1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,400
For this episode, I interviewed Mr. David Hackbridge-Johnson,
2
00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,740
one of the prolific British composers of our time,
3
00:00:07,740 --> 00:00:11,680
whose piano works were recorded by Mr. Lowell Lieberman,
4
00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,720
whom I got to interview last season.
5
00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,480
I got a friendship request from Lowell,
6
00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:18,360
and I thought, wow, because I'd heard of him
7
00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,400
because he's a major American composer,
8
00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,760
and I knew he was a fine pianist as well.
9
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:26,440
He did write to me, and he mentioned that during lockdown,
10
00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:28,240
he was playing the piano a lot,
11
00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,840
and he'd already produced an album, a double album, actually,
12
00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,360
of some of his favourite rather demonic pieces,
13
00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,760
including things like Liszt's Totentanz,
14
00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:38,660
and he said he was planning another album,
15
00:00:38,660 --> 00:00:41,520
which would include another bunch of favourite pieces.
16
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,120
He asked me whether I would like to write a piece.
17
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,240
I wrote a piece that very evening,
18
00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,760
and I sent it in by following morning and said,
19
00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:50,800
look, I want to dedicate this to you.
20
00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,600
I concocted a nocturne for him,
21
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,260
which was based on a very weird dream I'd had
22
00:00:56,260 --> 00:00:59,240
about this peculiar devil-like creature sitting on a rock
23
00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,840
playing an instrument with very strange tunings,
24
00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:04,600
and I thought, okay, I'm going to write this,
25
00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:06,440
and I sent it to him the next day.
26
00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,800
He seemed to like it, and then at that point,
27
00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,360
he decided, you know what,
28
00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,800
I'm going to do an album entirely of your music, David.
29
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,120
So I think probably within six months
30
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:19,060
of us having any kind of official communication,
31
00:01:19,060 --> 00:01:20,480
he had an album out,
32
00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,880
and Steinway had agreed to issue it,
33
00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:26,560
but it was the fact that the way he played the pieces
34
00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:28,000
just so impressed me.
35
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,040
For me as a composer, he got right inside the style,
36
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,840
right inside the marrow of the music
37
00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:39,560
to produce these very, very intense, intimate performances,
38
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,720
which I was absolutely thrilled by.
39
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,080
If you're thinking in terms of improvising,
40
00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,580
which of course I do all the time,
41
00:01:46,580 --> 00:01:47,920
it's one of the things that...
42
00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,880
Music to me can often hover into the strange.
43
00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:04,040
It might start out perfectly straightforwardly and simply,
44
00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:05,680
but it can then change,
45
00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,000
and I think it's the process of change
46
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,000
that fascinates me, how you get...
47
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:17,000
["Piano Sonata in C major, Op.
48
00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,160
Now you get from A to B,
49
00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,840
where you've got an emotional trajectory
50
00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:27,840
that's taking you away from an idealized form of expression.
51
00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:37,880
It's just one of those strange things
52
00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,200
that the music comes out,
53
00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:41,440
you think you know what you're doing,
54
00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,160
but sometimes it's a bit strange, the creative process.
55
00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,600
Sometimes you're not thinking, you're listening.
56
00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,880
Normally it's the listening that dictates the process.
57
00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,120
Often the music is already there,
58
00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:54,560
it's kind of up there somewhere,
59
00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,200
so I can see it and hear it, an object,
60
00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,400
and all I have to do is bring it down and write it out."
61
00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,000
To hear the entire conversation
62
00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,480
with Mr. David Huckridge-Johnson,
63
00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,760
one of the most prolific British composers of our time,
64
00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:09,760
please join the chat during the premiere
65
00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:11,680
of this special episode tonight,
66
00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,480
Tuesday, June 20th, 8 p.m. Eastern,
67
00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,480
on the Piano Pod's YouTube channel.
68
00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,360
The audio podcast will be split into two parts,
69
00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:20,760
and part one will be dropped
70
00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,960
on your favorite podcasting platform tonight at 8 p.m.
71
00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,680
Don't forget to subscribe or follow the Piano Pod,
72
00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:28,440
all the links are in the description.
73
00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:38,440
See you tonight.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,400
For this episode, I interviewed Mr. David Hackbridge-Johnson,
2
00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,740
one of the prolific British composers of our time,
3
00:00:07,740 --> 00:00:11,680
whose piano works were recorded by Mr. Lowell Lieberman,
4
00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,720
whom I got to interview last season.
5
00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,480
I got a friendship request from Lowell,
6
00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:18,360
and I thought, wow, because I'd heard of him
7
00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,400
because he's a major American composer,
8
00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,760
and I knew he was a fine pianist as well.
9
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:26,440
He did write to me, and he mentioned that during lockdown,
10
00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:28,240
he was playing the piano a lot,
11
00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,840
and he'd already produced an album, a double album, actually,
12
00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,360
of some of his favourite rather demonic pieces,
13
00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,760
including things like Liszt's Totentanz,
14
00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:38,660
and he said he was planning another album,
15
00:00:38,660 --> 00:00:41,520
which would include another bunch of favourite pieces.
16
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,120
He asked me whether I would like to write a piece.
17
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,240
I wrote a piece that very evening,
18
00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,760
and I sent it in by following morning and said,
19
00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:50,800
look, I want to dedicate this to you.
20
00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,600
I concocted a nocturne for him,
21
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,260
which was based on a very weird dream I'd had
22
00:00:56,260 --> 00:00:59,240
about this peculiar devil-like creature sitting on a rock
23
00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,840
playing an instrument with very strange tunings,
24
00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:04,600
and I thought, okay, I'm going to write this,
25
00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:06,440
and I sent it to him the next day.
26
00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,800
He seemed to like it, and then at that point,
27
00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,360
he decided, you know what,
28
00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,800
I'm going to do an album entirely of your music, David.
29
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,120
So I think probably within six months
30
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:19,060
of us having any kind of official communication,
31
00:01:19,060 --> 00:01:20,480
he had an album out,
32
00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,880
and Steinway had agreed to issue it,
33
00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:26,560
but it was the fact that the way he played the pieces
34
00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:28,000
just so impressed me.
35
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,040
For me as a composer, he got right inside the style,
36
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,840
right inside the marrow of the music
37
00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:39,560
to produce these very, very intense, intimate performances,
38
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,720
which I was absolutely thrilled by.
39
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,080
If you're thinking in terms of improvising,
40
00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,580
which of course I do all the time,
41
00:01:46,580 --> 00:01:47,920
it's one of the things that...
42
00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,880
Music to me can often hover into the strange.
43
00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:04,040
It might start out perfectly straightforwardly and simply,
44
00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:05,680
but it can then change,
45
00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,000
and I think it's the process of change
46
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,000
that fascinates me, how you get...
47
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:17,000
["Piano Sonata in C major, Op.
48
00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,160
Now you get from A to B,
49
00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,840
where you've got an emotional trajectory
50
00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:27,840
that's taking you away from an idealized form of expression.
51
00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:37,880
It's just one of those strange things
52
00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,200
that the music comes out,
53
00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:41,440
you think you know what you're doing,
54
00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,160
but sometimes it's a bit strange, the creative process.
55
00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,600
Sometimes you're not thinking, you're listening.
56
00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,880
Normally it's the listening that dictates the process.
57
00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,120
Often the music is already there,
58
00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:54,560
it's kind of up there somewhere,
59
00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,200
so I can see it and hear it, an object,
60
00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,400
and all I have to do is bring it down and write it out."
61
00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,000
To hear the entire conversation
62
00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,480
with Mr. David Huckridge-Johnson,
63
00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,760
one of the most prolific British composers of our time,
64
00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:09,760
please join the chat during the premiere
65
00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:11,680
of this special episode tonight,
66
00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,480
Tuesday, June 20th, 8 p.m. Eastern,
67
00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,480
on the Piano Pod's YouTube channel.
68
00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,360
The audio podcast will be split into two parts,
69
00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:20,760
and part one will be dropped
70
00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,960
on your favorite podcasting platform tonight at 8 p.m.
71
00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,680
Don't forget to subscribe or follow the Piano Pod,
72
00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:28,440
all the links are in the description.
73
00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:38,440
See you tonight.
