An early start to the day with Adam arriving exactly on the downbeat at 8:00 am ready to go. After stage managing at Glastonbury, this was going to be "something different" and unknown. Also, very exciting!
I picked up Joe from the train station in Gloucester and had a chance to catch-up with him for the first time in person. So now, Animo's launch composer is the living and breathing creator of our first commission. We chatted briefly about this background and I was reminded (with my music teacher's hat on) that music is a leveller, particularly socially. Joseph Howard is a PhD student at the Royal Academy of Music but his background is rooted in Pickering, the gateway to the Yorkshire moors, where he went to the only school in the area but had to travel further afield to study Music at A level. I always thought there was an enormous divide between public school spending on Music and the Arts but as it happens Music tends to bring people together regardless of pedigree or financial means.
But I deviate...
My house was transformed again into a fully functioning studio (thank you Adam) and with Sarah's arrival the first hearing of the Joe's piece was under way... The, as yet untitled, 'Draft' of Joe Howard's composition specially written for Animo was first heard on Monday 8th July in Upleadon. And so it begins...
About a month ago we had email and skype discussions with Joe about this piece's brief: it is to be in two pars (movements or pieces), around 6 minutes in total, both for flute (or as Joe called it 'flute-flute'!) and alto flute; with a soundscape quality to it and a contrasting or opposing section, layered with pre-recorded material and electronic sounds and now the ideas are getting bigger... perhaps a video/image/film to be played alongside it? we'll see...
We've had a go at playing the first 2 minutes that Joe brought with him. We didn't know what to expect and although our involvement was not as crucial at this stage, we loved the piece from the very first bar. I have to admit that Joe's comment about 'writing-in all the performance freedom gestures' gave me pause for thought. Why and how does a composer do this?
Sarah mentioned a conversation she had with Joe during which Joe talked about the fact that so many composers write music write music using computer software and so the expression and natural flexibility of tempo and nuances of breathing and colour go out the window but then...isn't that something that a performer can remedy? Is this why quite a lot of performers play to the letter of the score or are afraid to deviate from the composer's instructions? Perhaps the question is 'once it's written, whose piece is it anyway?'
The usual Animo hilarity ensued as I had to learn how to count in 4 again, understanding the phrase shapes and reading between the lines to understand what Joe wants to project, figuring-out leger line notes on the piano score (I never liked those!), discovering new colours and nuances and finding-out that changes in meter and dynamics are quite swift but not abrupt but we still need to be prepared for them (imperceptible)... this is not a difficult or technical piece but I think it turned upside down every preconception we had about sight-reading music. Hurray! A challenge!
We attempted a recording and Sarah played 3 parts in layered recordings as Adam mixed and edited with Joe. The photos tell a story - our dogs had fun too!
We absolutely love this work and we know that it will fit us like a glove. Thank you Joe. We look forward to the next installment.
To be continued....