With less than two weeks to go before the Orchestra of the Music Makers arrive in the UK and join me for their British and Western debut, I am practising pictures and stories in readiness. I want it to be as perfect as humanly possible!
And as I paint along to a CD of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, I ask myself – why am I doing this? Why does it mean so much to me?
I think all children are naturally musical, and naturally creative. And I meet so many adults who are actually afraid of classical music. They think it’s uncool. They think it’s too highbrow. They think it’s slow and boring. These are the people who were not encouraged in the right way to be open minded. They have closed doors. What a shame…
I love classical music. Not all of it. I like what I like. And it all goes back to childhood. My parents were not musicians; they were a regular working class pair who had a few records by The Beatles and The Seekers. And nestled in between… a handful of classical records. Peter and the Wolf was there. Peer Gynt, William Tell. A few other “Golden Guinea” LPs (Budget price!). And they all got played. The Beatles with Beethoven, all on the same player.
Because the snobbery that exists today was barely an issue back then. And to a child… well, music is music. I didn’t distinguish between types until adult / teenage preconceptions influenced me. And then I rebelled! As my peer group embraced Punk, I positively hugged Tchaikovsky. When they were discovering New Romantics, I was listening to Old Romantics. Instead of Rock Opera, I was falling in love with the real thing.
I never considered “my music” better. But what I loved was discovering it for myself and not following the crowd. I simply listened and decided with my own ears. Possibly these were not the “right” pieces. I prefer Rimsky-Korsakov to Wagner, for instance (which always has “experts” scratching their heads; everyone knows Wagner was a superior composer… etc).
It matters to me because there is a whole world of sound, of history, of storytelling… It is part of our heritage and part of the world we live in. And I want to share that with children, so they grow up, with that door open. There is music filled with danger and fear; music full of beauty and love; music bursting at the seams with wit and humour.
It matters because I think there is a lifetime of discovering and enjoying for everyone.
So if you want to give your child a really special experience, and can get to Cheltenham or Lichfield this summer, then don’t think “Oh my kids would never sit through that”. For the price of a trip to the cinema, open the door to a magic world for them with these unique concerts, combining music, stories and art created live on stage!
This is a superb orchestra of gifted youngsters from Singapore, with a wonderful conductor Chan Tze Law. They are truly magnificent. What an inspiration to a child!
But even if your child, like me, is not a musician, being able to experience the joy of being part of an audience in the concert hall is a gift too!
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