SEP AND ME
If you’d asked the 25 year old me about the music I’d be performing in 2019 then I probably wouldn’t have believed you. In 2010 I had just performed Ives’ insane ‘Concord Sonata’, was approaching performances in which I had to strap morris dancer bells to my knuckles, performed regularly with my elbows, forearms, sliding glass paper weights up and down the piano strings, ‘capturing sound’ using Wii remotes…. The list goes on. For yes, I was a hard core contemporary musicker with no particular desire to perform anything written before 1980 (the legendary ‘Concord Sonata’ aside)
Yet here I am, possibly the most ambitious solo project of my life, and it is entirely devoted to the music of an obscure British-Australian composer who died over 100 years ago and whose music is as much rooted in romanticism as it is in progressive modernism. What happened?!
The reality is the I stumbled into performing the music of composers linked to WW1 quite by accident. A trio of fairly low-key charity concerts to commemorate the start of the World War One anniversary turned into a 4 year series of concerts in which I discovered some fascinating music. Partly, I confess, I enjoyed performing music for the first time that didn’t make me worry that the audience would immediately leave due to the crazy sounds I was making, but also, entirely genuinely, I have enjoyed tracking down forgotten works – delving deep into volumes of music from the past that might not all be moments of genius, but definitely definitely DEFINITELY deserve to be heard.
I like to explore the unknown in music. It has always been the main reason that I have performed, the main force that drove me to follow my career path with long hours, little money and no stability. This is probably why I enjoy performing contemporary music so much, but playing the music of composers who have long been forgotten is perhaps even more enticing. Literally no-one has heard this music in X number of years, perhaps I am presenting a true masterpiece to the world???
Or perhaps not. But you never know until you try!
This large body of piano music by Frederick Septimus Kelly (‘Sep’ to his nearest and dearest) fell into my lap quite by chance – on the back of a random email to Chris Latham from The Flowers Of War (go to their website, listen to the ‘Diggers’ Requiem’ – you won’t be disappointed). I was sent pdfs for 80 minutes worth of unpublished, unrecorded music and presented with the tantalising prospect of recording 2 complete sets of music (the 24 Monographs and 12 Studies) that probably haven’t been performed in 100 years and definitely haven’t been recorded before. Certainly, if I was going to do this I would need to do it properly. Learn A LOT of challenging music (did it have to be a set of Studies? Music designed to be difficult?!), create some serious Social Media Buzz (aaargghhhhh…. Yes, I did just say social media buzz) and get some proper professionals on board for recording, distributing and advertising. This means raising a lot of money from who knows where before I can even think about actually recording the music.
So, how to decide whether or not to take on the responsibility of recording Sep’s ‘First Ever Solo Piano CD A Whole Century After He Died’? Obviously, I must compare the pros and cons:
Pro – this music is unrecorded: I can offer my own interpretation based entirely on my own artistic opinions, free from the weight of past historical recordings.
Con – this music is unrecorded: how do I know if I’m playing it right?
Pro – this music is unrecorded: my interpretation will become the main reference point for all budding pianists looking to explore Sep’s piano music.
Con – this music is unrecorded: how do I know how fast I should play it?
Pro – some of it looks really beautiful on the page, I can’t wait to start exploring it properly.
Con – how will I know if it is any good until I’ve already committed to the project? I’ve never heard it before!
Pro – this will be a long-term journey into the mind of a composer with a unique sound world.
Con – I will have to learn 13 studies. This music will be bloody difficult, I’ll never escape from the piano and I won’t see my family for weeks at a time….
Con – this music is unrecorded: how do I know if I’m playing it right?
Pro – this music is unrecorded: my interpretation will become the main reference point for all budding pianists looking to explore Sep’s piano music.
Con – this music is unrecorded: how do I know how fast I should play it?
Pro – some of it looks really beautiful on the page, I can’t wait to start exploring it properly.
Con – how will I know if it is any good until I’ve already committed to the project? I’ve never heard it before!
Pro – this will be a long-term journey into the mind of a composer with a unique sound world.
Con – I will have to learn 13 studies. This music will be bloody difficult, I’ll never escape from the piano and I won’t see my family for weeks at a time….
Of course I was going to take the challenge. How could I not – I’ve never had the chance of an exploration into the unknown quite like this.
Right decision.
Sep’s music is the kind that gives a little more back the longer you spend with it. Texturally dense, light as air, the simplest of chord progressions, thematically dark, enigmatic, sweeping, dramatic phrases. This music is so full of invention – you think you know where the progression is heading only for it to take you in a surprising direction, to an unexpected key, quirkiness personified. It is reminiscent of so many composers, and this for me is one of its greatest strengths – its influences are so wide-ranging that as a whole the music is completely unusual, a youthful mind exploring a range of sound worlds. As a collection of pieces the inventive scope is fascinating and the journey for the listener is completely worthwhile.
I’m sure I am a better pianist as a result of taking on this challenge. My technique has improved as a result of the months spent playing studies and my interpretive powers have been tested by music that is so thematically diverse.
This may be the build-up of crowdfunder admin stress, the late hour and strong Devon cider making me delirious, but Sep, you are GREAT!
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