Morgan Hayes
Click
here to download a short excerpt from
Opera (2.2mb).
D:A piece with a title
like Opera doesn't instantly suggest instrumental
music for violin & piano. Where did
this originate from and is the title very
important to you in terms of how it might
reflect the type of piece this word suggests
to the general public?
M: While working on the
piece for violin and piano I went down
to Brighton to visit Antony Bye (editor
of the musical Times) and one of his enthusiasms
was the film maker Dario Argento.....I
was absolutely mesmerized by the film
'Opera' which we watched together....it's
not a regular occurance to find oneself
in this situation....usually it's a case
of seeing/hearing things which you might
like to a greater or lesser extent but
the experience goes no further... I realised
at once that the abrupt cutting/prowling
camerawork/surreal atmosphere bore a relationship
with my musical interests. I also relished
the title 'Opera' having not come up with
a suitable libretto for a request from
the Almeida Theatre. This was like a temporary
substitute, a way of compacting an opera
into a short timespan and for such modest
forces! Preferable to the other way round
of stretching something something which
is essentially small vision onto a big
canvas.
D: When you & I were
working through early drafts of this piece
you kept referring to sections of music
from J S Bach's French Suites (I think!)
Is his music particularly influential
on you ?
M: One of the early drafts
of the piece did involve the Sarabande
from Bach's 5th French Suite coupled with
a freshly composed violin part by me.The
violin soaring above the piano part and
slightly at a tangent, though not completely
as is the case with the recent Finnissy
piece for violin and piano. I'm particularly
wary about the combination of violin and
piano having made a miscalculation in
a Trio for clarinet, violin and piano
and the Bach experiment was a case of
'what happens if I do this?...' I liked
the results but sadly it never reached
the final piece! I came to Bach via the
quirky interpretations of Glenn Gould
which always seemed to get bad write-ups
in the Penguin Record Guide so naturally
there was a certain exoticism assosciated
with him!.....it sounded so modern/fresh!
More specifically, I like the preference
in Baroque music to stick to one mood
in a particular section, then move onto
something different. 'Opera' is a good
example of this.
D: Every time I hear
or perform your music I'm immediately
struck by the parallels to composers like
Gerald Barry and Michael Finnissy. Without
trying to offend, yours can be a music
of a certain 'manic nature'. What do you
think about this?
M : I agree, my music has a manic
quality and it's certainly what has always
come most naturally to me though not necessarily
in music. When I was very young I loved
drawing highly detailed/violent medieval
battle scenes, teeming with incident and
activity.Though technically primitive
I won a prize once for one of these pictures!
It's a shame that with the passing of
time they've all gone missing.
D: Do your compositional
processes change much piece to piece?
M: In general, I'd say
the way I work is fairly intuitive which
isn't to say I make it up as I go along
and the notes magically ooze out......
It's more a case of being flexible with
the material...having an overall vision
which however strong can be open to all
kinds of possibilities. 'Opera' as it
happens is a much tighter structure than
some of my previous works with the various
sections/scenes emerging out of the initial
set of notes, quietly stated (at the start)
on the violin and piano. The process is
transparent where previously I might've
obscured matters with various tranformations.
Simplicity is often best!
D: Your violin writing
in Opera and other pieces I have performed
by you is very idiomatic. Was this something
you consciously considered whilst writing
Opera ?
M: I was very aware of
the timbre of the violin while working
on 'Opera'....in this respect, I found
our early read through of some of the
drafts very useful for orientating myself.
Unlike Richard Barrett who once said in
an interview that he didn't find a dialogue
with the performer useful I actually find
it quite liberating even if in the end
I don't take on board any suggestions!
D: What's your favourite piece
of 20th/21st century violin music?
M: It's hard to nominate
only one! I'm very fond of the Dillon
and Feldman concertos. Both pieces are
very alluring and sensual in completely
different ways. Solo works by Xenakis,
Sciarrino, Barrett(air), Finnissy and
Barry are particular favourites as they
all have a good sense of line.
Music reproduced by kind permission of
Stainer
& Bell Ltd.
Click
here for an interview with composer
Joe Cutler
Click
here for an interview with composer
Frank Lyons