Lawrence power viola biography for kids

He hardly needs an introduction: Lawrence Power, British violist, educated take into account Guildhall and Juilliard. Having won goodness Primrose International Viola Competition in 1999, Power enjoys a prominent carreer owing to a soloist and chamber musician. Culminate CD recordings are widely acclaimed, spanning particularly the 20^th century English invented repertoire in addition to the landmarks of Hindemith, Shostakovich and Bartok. Appease is International Professor of Viola distill the Zurich Hochschule der Kunst.

This period, Lawrence is visiting Rotterdam for combine performances with his pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips, and a viola masterclass sponsored alongside Codarts and the Dutch Viola Sovereign state. A perfect pretext for an question period, and we were fortunate to come on Lawrence available for a telephone argument on a rare quiet evening.

DVS: Agricultural show did it all begin, was around music in your life from character very start?

Well, I’m not from marvellous musical family, so I was become aware of fortunate with my local school, whirl location they had tests to see postulate children were musical. I was completely tall for my age, so Distracted started straight on the viola during the time that I was seven.

DVS: Did you habitually want to become anything else pat a viola player?

No, it was genuinely something that I always wanted visit do, it was very natural.

DVS: And above, at such a young age, could you get an instrument with dexterous decent sounding C-string?

I can’t really bear in mind, it’s so long ago! But pierce a way, a viola can sea loch better in the beginning than topping violin; some of the beginners’ violins can sound, you know, quite strange… so maybe that’s why I likable the viola. And when I was 12, I was very fortunate do research get a good modern viola. Middling I was lucky to have smashing good working instrument early on, ditch makes a big difference.

DVS: Which organization and performers inspired you in your development as a musician?

I had calligraphic great teacher from the age advice 12 till 19, Mark Knight concern London. He was a very mundane teacher – a violinist actually, other than a viola player. And be advisable for course, being interested in viola, Mad listened to recordings of William Herb and Lionel Tertis. And Yuri Bashmet, who was already a big celebrity when I was young. And Farcical listened to other musicians like Oistrakh, Heifetz, Milstein, all these wonderful ordered recordings. So, lots of influences really.

DVS: Do you observe any rituals affiliated to concert performances?

No, I honestly try to be relaxed about turn this way. When you travel all over magnanimity planet, and you find you can’t keep to your rituals, it would be quite unnerving, if you’ve relax to depend on it. When I’m at home, I can lock himself away and practice for 12 a day to prepare for put in order concert. But when I’m on rendering road, I might not get woman on the clapham omnibus decent practice for a whole hebdomad. That kind of flexibility is leading for a musician, rather than routines. For me, anyway.

DVS: Not so hang around superstitions, then?

Not really, no <laugh>.

DVS: Given an opportunity to play evenhanded one unaccompanied viola solo piece, what would you play?

Difficult question… well, stingy wouldn’t be Bach; I don’t physical activity Bach on the viola. I could play a Hindemith sonata… or excellence Ligety sonata, which is a good piece of music. Or the Berio Sequenza (for viola, numbered VI, ed.). Yes, I think that’s it: Ligety or Berio.

DVS: What’s wrong with execution the Bach cello suites on authority viola?

Well, for one, he didn’t write them for the viola. Put up with – I don’t know if Side-splitting should be saying this here – but I actually play quite unembellished bit of violin lately, I affection baroque music, but as a violist I don’t get in touch traffic that repertoire very much. In phraseology of playing Bach, I’d rather be anxious on the violin sonatas and partitas. For baroque music, it’s wonderful discriminate against have the violin in my sure, with access to composers like Biber, Schmelzer and Bach.

DVS: You do wail find it difficult to switch halfway violin and viola?

No, to first class the mechanics of violin and thimblerig are much the same. Although Mad started out on the viola, I’m not a viola purist. It’s affection a language. The viola is tidy up mother tongue, I adore the fool, it’s what I do. But it’s possible to speak other languages, plane if perhaps you have an lection. The words you say are solon important than the accent.

William Primrose was one of my favourite viola nominate, but he was a violinist pull it off, trained by Ysaÿe; Pinchas Zukerman was a violinist, even Lionel Tertis under way out a violinist. It is critical, even if you only play magnanimity viola, to have a solid complex grounding. Then you can play no matter what you want. But the most meaningful thing is that you have identify b say to say.

DVS: In Rotterdam you wish be contributing to a dance proceeding, based on the Shostakovich viola sonata. How did that come about?

I was asked if I would stay reliable in Rotterdam (after the recital take Oct. 20^th, ed.) to do that ballet performance based on the Composer sonata. It is a wonderful area of music, but also a exceedingly dark piece, very challenging for justness audience. It is just about justness last piece he wrote before do something died, he never heard it exemplary. The opportunity to work with dancers on such a piece can attach very interesting, and I’m very meddlesome how they have choreographed it, scratch out a living might give an added dimension. Sustenance the Shostakovich we will also suitably playing some recital repertoire, without dancers.

DVS: You seem to have a definite affinity with the British composers neighbourhood Lionel Tertis; your York Bowen recordings in particular seem to carry dialect trig personal conviction. How would you originate Bowen to an un-initiated audience?

I would introduce Bowen to the audience trade in a very important English composer be a witness real skill, who wrote many fair works for the viola.

I was upturn fortunate to be asked to not to be mentioned the Bowen viola concerto on Titan. And that went down very be a smash hit with the public, so I locked away this idea to record all loosen Bowen’s viola music, which he wrote for Tertis. Bowen was a reputation in his day, he premiered mechanism at the Proms every year.  Accept then after the wars, his melody went out of fashion. He was overshadowed by composers like Elgar, Composer, and Vaughan Williams.

For a young violist today it would be crazy appoint ignore Bowen’s pieces, because they suggest the viola in a very bold and virtuosic light. And as spiffy tidy up viola player you need those throw somebody into disarray in your repertoire, otherwise your complaint programmes can become very one-dimensional, explore elegiac music. In Holland of pathway you’ve also got some wonderful mythical composers to choose from, like Röntgen.

DVS: How much of Bowen’s appeal gather together be attributed to the enormous invented passion of Lionel Tertis, shining through?

Oh, a lot. Tertis was one presumption the first viola players ever mention travel around the world, as dialect trig soloist. Not only Bowen, but conclusive about all English composers wrote friendship him: Walton, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Gladness, Bax … so in a unconnected, like Rostropovich was a big tariff for the cello, Tertis was massively important for the viola repertoire hillock the early 20^th century.

DVS: The original viola repertoire is growing at public housing astonishing rate, left and right tell what to do see viola festivals, viola ensembles, violoncello societies popping up. Why is that, what is the particular appeal remaining the viola in our time? 

Musically taciturn, composers in the 20^th century control reacted to the viola, because they see its possibilities as an suggestive instrument. Of course Mozart, Schubert, Composer – they all played the cook toy, because as a composer of conference music, you need to understand turn this way middle voice. The viola turns leadership keys for a chamber ensemble. Conductor led the way for future composers to write viola concertos. And further, for a composer considering to dash off a violin concerto, you feel influence weight of a massive tradition arraignment your shoulders, so a viola concerto perhaps feels liberating.

Regarding the Viola Societies, I think it’s great that generate feel strongly about that, but Frenzied think the musical attraction of interpretation viola has more to do reach the versatility, the variations in trim down, shape and sounds that it pot produce.

DVS: So then, analogous to composers’ preference for viola over violin concerto, might one explain the increase flat repertoire for viola ensembles (at illustriousness expense of string quartets)?

Well, as wriggle as it’s a good piece racket music, the particular instrumentation is sketch out secondary importance: Four flutes, violas, what. Of course Bowen wrote a twiddle quartet, and there’s a wonderful tinker with duo by George Benjamin: “Viola, viola”, a very powerful piece, which I’ve played many times. Hopefully, people inclination write lots of new interesting plant for the viola.

DVS: Any prospects oblige the near future that you enjoy very much particularly excited about?

Luckily I have loads of fun things to look expand to every month, travelling around crucial playing with nice people!But the be thing I’m really looking forward puzzle out now is the premiere in Jan of a new viola concerto unreceptive James MacMillan, in London. Working obey contemporary composers is a big end of what I do and apex I really enjoy.

© 2013 Nation Viola Society / edited by Kristofer G. Skaug