pianist Matthew Bourne in our Written/Unwritten, which involved collaboration between musicians from both notated and non-notated backgrounds.  On Friday 18 November Written/Unwritten returns, and this time we’ll also be joined by experimental percussionist Vladimir Tarasov.  Ahead of the workshops for this event, Matthew tells us a little about his current musical preferences, and reflects on his previous Written/Unwritten experience.

Back in June, you were listening to Shostakovitch’s String Quartet No.13, Peter Gabriel’s eponymous debut album and Ben E. King’s Stand by Me.  What’s on your favoured playlist right now?

Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me, Olivier Messiaen: Catalogue d’Oiseaux, The Fall: Totally Wired – The Rough Trade Anthology, Dirk Bogarde: Lyrics for Lovers

Tell us a little about your previous experience of working with the London Sinfonietta. Is there anything you might do differently this time?

Matthew Bourne in rehearsal

It was a great experience and I learned a lot from the London Sinfonietta players.

I sketched out some rough ideas and took them along to the workshops and we recorded the results. I then decided which sections would be kept or altered, worked on a new piece and finally ordered the sections.This time the line-up is roughly the same so I’ll be sticking quite closely to the original piece albeit a little shorter in duration…

You’re also to be joined by percussionist Vladimir Tarasov.  How do you think this might alter the process and end performance?

I have no idea! It’ll be fun finding out, though.

Check out our blog next week for an update following the first batch of workshops for Written/Unwritten.

Developing the Double Bass Concerto

Enno Senft, soloist in the world premiere of Dai Fujikura’s Double Bass Concerto on 5 November, talks about his close involvement in its composition.

Enno Senft and Dai Fujikura in rehearsal (image © Briony Campbell)

The Double Bass Concerto grew out of a close collaboration between Dai and I.  After  performing two of Dai’s  challenging ensemble pieces, Fifth Station and Blue Sky Falling, I was excited as well as daunted by the idea of him writing a bass concerto for me. We met at my house looking for inspiration for Dai’s creative mind. I first freely demonstrated the instrument’s more conventional characteristics- its timbre, resonance, harmonics, gentle dynamics, and colours in the middle register.  Then I moved to more experimental, extended techniques, for example treating the bass like a big guitar  (many taxi driver’s preferred description of the bass!), using arpeggio chords, fast tremolo and slap effects.

Dai’s lateral approach to the instrument encouraged me to get carried away with suggestions like changing the tuning of the instrument altogether, extreme tremolo effects on high treble harmonics (imitating an electric guitar) and playing both parts of the stopped string. I forgot in this process that Dai videoed all of this, but certainly remembered when the score of his first preliminary solo piece ES  landed on my music stand! This piece introduced many of the ideas that later became the material for the Double Bass Concerto.  Now I faced unprecedented technical challenges, partly brought about by myself!

Subsequently, we worked closely together to find realistic solutions which make musical sense and fit with Dai’s aesthetic language.  In some ways, the new techniques used in the Double Bass Concerto has meant that learning the concerto has been like learning a new instrument.

I believe that Dai has created a truly innovative concerto that tells its own story and well as realising the full potential of the solo double bass.

Enno Senft, London Sinfonietta Principal double bass

Click here to hear extracts of Enno and the London Sinfonietta rehearsing the Double Bass Concerto.