When I plan a concert with a musician or an orchestra, there is a long process between the idea and the final event. It’s an enjoyable process, but sometimes the search for the right story can be troublesome. Where do fact and fiction divide? which is the best for this concert? What age is the audience – will this be too dark and scary? And so on… Two of the stories in the Heroes and Villains concerts are based on true stories. But finding a version that’s right for the audience takes some careful thought. It also has to fit the mood of the music…
Now, there are some pieces of music I’ve known all my life, and which I love. Images and stories are fixed in head and when I begin to play around with illustrations, I suppose those memories guide me. Other pieces of music are relatively new to me and in some respects harder to interpret. I have to get to really know the music intimately, deeply. I need to know every sound, every bar, every nuance. I have to feel the music.
There are advantages to using “new” music. It’s a fresher approach, I’m not held back by preconceptions or nostalgia. After all, if a piece of music is a particular favourite it is sometimes hard to feel I do it justice. Scheherazade feels a little like that, I love the music so much. Of course, I try to make all the concerts special. The next one in Hatfield – heroes and villains – already feels like it will be quite an occasion. Having been to a couple of rehearsals with the de Havilland Philharmonic and their dazzling conductor Robin Browning, I am getting REALLY excited!
The music for this concert embraces both music familiar and new to me. The familiar is Peer Gynt and William Tell. The latter always makes my think of my father who loves the Rossini overtures, and played old LPs of them when I was a kid. My parents also had an old LP of Peer Gynt with a ship’s sail looking splendid on the cover.
But Copland’s Billy the Kid we never had. I was familiar with some of his music, like Appalachian Spring. But not Billy… If I’d been an American kid I expect I’d have seen movies and comic books celebrating this hero. Although, the more I read about him, the more he starts to look like a villain! Here he is in hero mode!
And what a score! I’m blown away by it! It is full of cowboy tunes and wide open plains, Mexican rhythms and drama. I absolutely ADORE it and I think this may just be the best concert yet! Truly, it will be spectacular. If you’ve ever wanted to try a bit of classical music with your children, this is the chance you’ve been waiting for!
It’s quite a challenge to plan the painting. The music plays straight through for 20 minutes, and I’ve been experimenting with creating just one ever changing picture as well as trying a sequence. I’ve decided on the latter. As for the story, the ballet synopsis is quite different to the few facts we have about the real Billy the Kid, although both tales end in tragedy.
DEAD OR ALIVE as the wanted posters used to say… Well, as we are performing the suite, and not the whole ballet, I’m focussing on Billy’s life rather than his death. It seems best for the very young audience. So I’m writing new piece, the Ballade of Billy the Kid – in verse – in which I tell sections of his story but avoid his demise… imagining the lonely life of an outlaw rather than the death of a hero/villain.
I hope I’ve made the right decision. Why not come along and find out?
For more information, including how to book, CLICK HERE
Hope to see you there!
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