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.