1 00:00:08,900 --> 00:00:16,400 Hello and welcome to Symposium Day three of the diversity and British string 2 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:24,260 quartettes this session is called the diasporic Quartet's Identity Anaesthetics. 3 00:00:24,260 --> 00:00:34,190 And we're delighted to have our keynote speaker, Dr. Das Oliver, with us today, as did his DFL, Worcester College, Oxford. 4 00:00:34,190 --> 00:00:42,110 And prior to that, I studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the Royal Academy of Music with Steve Martin. 5 00:00:42,110 --> 00:00:48,890 And his work and research includes focus on black and minority ethnicity, 6 00:00:48,890 --> 00:00:57,980 representation and Western classical music on issues of cultural appropriation and identity and music. 7 00:00:57,980 --> 00:01:00,620 He was recently commissioned to make a documentary, 8 00:01:00,620 --> 00:01:09,920 a documentary series by Sound of Music for the British music collection titled Identity and the Anxiety of Influence. 9 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:20,300 And you can find that on YouTube as a composer has created solo work or orchestral work, a ballet called Black Orpheus. 10 00:01:20,300 --> 00:01:29,180 And recent work includes Malik Maluka murder for Hindustani vocalist and ensemble performed by ensemble ISIS. 11 00:01:29,180 --> 00:01:35,900 He's also had work commissioned and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Pegasus Opera Company, 12 00:01:35,900 --> 00:01:43,970 and his work has been heard at the Southbank Centre and at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival that has also 13 00:01:43,970 --> 00:01:56,060 recently been LSH over composer plus composer residence and is currently a tutor at Maudlin College Oxford in the Press. 14 00:01:56,060 --> 00:02:01,740 His work has been described as utterly compelling and with a rhythmic fluency. 15 00:02:01,740 --> 00:02:12,830 Few composers master, so I'm delighted to welcome you to this talk today titled The Diasporic Quartet's Identity and Aesthetics. 16 00:02:12,830 --> 00:02:23,570 And we very much welcome questions which you can type in the charts, the live chat on YouTube as we go, and we'll answer them at the end of the talk. 17 00:02:23,570 --> 00:02:30,680 Thank you very much for joining us. Thank you very much, Nina. 18 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:35,960 Hello, everyone, and welcome. Nice to see you. 19 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:37,910 Many thanks to Dr Joanna, 20 00:02:37,910 --> 00:02:50,240 belligerent and Torch for inviting me and also to composer Dr Nina Whiteman for convening and for that very generous introduction. 21 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:58,190 The title of this particular talk, I spoke Quartet's identity and aesthetics. 22 00:02:58,190 --> 00:03:10,460 So Jazz, how do you compose is a question that I am frankly sick and tired of within that sort 23 00:03:10,460 --> 00:03:17,180 of typical interaction with which I'm sure many composers here will be familiar. 24 00:03:17,180 --> 00:03:22,280 There is, I think, a kind of conflation between process and methods. 25 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:27,530 You know, someone asks what you're sort of presumptively singular processes, 26 00:03:27,530 --> 00:03:35,720 and the composer responds usually by sort of talking in very generalised terms about their methods. 27 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:40,880 And, you know, once they sort of begin to see the question as eyes kind of glaze over, 28 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:48,620 will often deviate to weave a kind of fanciful narrative about divine inspiration. 29 00:03:48,620 --> 00:04:00,710 The process, as you know, refers to the sort of individual steps from motivation's through to sort of initial concepts through to completion. 30 00:04:00,710 --> 00:04:17,750 And whilst composing tends to involve for me anyway, sort of very kind of similar emotional trajectory, which usually goes something like this. 31 00:04:17,750 --> 00:04:23,330 Conversely, the the actual sort of composing process is kind of different each time. 32 00:04:23,330 --> 00:04:27,380 And so my method is really kind of a list of, you know, 33 00:04:27,380 --> 00:04:37,280 at this point little more than sort of assumptions really about how that sort of process might typically unfold. 34 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:48,320 And so the equally sort of often asked question, you know, what is your inspiration, ironically, is a much more useful question, I think, 35 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:59,210 for the questioner to ask the composer if it's qualified with for this piece or recently or perhaps an even more sort of pertinent question might be, 36 00:04:59,210 --> 00:05:08,690 well, you know, what are you writing about right now? And so instead, I thought I would sort of adopt a slightly kind of riskier strategy. 37 00:05:08,690 --> 00:05:18,560 But I think more honest approach by guiding you through at least my kind of process leading up to one of the movements of the disparate quartettes, 38 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:26,450 which is a yet to be premiered work commissioned by the LSO is part of my job as a composer, 39 00:05:26,450 --> 00:05:34,640 plus residency and in particular, sort of like what motivated me to actually want to write the piece, 40 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:43,790 what the sort of unique challenges have been in writing it, because the sort of trajectory for composing this piece has been like markedly longer 41 00:05:43,790 --> 00:05:50,540 journey for me and sort of transformative journey in a way than in some of my other pieces, 42 00:05:50,540 --> 00:05:57,860 sort of especially given its kind of comparative length, which is only around sort of 25 to 30 minute arc. 43 00:05:57,860 --> 00:06:07,520 And so sort of given in the sort of extended lead in time to sort of actually writing it, you know, how did I and why did I begin to to do that? 44 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:18,500 And now, you know, of course, when sort of pushed to reflect on, you know, what have you been writing about recently? 45 00:06:18,500 --> 00:06:21,350 I think looking at some of my more recent compositions, you know, 46 00:06:21,350 --> 00:06:33,770 I do see obvious parallels and I think which can probably be characterised as pieces which have some kind of social or sort of political dimension, 47 00:06:33,770 --> 00:06:39,050 even though I don't really consider myself to be a political composer. 48 00:06:39,050 --> 00:06:45,320 And that term, I think, is always sort of implied for me at least, a kind of element of opportunism, 49 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:56,420 opportunism or a sort of shrewdness for networking or, I don't know, jumping on the bandwagon and kind of like capitalising on a sort of hot topic. 50 00:06:56,420 --> 00:07:06,200 Having said that, I think a number of my recent works have been sort of preoccupied with questioning the role of the composer, 51 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:15,290 but really questioning me as a composer in society and sort of thinking about kind of my usefulness in that way. 52 00:07:15,290 --> 00:07:20,870 And I think this is certainly sort of a recent shift in my thinking in that the idea of 53 00:07:20,870 --> 00:07:27,440 sort of social consciousness in music was a subject that I sort of actively avoided. 54 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:37,910 And I think despite being sort of challenged on this quite vociferously as a student by my former teacher and mentor, Steve Martland, 55 00:07:37,910 --> 00:07:42,440 for me composing and sort of always been about kind of, I don't know, 56 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:50,690 expressing the ineffable sort of often had a kind of pseudo spiritual or a supposed mystical dimension to it. 57 00:07:50,690 --> 00:07:58,130 And it wasn't really until I started to explore Greek mythology that I began to see 58 00:07:58,130 --> 00:08:04,910 the possibility that those two aspects could kind of coexist in a Greek tragedy, 59 00:08:04,910 --> 00:08:14,360 which, you know, can often be sort of quite political or have a kind of moral ethical dilemma grounded in earthly concerns. 60 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:20,600 I mean, I'm thinking about sort of Sophocles is antigoni, for instance, 61 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:29,270 but then sort of also as well, how a kind of spiritual sort of mystical dimension. 62 00:08:29,270 --> 00:08:44,170 So. And my sort of first kind of entry into, I suppose that world was a kind of very quirky sort of cinematic ballet entitled Black Orpheus, 63 00:08:44,170 --> 00:08:49,390 which was inspired by the 1959 Brazilian French film of the same name, 64 00:08:49,390 --> 00:09:02,380 and by director Marcel Camu, which is a kind of sort of interpretation of sort of Orpheus and particularly of its Orpheus, 65 00:09:02,380 --> 00:09:10,690 but also at the same time kind of immersed in black and Brazilian culture. 66 00:09:10,690 --> 00:09:18,490 And then to the setting of five correlates for in Oxford Playhouse production of Euripides Macci in ancient Greek, 67 00:09:18,490 --> 00:09:26,530 which was sort of attempting to explore themes of gender expression, which was of particular interest to the director and some members of the cast. 68 00:09:26,530 --> 00:09:36,880 Not sure how successful it was. But, you know, certainly there was some certainly connexion or trajectory in my mind. 69 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:41,860 And then as an offshoot of that, an electronic piece called Dionysian Rivers Flow Through Me. 70 00:09:41,860 --> 00:09:49,750 And in a way, these sort of became a kind of gateway pieces until I sort of no longer felt that I 71 00:09:49,750 --> 00:09:54,340 needed the kind of mythological element and that kind of sort of fell away naturally. 72 00:09:54,340 --> 00:10:04,340 And so upon sort of deeper reflection, that sort of social usefulness aspect, I think has become increasingly important to me. 73 00:10:04,340 --> 00:10:12,130 And, you know, this might sound incredibly naive or even a bit narcissistic or just plain sort of cheesy, 74 00:10:12,130 --> 00:10:17,020 but I think that my aspirations are that at least at the moment, 75 00:10:17,020 --> 00:10:23,060 that the pieces that I write in some way try to kind of like be the change I want to see. 76 00:10:23,060 --> 00:10:26,920 And yeah, as I say, it sounds really cheesy. 77 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:36,520 And so for me, I think it's as much about sort of speaking to these issues as it is addressing some kind of sort of philosophical, 78 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:46,060 not usually accompanied by a kind of like composition or not that I need to untie. 79 00:10:46,060 --> 00:10:54,460 So my piece, Malik Emoter, written in 2013 at the Chamber Ensemble and vocalist of the Hindustani tradition, 80 00:10:54,460 --> 00:10:59,320 is a cross-cultural piece which was designed to really act as a kind of sonic 81 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:06,070 bridge intended to be performed in a concert of traditional Hindustani repertoire. 82 00:11:06,070 --> 00:11:19,090 On one hand, and a 20th century sort of Orientalists work, such as the Kathakali poems on Do by the 20th century French composer Marcus Delarge, 83 00:11:19,090 --> 00:11:25,510 and sort of like works of that ilk that are engaged in sort of some form of subject to procreation. 84 00:11:25,510 --> 00:11:35,380 So, you know, something inspired more by the sort of the idea of of India or idea of the other and Indian music 85 00:11:35,380 --> 00:11:42,510 rather than necessarily anything kind of like intrinsic to sort of Indian traditional music itself. 86 00:11:42,510 --> 00:12:19,570 And so just for variety, I will just give you a quick blast of that. 87 00:12:19,570 --> 00:13:25,550 Andrew. So sort of like, you know, kind of conceptual dilemma was, well, like how do I, you know, 88 00:13:25,550 --> 00:13:35,380 mitigate these sort of ethical issues of cultural appropriation and square that with a sort of authentic creative desire towards transcultural ism, 89 00:13:35,380 --> 00:13:40,010 you know, or sort of borrowing from non Western cultural forms or, 90 00:13:40,010 --> 00:13:47,750 you know, simply music that I don't have an immediate cultural connexion to or that isn't sort of a part of my heritage, 91 00:13:47,750 --> 00:13:54,800 you know, which is something I see sort of increasingly in many of my compositions, students certainly over the last few years. 92 00:13:54,800 --> 00:14:02,510 But to sort of do it in a way that doesn't kind of constitute a sort of cultural gentrification, 93 00:14:02,510 --> 00:14:11,570 but also kind of how we can sort of ameliorate some of the ethical issues of some of those sort of problematic works, 94 00:14:11,570 --> 00:14:14,840 you know, against it sort of source inspiration. 95 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:19,820 You know, is there something that we can learn by having all of those pieces kind of play out together? 96 00:14:19,820 --> 00:14:28,070 And also, where can we sort of contemporary composers sort of navigate and and fit within that? 97 00:14:28,070 --> 00:14:35,960 So working with Hindustani performer Dr. Shooty Johari, learning from her something of a stylistic language, 98 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:43,070 a praksis her traditions before sort of embarking on the piece, I think was such an important part of that process. 99 00:14:43,070 --> 00:14:44,510 And through working with her, 100 00:14:44,510 --> 00:14:51,290 I kind of became aware of just how easy it is for Western composers who might be drawn to using non Western or traditional 101 00:14:51,290 --> 00:14:57,500 instruments to sort of overlook or sort of missed the most important and valuable aspect of that interaction, 102 00:14:57,500 --> 00:15:03,380 you know, especially if they're just sort of using, you know, non Western instruments within a classical ensemble, 103 00:15:03,380 --> 00:15:12,590 like a string quartette, whereas actually thinking about the sort of Indian concept of rhythm, of form, of melody in that way. 104 00:15:12,590 --> 00:15:15,710 I think cross-cultural work is sort of really interesting. 105 00:15:15,710 --> 00:15:22,670 You know, classical musicians having to think in a different way and embrace that sort of spontaneity of traditional musicians who are not reading. 106 00:15:22,670 --> 00:15:28,310 And then in the same way, traditional musicians are having to sort of adjust to that very kind of structured 107 00:15:28,310 --> 00:15:33,560 way of working in terms of form and sort of still finding their way within that. 108 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:40,430 And then it becomes more about the sort of subtleties internal to the music. 109 00:15:40,430 --> 00:15:44,390 And a piece that is upcoming, Rushed, 110 00:15:44,390 --> 00:15:48,320 which is a song composed for the purposes of the company's community choir in 111 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:53,490 celebration of Windrush day 2021 and for a strong performance on the 2nd of June. 112 00:15:53,490 --> 00:16:04,130 And that was a project whereby both sort of musical and lyrical content came directly out of conversations with the community choir, 113 00:16:04,130 --> 00:16:10,370 which consisted of a number of sort of Windrush descendents and also members of the Windrush generation. 114 00:16:10,370 --> 00:16:17,030 And I think that sort of going into that piece, I was mindful of the recent and as it turns out, 115 00:16:17,030 --> 00:16:20,540 sort of ongoing controversy surrounding statues, you know, 116 00:16:20,540 --> 00:16:26,570 the back foot in London, the Coulston in Bristol and, you know, the the infamous Cecil Rhodes in Oxford, 117 00:16:26,570 --> 00:16:31,130 and how that controversy was really centred around, in my view, 118 00:16:31,130 --> 00:16:37,880 a desire to see nuance in our sort of representation and acknowledgement of historical 119 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:43,880 events and how through a particular brand of nationalism and rigid patriotism, 120 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:53,390 the UK has had an unfortunate tendency to be sort of quite selective in its acknowledgement of history and and also how often sort of idolatry can 121 00:16:53,390 --> 00:17:03,800 represent a kind of an airbrushing out or can stand for a sort of total erasure of some of the more problematic aspects of British colonial past. 122 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:13,490 And I think that what was so interesting about my conversations with the choir about how our history and the history of Windrush can be best served, 123 00:17:13,490 --> 00:17:19,850 I think the thing that came up almost immediately from them was the desire to see nuance in that representation. 124 00:17:19,850 --> 00:17:25,010 You know, people came to the UK for, you know, lots of different reasons. 125 00:17:25,010 --> 00:17:35,840 Their sort of experiences varied wildly in different parts of the country, you know, and all of them sort of wanted that story to be told. 126 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:43,220 And I think that what was revealed by that conversation is the the sort of dichotomy that lies at the heart of the Windrush experience, 127 00:17:43,220 --> 00:17:45,530 you know, between on the one hand, 128 00:17:45,530 --> 00:17:54,650 that desire to see that story told through a lens of hopefulness and triumph and resilience and achievement, but also as well, 129 00:17:54,650 --> 00:18:02,840 a desire to kind of acknowledge and recognise the struggles of that generation caused by or sort of grounded in racism. 130 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:08,600 And so there's a kind of conceptual dilemma, you know, by focussing exclusively on the former, 131 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:13,820 there's a risk of romanticising that story in a way that doesn't do justice to their achievements. 132 00:18:13,820 --> 00:18:15,590 And by focussing on. 133 00:18:15,590 --> 00:18:23,030 Only on the latter, there is a risk of sort of presenting that history and ourselves always and only within the framework of racism. 134 00:18:23,030 --> 00:18:28,730 And so the challenge musically, I mean, aside from sort of accommodating the request of the commission, 135 00:18:28,730 --> 00:18:36,740 is that some sort of aspects of Afro Caribbean stylistic perfumes were included in the piece that is essentially classical, 136 00:18:36,740 --> 00:18:42,200 along with the sort of various technical challenges of writing a piece which can be performed in a number 137 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:47,570 of different contexts for different instrumental setups for how amateur acquired children's voices. 138 00:18:47,570 --> 00:18:55,550 And, you know, how do I go about sort of representing that very layered story lyrically within a four minute song? 139 00:18:55,550 --> 00:19:02,210 And also like, how do I tell that story in a way that the choir themselves can see themselves in that music? 140 00:19:02,210 --> 00:19:10,340 You know, how do I do all of that also within three weeks so that the title Rush had kind of a cinematic quality as well. 141 00:19:10,340 --> 00:19:20,390 And I think I landed on the idea of the image of that ship, the HMS Empire Windrush, sailing to the UK in 1948. 142 00:19:20,390 --> 00:19:28,970 You know, the first sort of big wave of Caribbean immigration that that ship sailing with intention against choppy waters, 143 00:19:28,970 --> 00:19:31,940 became a sort of very powerful metaphor, 144 00:19:31,940 --> 00:19:45,300 really, for the whole thing, because it's sort of conceptually encapsulated and sort of crystallised all of those aspects, namely resilience and. 145 00:19:45,300 --> 00:19:50,490 An upcoming sort of development project entitled Trailblazers, 146 00:19:50,490 --> 00:19:56,550 which is in collaboration with the brilliant creative producer, historian and faith filmmaker Pamela Roberts, 147 00:19:56,550 --> 00:20:07,470 who is the founder of Black Oxford and has been she's been instrumental in kind of raising awareness about several of Oxford's first Christian Cole, 148 00:20:07,470 --> 00:20:15,900 who is the UK's first African barrister, to practise English in English courts and in the late 19th century. 149 00:20:15,900 --> 00:20:18,990 And the American writer and philosopher Alan Bolac, 150 00:20:18,990 --> 00:20:25,980 who was the first American African-American Rhodes Scholar and also one of the founding fathers of the Harlem Renaissance, 151 00:20:25,980 --> 00:20:30,450 which is a movement that included a host of authors and artists and philosophers and, 152 00:20:30,450 --> 00:20:38,760 you know, early jazz musicians, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters, as well as a host of classical composers William Grant, 153 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:48,270 still William L. Dawson and Florence Price and also the lady in the centre, and Cafarella Moore. 154 00:20:48,270 --> 00:20:52,380 He was the first Nigerian woman to achieve a degree from Oxford. 155 00:20:52,380 --> 00:21:01,270 And he went on to become a teacher and educator and activist and author and. 156 00:21:01,270 --> 00:21:04,960 And for years now, 157 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:12,880 Pamela Roberts has been sort of raising awareness about sort of black history in Oxford through a series of created project stage works film, 158 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:19,540 through her extensive writing a book, Black Oxford The Untold Stories of Oxford University, Black Scholars. 159 00:21:19,540 --> 00:21:24,880 And in 2007, a plaque was unveiled in Rogich Lane to celebrate Christian Cole. 160 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:33,850 And she suggested the idea is sort of part of her work with Black Oxford and worked alongside the domestic bursar, 161 00:21:33,850 --> 00:21:40,630 Angela Ounsworth and archivist Dr Robyn Goldsmith to sort of bring it about. 162 00:21:40,630 --> 00:21:45,550 And so in terms of the sort of philosophical not, 163 00:21:45,550 --> 00:21:56,380 I think that we saw some sort of points of synergy between the lack of recognition of historical black scholars within an institution 164 00:21:56,380 --> 00:22:04,990 like Oxford and also the lack of recognition of historical black composers within the sort of institutions of classical music. 165 00:22:04,990 --> 00:22:06,970 And I suppose as well, 166 00:22:06,970 --> 00:22:15,040 sort of maybe relating to kind of particular concerns that I have long had about the sort of discourse surrounding music education and 167 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:25,410 access and widening participation and stylistic representation and the sort of conflation that sometimes occurs within those conversations. 168 00:22:25,410 --> 00:22:32,320 You know, it's not that, you know, black composers didn't participate in classical music, which extended deep into the 19th century. 169 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:39,400 It's just that we don't always sort of bring them into the conversation when we talk about what classical music is and, 170 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:44,590 you know, setting aside some of the sort of tremendous barriers of what has long been a kind of closed industry, 171 00:22:44,590 --> 00:22:47,800 along with a very unfortunate culture of nepotism, 172 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:54,640 the sort of success of composers I think has long hinged on their ability to be able to finance publishing, 173 00:22:54,640 --> 00:23:02,920 which was really the only way that they would have sort of an outside chance of being kind of included in the repertoire. 174 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:08,020 So, you know, if we're thinking about 19th century and turn of the 20th century, 175 00:23:08,020 --> 00:23:13,480 we aren't necessarily considering all of the kind of community practises of classical music as well. 176 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,770 And this is also the case in other parts of the world. 177 00:23:17,770 --> 00:23:28,240 And, you know, with the sort of impact of a colonial education system and sort of what occurred sort of subsequent to that sort of ethical wrong. 178 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:33,640 And I think the sort of the latter for some time has been a little bit of a sticking point for black 179 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:39,400 artists engaging in classical music and sort of particularly those involved in areas of music 180 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:47,080 education and a concern that the sort of legacy and access isn't of sort of black participation in 181 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:54,670 classical music isn't erased or squeezed out in our kind of rush to decolonise music education. 182 00:23:54,670 --> 00:24:03,530 And so I think in our sort of conversations, which, you know, of course, doesn't apply to music, hence my collaboration with Pamela Roberts, 183 00:24:03,530 --> 00:24:10,390 there seems to be, in my view, a lot of cross talk and assumptions about decolonising that really sort of need to be unpacked. 184 00:24:10,390 --> 00:24:16,180 And, you know, other composers, such as the composer, pianist Paul Gladstein Reed, I mean, 185 00:24:16,180 --> 00:24:22,540 we're sort of discussing this very kind of complex history in the 1990s and noughties, 186 00:24:22,540 --> 00:24:31,240 you know, particularly the sort of kind of precolonial points of synergy between like the Moors from 580 onwards and Arabic music. 187 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:38,410 And then later, like a 13th century sort of Persian poet and Sufi mystic Rumi and the the influence on the sort of big 188 00:24:38,410 --> 00:24:45,340 development of early music and the troubadours which went into the sort of Elizabethan tradition. 189 00:24:45,340 --> 00:24:52,810 And so the intention of that project is really to create a song cycle, 190 00:24:52,810 --> 00:24:59,830 which kind of brings the stories of those Oxford scholars to life whilst pairing them up with historical composers 191 00:24:59,830 --> 00:25:05,770 who were around sort of the same time and along with a sort of very ambitious kind of education project, 192 00:25:05,770 --> 00:25:10,300 which involves a number of like London music hubs and other sort of professional 193 00:25:10,300 --> 00:25:15,550 organisations whose mandate is to kind of promote diversity in classical music. 194 00:25:15,550 --> 00:25:23,380 You know, in that way, students are introduced to these historical figures engaging in that history and sort of telling their stories through music. 195 00:25:23,380 --> 00:25:33,920 And again, you know, compositionally there's a sort of similar challenge about how do I kind of tell that story, you know, with all of its nuance and. 196 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:39,260 So, you know, in a way, it's like really kind of strange to me that, 197 00:25:39,260 --> 00:25:43,970 like the last few projects that I've mentioned have come out of the diasporic quartettes, 198 00:25:43,970 --> 00:25:49,460 which is a piece that, you know, is yet to be performed, sort of nearing completion. 199 00:25:49,460 --> 00:26:01,390 And sort of the idea for the piece for this piece came about in response to a spectator article. 200 00:26:01,390 --> 00:26:10,870 Written in 2018, which was sort of opposing some of the kind of preliminary efforts of organisations such as like the BBC Proms or, 201 00:26:10,870 --> 00:26:20,440 you know, Sound of Music, and to sort of increase commissioning opportunities for women and minorities and also the Ligeti quartet's efforts to 202 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:27,460 diversify through the implementation of a sort of two ticks policy as part of an open call that they were having, 203 00:26:27,460 --> 00:26:33,280 which would, in essence, allow the very few banned composers that were applying for these opportunities 204 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:38,530 through to the sort of first round of their composer workshop selection process. 205 00:26:38,530 --> 00:26:47,380 And I initially responded to the article with an extremely badly written blog post entitled Sharp's Remarks Fall Flat. 206 00:26:47,380 --> 00:26:57,760 And I was, I think, really kind of compelled to do something that incorporated my art, because there seemed to be, in my view, 207 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:04,270 at least a great deal of opposition to the efforts of these organisations and not just in terms of strategy, 208 00:27:04,270 --> 00:27:07,900 because, I mean, that's something that I think reasonable people can disagree. 209 00:27:07,900 --> 00:27:16,930 But a more kind of fundamental opposition, which was usually on the basis of a slightly sort of lame kind of meritocrat meritocratic argument. 210 00:27:16,930 --> 00:27:23,680 But I think the most disturbing thing for me was the lack of minority voices actually involved in that conversation, 211 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:33,130 as well as the sort of notable absence of class in those discussions. And I guess as a composer, I saw it as a kind of civic duty. 212 00:27:33,130 --> 00:27:39,250 And I think, you know, I was like properly tribute, I think, to create in a very small, 213 00:27:39,250 --> 00:27:47,950 very limited way a platform to document what I saw as kind of safeguarding the distinct and varied and underrepresented 214 00:27:47,950 --> 00:27:54,730 perspectives and lived experiences of some of the UK's most sort of remarkable and interesting composers. 215 00:27:54,730 --> 00:28:04,630 And to ensure that that, you know, BAME composers voices didn't sort of get kind of lost in the crossfire of the sort of culture war. 216 00:28:04,630 --> 00:28:08,710 And I think distinct and varied is very important because there is a tendency, I think, 217 00:28:08,710 --> 00:28:15,970 to view any group that's sort of not, you know, your own as a unified, homogenous bloc. 218 00:28:15,970 --> 00:28:20,350 And I was sort of interested really in sort of showcasing the sort of artistic 219 00:28:20,350 --> 00:28:24,490 and creative individualism of minority artists working in classical music. 220 00:28:24,490 --> 00:28:28,660 And I think because the project at the time seemed like such an enormous undertaking, 221 00:28:28,660 --> 00:28:37,270 it was sort of important for me that the kind of pre compositional research could sort of serve as a separate piece of artwork on its own and, 222 00:28:37,270 --> 00:28:43,930 you know, beyond it, simply being a kind of springboard for music creation. And so I sort of settled on the idea of creating a documentary. 223 00:28:43,930 --> 00:28:49,180 And in fact, it was probably the first time I'd engaged in any research directly linked to 224 00:28:49,180 --> 00:28:54,460 a piece that could be sort of described as kind of genuinely compositional. 225 00:28:54,460 --> 00:28:59,230 And, you know, any previous pieces of mind that have sort of involved any kind of research has 226 00:28:59,230 --> 00:29:04,810 always been on sort of ongoing running in parallel to the composition itself. 227 00:29:04,810 --> 00:29:10,450 You know, the composer Tomatis sort of makes this point in his conversations with Tom service, and I think rightly so, 228 00:29:10,450 --> 00:29:18,340 that if sort of pre compositional research occurs in the middle of a piece, then, you know, what do you call that? 229 00:29:18,340 --> 00:29:27,580 And so the documentary entitled Identity in the Anxiety of Influence, commissioned by The Sound of Music for the British Music Collection, 230 00:29:27,580 --> 00:29:35,980 and the latter part of the title, taken from a book written by the critical theorist Harold Bloom called The Anxiety of Influence. 231 00:29:35,980 --> 00:29:43,720 The series was a kind of a sort of showcase for the diversity of thought and attitude and creativity and musical language amongst sort of 232 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:51,010 composers of African and Caribbean heritage and based on interviews with the basis and founder of the Shinako Orchestra teaching in Africa, 233 00:29:51,010 --> 00:29:59,230 but really focussing on the sort of four kind of exceptional composers who were talking about their lives and sort of creative process, 234 00:29:59,230 --> 00:30:05,950 the first of whom was the multi instrumentalist indigeneity, who sort of talks about his kind of lifelong journey towards, you know, 235 00:30:05,950 --> 00:30:15,880 achieving a synthesis between sort of Western classical music and, you know, African classical music, 236 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:23,380 his influences from the Griot tradition and sort of music of the African diaspora. 237 00:30:23,380 --> 00:30:28,960 And he sort of discusses the artistic challenges navigating between two worlds, you know, 238 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:35,680 finding and searching for a kind of authentic musical language, which both I suppose embodies, 239 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:40,990 but also as well kind of transcends his dual heritage, 240 00:30:40,990 --> 00:30:47,860 all of which is kind of the result of a cross pollination between his experiences as a career player, 241 00:30:47,860 --> 00:30:56,170 the West African harp lute and also as a cellist. And I'll just play a little bit of his music. 242 00:30:56,170 --> 00:31:00,410 Now, this is could alloca, which is. 243 00:31:00,410 --> 00:31:26,800 Solo corer. And which, for some bizarre reason, isn't actually working. 244 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:37,430 So I'm sorry, will be gone at the next composer. 245 00:31:37,430 --> 00:31:46,610 Is composer Philip Herbert, and I'm I'm sort of really delighted that he's been featured as part of this 246 00:31:46,610 --> 00:31:54,500 symposium and he speaks on his sort of formal instrumental training at home, 247 00:31:54,500 --> 00:32:01,610 at school and sort of later at Leeds College of Music and contributed to and 248 00:32:01,610 --> 00:32:06,410 how that sort of contributed to his kind of aesthetic outlook as a composer. 249 00:32:06,410 --> 00:32:11,270 And his music is sort of very much a kind of melting pot of styles, 250 00:32:11,270 --> 00:32:18,770 which includes sort of influences from African American Negro spiritual music and 251 00:32:18,770 --> 00:32:22,610 the dance rhythms from sort of Caribbean and Latin America or American minimalism, 252 00:32:22,610 --> 00:32:27,020 soul, church, choral music, as well as a very sort of lyrical, I suppose, 253 00:32:27,020 --> 00:32:35,660 distinctly English approach to melody writing and in a particularly drawn to the sort of sonic world of English twentieth century composers, 254 00:32:35,660 --> 00:32:42,310 you know, Finzi, Williams et al. And. 255 00:32:42,310 --> 00:32:55,210 The composer, Dominic Genpact, he's a Trinidadian born and based in Brixton, and she discusses sort of her early musical influences and experiences, 256 00:32:55,210 --> 00:33:01,930 singing in choirs and sort of playing music in Trinidad and then at the Conservatoire, 257 00:33:01,930 --> 00:33:18,250 the party with French guitarist and composer Hamlyn Devar, who's pictured and sort of speaks very eloquently on her connexion to literature. 258 00:33:18,250 --> 00:33:26,650 And composer Daniel Kidane, who's a London based who discusses in the documentary sort of musical influences 259 00:33:26,650 --> 00:33:34,300 growing up and the influences arising from his dual Russian and Eritrean heritage, 260 00:33:34,300 --> 00:33:45,530 and how this sort of formal training in Russia and the U.K. kind of impacted his voice and ethos as a composer. 261 00:33:45,530 --> 00:33:50,870 And can I say sort of, you know, as with historical composers, there are, you know, 262 00:33:50,870 --> 00:33:57,020 of course, some sort of similarities in terms of their experiences in relation to, 263 00:33:57,020 --> 00:34:05,600 I suppose, social and societal barriers, which have kind of shaped their perspectives and outlook as composers. 264 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:09,020 But I think when I sort of started this project, 265 00:34:09,020 --> 00:34:20,570 I was really quite genuinely struck by sort of how different it played out in the music and the sort of kind of compositional strategies 266 00:34:20,570 --> 00:34:29,210 they'd adopt that sort of differed really depending on the composer's stylistic interests and outlook and their sort of relationship to, 267 00:34:29,210 --> 00:34:39,170 I suppose, their own kind of, you know, cultural heritage. And so. 268 00:34:39,170 --> 00:34:46,910 For the peace, I really sort of wanted to create a kind of portraiture in four movements based on, 269 00:34:46,910 --> 00:34:52,190 I suppose in part my kind of perceptions of the composer's personality. 270 00:34:52,190 --> 00:34:59,540 You know, that sort of affects, you know, gathered from the documentary as well as sort of some aspects, 271 00:34:59,540 --> 00:35:05,690 I suppose, of that kind of musical persona through, you know, exploring their repertoire. 272 00:35:05,690 --> 00:35:13,820 And so the sort of underlying musical challenge, I think has been in a given their sort of very diverse outlooks. 273 00:35:13,820 --> 00:35:20,450 You know, they're sort of very specific kind of musical concerns and different languages and styles. 274 00:35:20,450 --> 00:35:27,650 And how do I sort of create a piece that kind of showcases that diversity, you know, 275 00:35:27,650 --> 00:35:37,970 that sort of represents their identity whilst also at the same time sort of creating a kind of cohesiveness throughout each of the movements, 276 00:35:37,970 --> 00:35:42,650 you know, to be sort of influenced perhaps, you know, by their kind of musical voices. 277 00:35:42,650 --> 00:35:48,890 But, you know, not simply creating a series of, I think, pastiches. 278 00:35:48,890 --> 00:35:57,260 And, you know, of course, importantly, as is often the case with sort of portraiture pieces like where do I fit into all of this? 279 00:35:57,260 --> 00:36:03,890 You know, they the documentary, you know, tells their story, you know, sort of through the camera lens. 280 00:36:03,890 --> 00:36:13,820 But I sort of also kind of, I suppose, wanted to show, I think, what I saw and very weirdly, 281 00:36:13,820 --> 00:36:19,190 the sort of striking visual image that I think I had before beginning, 282 00:36:19,190 --> 00:36:24,050 which sort of encapsulated I think what I was after, 283 00:36:24,050 --> 00:36:34,760 was sort of akin to the kind of very famous Marilyn Monroe print by Andy Warhol in that sort of each image is is really distinct. 284 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:43,790 But there is this kind of sort of cohesiveness throughout sort of the whole piece. 285 00:36:43,790 --> 00:36:49,730 And so the sort of the first question was really, you know, 286 00:36:49,730 --> 00:36:55,430 after doing the documentary and really getting to know these four individual composers as sort of as people, 287 00:36:55,430 --> 00:37:02,360 a personal human level, you know, which pieces do I choose from their repertoire? 288 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:12,200 And, you know, of course, sort of the most obvious, but not necessarily kind of correct conclusion would be, I suppose, 289 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:22,020 to, you know, select quartette, pieces, you know, given the fact that I'm writing a string quartette piece. 290 00:37:22,020 --> 00:37:32,990 However, using quartette pieces as a vehicle for gaining insight into each composer's musical language, 291 00:37:32,990 --> 00:37:40,370 I think comes with, you know, certain advantages and disadvantages. And in the case of some of the composers that quartette, 292 00:37:40,370 --> 00:37:47,540 pieces were not really the most ideal examples to choose because they didn't 293 00:37:47,540 --> 00:37:52,310 really always serve as the clearest representation of the composer's output. 294 00:37:52,310 --> 00:37:54,560 And there are a number of reasons for that, I think, 295 00:37:54,560 --> 00:38:05,450 which sort of differed between composers ranging from of question of familiarity and levels of comfort with the medium itself to the sort of, 296 00:38:05,450 --> 00:38:05,840 you know, 297 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:17,230 individual kind of preference for sonic textures and layers that could be sort of accommodated more effectively by other ensemble combinations. 298 00:38:17,230 --> 00:38:22,200 And, you know, in the case of, say, someone like Dominique, legendary, you know, 299 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:29,080 her passion for stage works in opera and sort of music, theatre and particularly Bird of Night, 300 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:37,120 which is adapted from the tale, was originally commissioned by the Royal Opera House and John Melosi, 301 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:42,430 an adaptation of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale. And, you know, along with her, you know, 302 00:38:42,430 --> 00:38:52,540 passion for literature and particularly a fondness for the work of poet and playwright Derek Woolcott's seemed a sort of more kind of clearly aligned, 303 00:38:52,540 --> 00:38:54,910 at least to my impression, 304 00:38:54,910 --> 00:39:06,790 of her very kind of layered persona than necessarily her string quartette piece this young man, which is a really wonderfully sort of beautiful piece, 305 00:39:06,790 --> 00:39:12,100 and in keeping with much of her musical language, but didn't necessarily, in my view, 306 00:39:12,100 --> 00:39:18,100 fully encompass the kind of spectrum and those layers of her personality. 307 00:39:18,100 --> 00:39:20,860 And I suppose the journey that we went through together, 308 00:39:20,860 --> 00:39:26,650 spending a day to sort of get to know each other and the kind of the playfulness and then what was behind that 309 00:39:26,650 --> 00:39:33,310 was this kind of sort of there was a real sort of seriousness there as well that I found really interesting. 310 00:39:33,310 --> 00:39:39,100 And although the couplets upon which is based, I think, 311 00:39:39,100 --> 00:39:45,850 gives a very sort of clear impression of those layers, earthbound and enslaved to matter is our plight. 312 00:39:45,850 --> 00:39:51,220 Through darkness, our spirit will reach for the light. 313 00:39:51,220 --> 00:40:00,460 And in the case of Philip, herbut because of his very sort of eclectic output, that there isn't really, I think, 314 00:40:00,460 --> 00:40:08,560 a sort of single piece that kind of fully encapsulates the breadth of his musical interests and sort of stylistic scope as a composer. 315 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:15,640 And I mean, also my own sort of creative exploration began prior to my commissioning of his yet to be 316 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:23,090 premiered piece in contemplation and the sort of the recently commissioned solicitude of, 317 00:40:23,090 --> 00:40:32,080 oh, I actually said it right. I think that's great. And which received its premiere, I think on Monday by the Phileas quartette. 318 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:48,460 And so, you know, his movement required a kind of sort of exploration of several pieces along the stylistic spectrum. 319 00:40:48,460 --> 00:40:53,260 And 10 day jeopardy, in his case, 320 00:40:53,260 --> 00:40:59,020 the advantage of sort of exploring his quartette writing was actually that that it it 321 00:40:59,020 --> 00:41:04,930 really did provide kind of insight into his attitude and stance to orchestration, 322 00:41:04,930 --> 00:41:14,530 but sort of unlike a lot of his larger chamber and orchestral music in a much more sort of condensed format and as well as, 323 00:41:14,530 --> 00:41:21,160 you know, managing to sort of reveal some of the, I think, foundations of his compositional thinking, 324 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:31,990 which is apparent in his sort of solo career repertoire, which serves, I think, in my view, is the sort of purest representation of him as a composer. 325 00:41:31,990 --> 00:41:43,360 So I'll sort of kind of touch briefly on cecchini string quartettes and sort of how that kind of fed into the first movement of my string quartette. 326 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:49,630 So check this quartette. Number one entitled, Like In the Circle of Truth, 327 00:41:49,630 --> 00:41:58,810 was composed in 1995 and was premiered by members of the London Sinfonietta as part of an African classical music 328 00:41:58,810 --> 00:42:07,960 concert organised by YACKETY and fellow Jamaican born composer pianist Paul Glads to read Southbank Centre. 329 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:14,770 And the piece itself has since then only been performed by members of the orchestra, 330 00:42:14,770 --> 00:42:22,720 a group consisting of Nigerian musicians keen to sort of protect and preserve distinct varieties of African classical music, 331 00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:27,340 and particularly the sort of unique sounds and rhythms of West Africa, 332 00:42:27,340 --> 00:42:33,640 as well as older African musical traditions and repertoire in danger of being lost or forgotten. 333 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:38,470 And it's also had performances with the Somali ensemble who've explored, 334 00:42:38,470 --> 00:42:44,230 amongst other things, that confluence between Western Baroque and African influences. 335 00:42:44,230 --> 00:42:51,280 And these two groups, along with sort of several other ensembles, were founded by educating himself. 336 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:58,420 And, you know, it's a really fascinating single work lasting around about 11 minutes sort of on the nose. 337 00:42:58,420 --> 00:43:09,230 Hopefully my iTunes will work, but I will give you a little blast perhaps of the first few pages. 338 00:43:09,230 --> 00:44:59,730 The first minute or so of this piece. 339 00:44:59,730 --> 00:45:08,610 So, yeah, I mean, I think one of the reasons that for me at least that it's such an interesting piece is that, you know, 340 00:45:08,610 --> 00:45:12,850 in spite of its apparent sort of surface simplicity on the page, you know, 341 00:45:12,850 --> 00:45:19,980 a simple melody harmonised in fourth's above a drone which plays throughout the entire opening section. 342 00:45:19,980 --> 00:45:31,000 And then later on in the piece, this is sort of a kind of a rocking back and forth between minor thirds in the cello D to F and then later on E flat. 343 00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:39,780 And and yet the piece still sort of displays some incredible textural variety, which is, 344 00:45:39,780 --> 00:45:46,230 I think, one of the more sophisticated and sort of tantalising aspects of jacketless writing. 345 00:45:46,230 --> 00:46:51,060 And I'll just go to the next slide. You know, but the sort of relatively simple harmonic movement, you know, 346 00:46:51,060 --> 00:46:59,460 might be or static harmonic movement perhaps might well be the reason why Jeopardy at certain points has been sort of wrongly labelled, in my view, 347 00:46:59,460 --> 00:47:06,780 at least as sort of minimalist composer and which is a kind of a curious designation, I suppose, given that there are no immediate, 348 00:47:06,780 --> 00:47:14,160 precise similarities between the two, you know, beyond the fact that the piece has some elements of repetition. 349 00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:20,250 And then later on in the piece, the sort of textures become increasingly more complex and embellishing this rather sort 350 00:47:20,250 --> 00:47:25,470 of simple melody through the staggering of entries between the first and second violin. 351 00:47:25,470 --> 00:47:32,940 And it's clear is the piece sort of unfolds that he has found a way to imply a kind of improvisational quality, 352 00:47:32,940 --> 00:47:43,200 even though it's a sort of conventionally notated work, which I think can be sort of attributed to his talents as a as a core player. 353 00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:49,440 And and then towards the middle of the piece, we sort of begin to see more in the way of Chekov's a metrical writing, 354 00:47:49,440 --> 00:48:37,820 you know, becoming much more sort of experimental in his layering of African influenced textures. 355 00:48:37,820 --> 00:48:43,910 You know, I think that you can sort of be forgiven for sort of overlooking the kind of simplistic, you know, 356 00:48:43,910 --> 00:48:52,040 rhythmic aspects at the beginning and sort of towards the end because of the sort of textural and voicing sparsity, 357 00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:54,020 you know, its reliance on Daytona's system. 358 00:48:54,020 --> 00:49:02,000 And and it's almost sort of lullabye equality, particularly towards the close of the piece, which kind of lobs one into, 359 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:10,250 I suppose, a false sense of security, you know, masking the kind of complex and, you know, metrical nature of the work. 360 00:49:10,250 --> 00:49:20,630 And, you know, it's possible to sort of talk about, you know, this piece for an hour or more and never really kind of get to the bottom of it. 361 00:49:20,630 --> 00:49:31,280 And so, as I mentioned, has composed two string quartettes and the first in 1994, the second written five years later in 1999, 362 00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:35,090 which is sort of similarly rhythmically driven piece, as I said, 363 00:49:35,090 --> 00:49:41,360 are very different in its kind of sonic terrain with theatrical gestures and compositional concerns. 364 00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:45,740 You know, both quartettes consist of single movements lasting 11 minutes. 365 00:49:45,740 --> 00:49:53,600 And then a third piece called Exile and Return, which was premiered in 2007 by the quartette, 366 00:49:53,600 --> 00:49:57,290 which, you know, even though is a piece for five instruments, 367 00:49:57,290 --> 00:50:06,050 core and conventional string quartette really deserves to be, I think, considered within the context of those other quartette pieces. 368 00:50:06,050 --> 00:50:08,660 And it's also worth noting, I think, 369 00:50:08,660 --> 00:50:18,260 that these quartette pieces sort of sit within an enormous body of string music from his cello concerto implication to solo cello 370 00:50:18,260 --> 00:50:29,170 repertoire featured on his album Testimony whereby Bach Cello Suites wanted to sit alongside several of his solo cello works. 371 00:50:29,170 --> 00:50:36,470 So the Quartette number two, which was commissioned by The Brodsky quartette in 1998 as part of a sort of larger 372 00:50:36,470 --> 00:50:43,070 body of commissions under the umbrella Opus 18 project whereby six composers, 373 00:50:43,070 --> 00:50:48,200 which included the Mexican Happy Alvarez, the Russian Eleanor, it's over. 374 00:50:48,200 --> 00:50:58,160 British composer and violist Sally Beamish were selected to respond to one of the six quartettes from the set of Beethoven's Opus 18, 375 00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:05,960 or premiered at Cabot Hall on the Isle of Dogs in 1999 and subsequently recorded alongside their respective 376 00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:14,210 descendents for the Brodsky's Opus 18 Millennium Challenge Classics recording released in 2003. 377 00:51:14,210 --> 00:52:23,360 I would give you a very, very quick plussed. And. 378 00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:33,440 And so I think like my initial concern about sort of drawing from the second quarter, which was a response to Beethoven's Opus 18 number two, 379 00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:39,630 it's sort of it's kind of somewhat set apart from those other two quartettes that I mentioned. 380 00:52:39,630 --> 00:52:48,470 And I think due in part to it sort of following a very similar formal trajectory to the Opus 18, 381 00:52:48,470 --> 00:52:52,190 which was a major influence on the structure of the piece. 382 00:52:52,190 --> 00:52:59,540 But also as well, I think, drawing direct inspiration from many of the gestures and contours within the Beethoven quartette itself, 383 00:52:59,540 --> 00:53:06,830 whilst at the same time being kind of substantially different to it in terms of its musical style and language and and content. 384 00:53:06,830 --> 00:53:16,220 And, you know, in spite of the inference is sort of remarkable how kind of sonically distinct number two is from its its descendent. 385 00:53:16,220 --> 00:53:25,430 I mean, he mentions that where Beethoven arrives at a waltz, he kind of comes to a sort of reggae influenced rhythmic motif. 386 00:53:25,430 --> 00:53:31,560 And where Beethoven is extending, you know, the parameters of harmonic possibilities of this period, 387 00:53:31,560 --> 00:53:38,750 it is sort of pushing himself by delving into postmodern harmonic chordal structures. 388 00:53:38,750 --> 00:53:45,230 And I think also with sort of numerous like harmonic similarities to the Bartok String quartettes. 389 00:53:45,230 --> 00:53:51,260 And I found it fascinating, actually, when I discussed this piece with him in the documentary series, 390 00:53:51,260 --> 00:53:59,570 because the impacts to which the sort of numerous external, I suppose, attempts to kind of pigeonhole his work, 391 00:53:59,570 --> 00:54:07,550 either kind of inaccurately designating his music as some kind of derivative of jazz or as a branch of kind of Western minimalism, 392 00:54:07,550 --> 00:54:17,870 post minimalism and the extent to which this sort of label kind of motivated him to then want to go on to explore new territory. 393 00:54:17,870 --> 00:54:25,400 And I think it certainly taught me the extent to which reaction against those kinds of external perceptions. 394 00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:34,760 It's sort of kind of shaped him as a as a composer. The aspect I think that's missing from the second quarter is sort of these habitual 395 00:54:34,760 --> 00:54:40,130 approach to form and given its sort of close structural alignment to the sateen, 396 00:54:40,130 --> 00:54:46,610 whereas with quartette number one, there's a sort of very clear sense of his sort of improvisational approach, 397 00:54:46,610 --> 00:54:51,740 which is sort of very much apparent, even in a sort of composed notated piece. 398 00:54:51,740 --> 00:54:57,440 And I should caveat that sort of drawing on themes and melodies from sort of specific Western 399 00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:04,010 classical pieces is not necessarily the primary aspect that sort of separates those two quartettes. 400 00:55:04,010 --> 00:55:13,460 Again, in my view, since, you know, his repertoire also includes other compositions that sort of directly draw from other classical works. 401 00:55:13,460 --> 00:55:22,970 You know, the most obvious example being the chamber oratorio, African Masire, drawing from some of the themes in areas of Handel's Messiah. 402 00:55:22,970 --> 00:55:27,080 And sort of just as an aside, I think that there are, you know, 403 00:55:27,080 --> 00:55:38,090 perhaps some interesting parallels between his work and I suppose like other transcultural interpretations of Western classical pieces, 404 00:55:38,090 --> 00:55:45,980 the Arabian passion by ensemble subba based on box son Matthew Passion. 405 00:55:45,980 --> 00:55:50,580 And so sort of despite these differences, the two quartettes in terms of their focus, 406 00:55:50,580 --> 00:56:00,350 the sort of they both kind of encompass this sort of broad range of references to traditional and folk music, 407 00:56:00,350 --> 00:56:07,580 you know, which is still apparent in both. And as with number two, number one is this sort of highly rhythmically driven piece. 408 00:56:07,580 --> 00:56:12,140 Both are expansive and sort of cohesive in the use of instrumentation. 409 00:56:12,140 --> 00:56:15,230 And and both sort of resists the often, I suppose, 410 00:56:15,230 --> 00:56:23,480 inaccurate assumptions about classical string quartette writing as this sort of discourse between four equal voices. 411 00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:29,120 And I think that what's sort of particularly interesting about number one is that it contains 412 00:56:29,120 --> 00:56:37,790 all of those kind of formal and technical qualities of these sort of improvised corer music. 413 00:56:37,790 --> 00:56:44,240 So even though there is this kind of dissimilar TUJ between the harmonic language of the two quartettes, the second quarter, 414 00:56:44,240 --> 00:56:52,310 I think very much encapsulates that aspect of defiance or sort of pushing against expectations, 415 00:56:52,310 --> 00:56:58,100 which is sort of very much part of his kind of outward, I suppose, personality. 416 00:56:58,100 --> 00:57:07,940 And I think it's an aspect of his personality that isn't necessarily present in the rest of his music. 417 00:57:07,940 --> 00:57:20,000 So. For his movement, which I entitled the day to day, I was sort of thinking about, you know, 418 00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:26,780 my sort of response to these various musical aspects that that can be found in his music. 419 00:57:26,780 --> 00:57:33,830 I was sort of kind of mindful of Bach, I suppose, inspired by folk melodies, 420 00:57:33,830 --> 00:57:42,740 inspired by his sort of Quartel writing and playing with alternative metres and sort of syncopation within compar metres. 421 00:57:42,740 --> 00:57:51,710 And then also in the back of my mind, sort of thinking about the the sort of, I suppose, connexion between the fingers and the corer in a way. 422 00:57:51,710 --> 00:58:01,250 And that's sort of very intricate, sort of fast moving figuration and the sort of contrapuntal layers and ease of use of a metrical phrases. 423 00:58:01,250 --> 00:58:05,300 And on the other hand, you know, I was also kind of mindful of his persona, you know, 424 00:58:05,300 --> 00:58:11,660 his passion, his sort of directness, thoughtfulness, his sort of spiritual, 425 00:58:11,660 --> 00:58:20,240 almost kind of other worldliness and this sense of kind of defiance and sort of kind of trying to achieve, 426 00:58:20,240 --> 00:58:25,790 I suppose, that balance between kind of persona and sort of musical persona. 427 00:58:25,790 --> 00:59:29,880 So before I sort of wrap up, I just play you a brief snippet of my 10 day Jeopardy movement. 428 00:59:29,880 --> 01:00:04,240 And. OK, so I hope that I haven't bought you too much and I would just like to thank Jonah, 429 01:00:04,240 --> 01:00:10,060 but it won't stop Tichina Boulevard and also Tooch once again for inviting me. 430 01:00:10,060 --> 01:00:23,010 And just to say thank you for giving me an hour or so of your time and thank you for listening. 431 01:00:23,010 --> 01:00:29,610 Thank you so much. This is really, really fascinating talk from you just now. 432 01:00:29,610 --> 01:00:35,250 And so I'm having a little problem with my screen, Larry, and really, 433 01:00:35,250 --> 01:00:43,440 really interesting to hear firstly about all those composers that you've mentioned, which I think it's worth flagging. 434 01:00:43,440 --> 01:00:49,140 You can find out more about those composers like Tonday, Jacob de Philip Herbet, 435 01:00:49,140 --> 01:00:57,210 Dominique Leandre and Daniel Kidane in your annual Your Documentary series, which is available on YouTube. 436 01:00:57,210 --> 01:01:06,930 And that's let me find the title of that as well. So identity and the anxiety of influence and influence. 437 01:01:06,930 --> 01:01:10,470 Yeah, and I should if I can just jump in as well. 438 01:01:10,470 --> 01:01:19,380 I should also say that in I think November, barring sort of their covid situation of this year, 439 01:01:19,380 --> 01:01:29,250 we're having a concert at LSU, St. Luke's where you can hear quartette, pieces by all of those documentary composers, 440 01:01:29,250 --> 01:01:37,710 Philip Herberts and premier of In Contemplation and also a newly commissioned work for four string 441 01:01:37,710 --> 01:01:43,980 quartette by Daniel Kidane and Dominic sledging a human and also to check Japanese quartette. 442 01:01:43,980 --> 01:01:50,090 Number two, alongside my sort of four movement work, the Dysport quartettes. 443 01:01:50,090 --> 01:01:50,810 Fantastic. 444 01:01:50,810 --> 01:02:00,380 That sounds like a really superb events and it would be really great to hear all of those pieces together after listening to your talk today. 445 01:02:00,380 --> 01:02:12,290 That sounds fantastic. Yes. Thank you so much for everything that you said today, giving us real insights into your own approach as a composer, 446 01:02:12,290 --> 01:02:18,380 but also all of these those of a composer that you've spoken about and where they've 447 01:02:18,380 --> 01:02:27,080 drawn their influences from and as well as their own kind of compositional approaches. 448 01:02:27,080 --> 01:02:30,380 So I don't know if there's any questions in the chat. 449 01:02:30,380 --> 01:02:36,620 I'll just be having a little look, we've got some lovely comments from people as we've gone along, which is lovely. 450 01:02:36,620 --> 01:02:40,640 So, Alexandra Douglas, very pleased to hear the score. 451 01:02:40,640 --> 01:02:48,950 Experts as well as her. They've recorded excerpts. And I think that's quite a pertinent comment, really, 452 01:02:48,950 --> 01:02:56,540 because I wonder if that's something that I've noticed when I've been looking to try to better 453 01:02:56,540 --> 01:03:05,240 represent composers from minority ethnicities in things like course materials for my students. 454 01:03:05,240 --> 01:03:12,890 I've often found it more difficult to actually locate recordings and scores from those composers and those kinds 455 01:03:12,890 --> 01:03:19,790 of resources that you want to share with students so that they can really engage with that with the music. 456 01:03:19,790 --> 01:03:22,910 That's actually kind of really kind of funny. 457 01:03:22,910 --> 01:03:33,410 You mention that because I was looking through William Grant, still African American Symphony, and I was sort of shocked. 458 01:03:33,410 --> 01:03:39,200 I mean, it is it is published. Sorry, that's my dog barking. I think it is published. 459 01:03:39,200 --> 01:03:45,830 But what was amazing to me is that it's it's still kind of like sort of Henry Charles and really, really written badly. 460 01:03:45,830 --> 01:03:49,910 I'm sorry about my dog. Yeah. 461 01:03:49,910 --> 01:03:56,930 I mean, I think it is it is this aspect of, I suppose, access as well in a way, 462 01:03:56,930 --> 01:04:01,490 because these guys, in essence, really were kind of lucky that they had their stuff published. 463 01:04:01,490 --> 01:04:09,380 And I'm always very curious about all of the composers who sort of fell by the wayside in a sense who perhaps weren't lucky enough in that way. 464 01:04:09,380 --> 01:04:16,520 So it is I think it is something that in essence, that we really have to kind of search for. 465 01:04:16,520 --> 01:04:20,690 And I think it's without meaning to sound preachy. 466 01:04:20,690 --> 01:04:29,330 I think it's very easy to sort of be quiet, I suppose, kind of critical in a way of things that aren't happening. 467 01:04:29,330 --> 01:04:35,930 And I think a better strategy is actually to do the work yourselves and to try to find these pieces and to represent them, 468 01:04:35,930 --> 01:04:41,480 which it sounds like, you know, you've been doing, you know. Well, I've been trying to. 469 01:04:41,480 --> 01:04:46,640 Yeah. And I've found that often the best way is to actually contact the composer directly. 470 01:04:46,640 --> 01:04:54,500 But then I do worry that I'm sort of taking up their time when they could be writing some fantastic music. 471 01:04:54,500 --> 01:04:59,810 So that's always a concern. Anything else that we could say? 472 01:04:59,810 --> 01:05:04,760 So is any of the comments. Oh, yes, sir. 473 01:05:04,760 --> 01:05:13,280 Alexander Douglas mentioning another article that's appeared in The Spectator and saying Baim composers 474 01:05:13,280 --> 01:05:19,370 do need to be heard from and be able to helpfully articulate the problems of these types of viewpoints. 475 01:05:19,370 --> 01:05:23,090 And yes, I certainly agree with that. 476 01:05:23,090 --> 01:05:31,190 And so Bullivant says in this project, we've explored very difficult issues, but I've felt a real sense of joy, 477 01:05:31,190 --> 01:05:36,900 of discovery in the repertoire, the new commissions, the student composers experiences. 478 01:05:36,900 --> 01:05:42,350 Well, I'm super happy, too. I think that's a really genuinely kind of an amazing project. 479 01:05:42,350 --> 01:05:47,940 And so. Yeah, know. Well done. Everyone involved. 480 01:05:47,940 --> 01:05:54,430 And one question here, questions are, does yesterday with the question with the commission Composers', 481 01:05:54,430 --> 01:06:06,220 we discussed the role of Western notation and you mentioned your desire for flexibility of forces and performance context in the Windrush. 482 01:06:06,220 --> 01:06:18,070 I don't know if you how do you is that if this is the same question about the use of notation in relation to music education and composition, 483 01:06:18,070 --> 01:06:22,690 exploring different musical styles? Oh, that's a really it's a really good question. 484 01:06:22,690 --> 01:06:26,440 And it's also a sort of really kind of complex and layered question. 485 01:06:26,440 --> 01:06:31,690 And I my personal view is that I, I kind of don't have a problem with it. 486 01:06:31,690 --> 01:06:38,080 And I think that's probably maybe in part to my experiences working in in popular 487 01:06:38,080 --> 01:06:42,610 music and popular music education for 12 years as a senior lecturer in one of 488 01:06:42,610 --> 01:06:48,490 Britain's sort of leading rock and pop schools and actually teaching theory in applied 489 01:06:48,490 --> 01:06:54,340 harmony and seeing the extent to which notation is used as part of pop music, 490 01:06:54,340 --> 01:06:59,500 I think certainly the difference in terms of sort of pop is, of course, 491 01:06:59,500 --> 01:07:05,080 it's got to roll is is kind of greatly diminished, but it's not something that doesn't happen. 492 01:07:05,080 --> 01:07:09,970 And sort of similarly as well in in sort of jazz music. 493 01:07:09,970 --> 01:07:22,060 And I think in one way, it kind of in relation to sort of diversity, there is a danger of like a sort of racism, of lowered expectations. 494 01:07:22,060 --> 01:07:29,140 And again, these presumptions that we have to be sort of really careful about what we're saying about that. 495 01:07:29,140 --> 01:07:34,660 So, yeah, I mean, personally, I don't really I don't really have a problem with it. 496 01:07:34,660 --> 01:07:39,940 I think that it is it becomes more of an issue when engaging in kind of cross-cultural work. 497 01:07:39,940 --> 01:07:46,330 Right. And so, you know, working with Dr. Jauhari, you know, she doesn't read music. 498 01:07:46,330 --> 01:07:51,190 And so that really involved a kind of really interesting, you know, 499 01:07:51,190 --> 01:07:56,800 conversation where we were sort of learning one another's language in a way, I mean, 500 01:07:56,800 --> 01:08:08,020 you know, in a very sort of small way, but then prompting me as a composer to not be so kind of beholden to like the school and Western notation. 501 01:08:08,020 --> 01:08:16,820 And I think that that's a really good thing. I don't know if that answers the question. 502 01:08:16,820 --> 01:08:23,340 Yeah, I think. Thank you very much does yeah, and I think I've had students expressed to me that, oh, 503 01:08:23,340 --> 01:08:29,420 I've not had access to the sort of education that some of my peers have had access to. 504 01:08:29,420 --> 01:08:36,740 And therefore, my fluency in reading notation and writing with notation is, you know, is impaired. 505 01:08:36,740 --> 01:08:41,870 And I think. Yeah, I mean, but this was I mean, again, this is, you know, something obviously working with, 506 01:08:41,870 --> 01:08:46,820 you know, pop musicians, you know, like, I can really completely relate to that. 507 01:08:46,820 --> 01:08:57,050 And I think many had maybe not even had any experience with music notation, but had sort of been kind of told or assumed that it was difficult. 508 01:08:57,050 --> 01:09:05,390 And I think that what I learnt from from working with them was almost what would happen is the student would become kind of quite angry in a way that 509 01:09:05,390 --> 01:09:10,400 either they were sort of denied access to this stuff or that they had sort of 510 01:09:10,400 --> 01:09:14,570 picked up on this idea that it sort of is really difficult and complicated. 511 01:09:14,570 --> 01:09:22,940 And and I do understand that there are some some, I suppose, you know, exceptions in relation to disabilities. 512 01:09:22,940 --> 01:09:28,430 And that is something that we, you know, definitely and absolutely have to be sort of mindful of. 513 01:09:28,430 --> 01:09:36,890 But I think it's also about as well, really considering the context of the specific style and genre and that you're looking at and thinking about, 514 01:09:36,890 --> 01:09:40,850 how significant is that particular role, whether it's improvisation, 515 01:09:40,850 --> 01:09:48,050 whether it's, I don't know, training, whether it's music production and sort of just thinking about it sort of contextually 516 01:09:48,050 --> 01:09:54,840 within the these sort of inherent needs and demands of the genre itself. 517 01:09:54,840 --> 01:09:56,040 Totally. 518 01:09:56,040 --> 01:10:07,500 Oh, yeah, it was also lovely, I didn't say it's lovely to hear that extracts of your own quartettes as well as the extracts of the people's music. 519 01:10:07,500 --> 01:10:13,050 I don't know if there's anything more that you feel that you can say about about your own composition. 520 01:10:13,050 --> 01:10:20,430 That particular piece that. Yes. Diasporic quartettes piece, whether there's anything else that you could add. 521 01:10:20,430 --> 01:10:27,810 I can. The kind of layering of the kind of shimmering texture really captivating that I think. 522 01:10:27,810 --> 01:10:39,150 I think for me, the most interesting thing about that particular piece is very weirdly, I think I learnt something as very important for me, 523 01:10:39,150 --> 01:10:44,730 at least as a composer doing the documentary and the extent to which, you know, 524 01:10:44,730 --> 01:10:49,290 doing something like that where you are, because it was essentially just me with a camera. 525 01:10:49,290 --> 01:10:55,110 I had a suitcase and I was travelling all around the country and spending a day really getting to know these people. 526 01:10:55,110 --> 01:11:01,020 And it was all each session was almost like a kind of therapy session in a way. 527 01:11:01,020 --> 01:11:06,510 And just the extent to which really sitting back and I suppose knowing the questions to ask, 528 01:11:06,510 --> 01:11:13,620 but sitting back and really listening and kind of having to absorb and take on all of those sort of personality aspects, 529 01:11:13,620 --> 01:11:17,310 because I knew that I would use it creatively later on. 530 01:11:17,310 --> 01:11:25,980 And I think in a way that's sort of maybe influenced a little bit how I think about sort of interacting and kind of getting to know the music, 531 01:11:25,980 --> 01:11:32,460 that it's also equally important that we really sit back and really listen to, you know, 532 01:11:32,460 --> 01:11:37,980 what composers are saying both with the score and, you know, without the score. 533 01:11:37,980 --> 01:11:45,030 Yeah, and I really like the idea of kind of portrait's pieces which have have been explored a lot historically. 534 01:11:45,030 --> 01:11:48,060 But I think normally after the person sadly passed away. 535 01:11:48,060 --> 01:11:54,350 So it's like it's a really nice thing to have a kind of living portrait of a living a living person. 536 01:11:54,350 --> 01:11:59,370 Right. And it's yeah. I mean, it's not that like I mean, these are for exceptional composers. 537 01:11:59,370 --> 01:12:03,810 You don't need, like, my involvement to kind of pick them up in some way, shape or form. 538 01:12:03,810 --> 01:12:12,270 But I think I I also saw this sort of relating in some way to this idea of kind of safeguarding in that sense that like, you know, 539 01:12:12,270 --> 01:12:20,070 if I've written a piece and that has references to these composers and that that's kind of something that we sort of do in a way. 540 01:12:20,070 --> 01:12:29,780 It has, I don't know, a sort of a similar sort of trajectory to the idea of documenting individual stories, I suppose. 541 01:12:29,780 --> 01:12:35,630 Yes, lovely. We've got one more question in the chat from Alexander Douglas, 542 01:12:35,630 --> 01:12:41,000 could I say something about how he feels the way in which the current composer 543 01:12:41,000 --> 01:12:48,130 establishment disavows the word classical while still using it for Indian contexts, 544 01:12:48,130 --> 01:12:56,270 etc.? If you're able to see that as well as. Yeah, it's a good. 545 01:12:56,270 --> 01:13:02,240 It's an interesting question and which I'm not quite sure I'm willing to engage with just now, 546 01:13:02,240 --> 01:13:10,640 but I think the thing that has inspired and has been inspiring to me about that question is I sort of saw a similar thing, 547 01:13:10,640 --> 01:13:20,630 I think, which was to do with questioning whether composers should be called composers and the sort of the problematic nature of the word composer. 548 01:13:20,630 --> 01:13:25,790 And I I had a very kind of and it sort of surprised me how strong the reaction was. 549 01:13:25,790 --> 01:13:31,010 But my reaction was to think about this sort of, you know, 550 01:13:31,010 --> 01:13:38,360 centuries of underrepresented groups who have really fought long and hard to be recognised as composers. 551 01:13:38,360 --> 01:13:49,550 You know, the I don't know, the graffiti artist wants to be recognised as an artist and not a creative practitioner, whatever that means. 552 01:13:49,550 --> 01:13:55,460 And so, yeah, I do I, I completely accept that, that there is, 553 01:13:55,460 --> 01:14:01,520 in my view and in my opinion sometimes that we have a tendency to focus on really the wrong thing. 554 01:14:01,520 --> 01:14:05,960 And we have to think about the sort of unintended consequences of that. 555 01:14:05,960 --> 01:14:10,250 You know, as a sort of underrepresented artist. 556 01:14:10,250 --> 01:14:18,860 I you know, I think I've certainly been very mindful, I think, of the issues within, 557 01:14:18,860 --> 01:14:25,100 say, for instance, music education, where you have on the one hand, 558 01:14:25,100 --> 01:14:30,500 a sort of a kind of counselling, an environment of counselling, which is budgetary, 559 01:14:30,500 --> 01:14:39,170 which is to do with kind of funding or to do these sort of policies. So, for instance, the sort of 2012 Education Reform Act that made it, I think, 560 01:14:39,170 --> 01:14:47,270 non compulsory for certain boroughs to fund certain music projects and the impact and the cumulative impact that that sort of cuts 561 01:14:47,270 --> 01:14:57,590 and those fundings have had over the last 30 years on things like youth orchestras and youth orchestras in working class areas. 562 01:14:57,590 --> 01:15:05,420 But at the same time, I'm also aware of a certain kind of rhetoric, which is sort of, I suppose, kind of on the left, 563 01:15:05,420 --> 01:15:18,800 which is a kind of sort of cultural I see it as a kind of sort of cultural counselling in a way that is often based on sort of lots of assumptions, 564 01:15:18,800 --> 01:15:26,630 I think, about the sort of diversity of the experience of the underrepresented groups of which they are speaking about. 565 01:15:26,630 --> 01:15:31,820 And I think we have to be really, really careful about that, too. 566 01:15:31,820 --> 01:15:42,100 So, yeah, I you know, as I don't want to be told that I'm not a composer, basically, because I feel like I've worked hard to be recognised as one. 567 01:15:42,100 --> 01:15:45,570 I don't know if that answers the question. Absolutely, 568 01:15:45,570 --> 01:15:54,710 I think that's really important that we should be able to claim the labels that we want to claim for ourselves rather than them being imposed upon us. 569 01:15:54,710 --> 01:16:01,060 I suppose I want to thank you for the question anyway. 570 01:16:01,060 --> 01:16:04,690 I don't think there are any more questions in the charts at the moment, 571 01:16:04,690 --> 01:16:15,130 so if there's anything else that you've not managed to say so far that you thought might be important to add, and I genuinely don't think so. 572 01:16:15,130 --> 01:16:20,470 I just want to say thanks for everyone for giving me a little bit of of your time. 573 01:16:20,470 --> 01:16:28,870 And I hope you have a fantastic rest of Wednesday through I and and it's been really 574 01:16:28,870 --> 01:16:34,780 a great pleasure to have you speaking today to assist in a really fantastic event. 575 01:16:34,780 --> 01:16:40,510 Could you remind us when your allessio. So it will at this stage. 576 01:16:40,510 --> 01:16:45,340 It will be at some point in November, right. 577 01:16:45,340 --> 01:16:55,210 I can't be clearer than that. But I do the Rush project, I think, which I mentioned before, that's being broadcast on the 22nd of June, 578 01:16:55,210 --> 01:17:04,290 which is the community choir piece online so people can have access to it if they log on to the Pegasus Opera Company's website. 579 01:17:04,290 --> 01:17:13,770 That's fantastic. So lots of lots of things to be looking out for and lovely music to be heard in the coming months. 580 01:17:13,770 --> 01:17:19,440 So thank you. Thank you once again. And thank you to everybody who has joined us on YouTube. 581 01:17:19,440 --> 01:18:00,072 I hope you have a lovely rest of your day. Goodbye.