From video games to Serenade – a tale of collaboration
Two minutes with two musicians
Alex (S6), cellist and composer, and Ben (S6), flautist, conductor and singer, recently joined forces to create Serenade, a new work for string orchestra.
Each term, we’ll be asking two of our pupils to take two minutes to share what they love most about their instrument, their favourite music and composers, and their musical highights so far…
Ben: “I started off by giving Alex video game music to listen to from Jun Ishikawa, Koji Kondo and other Japanese composers who compose for Nintendo. We both love film music too so Alex drew on those sources for inspiration, then took it from there.” Alex: “Bouncing off each other worked really well. There were a few bits we worked on where I would finish a section and then Ben would say, ‘There’s a missing A-flat here,’ and from that we managed to create something that Ben could conduct but that we could both feel was our own.” Ben: “When we first started rehearsing, it was quite a change of pace because I’m more used to being a performer in the orchestra than in front of the orchestra but it was really helpful to have the composer there with us. Normally when we’re playing Beethoven or Mozart or the big symphonies, we have to refer to things they said in the past but Alex could give me real-time advice on what to do when.” Alex: “It made me happier as well because I could have a part in how the piece would sound, although it was quite intimidating being a player too in case I played a wrong note. It was weird for me because obviously as I was playing I couldn’t really hear the whole thing – I couldn’t get surround sound or experience it as it was being played as I was having to concentrate and watch Ben and listen to everyone else. But when I listened back to the recordings afterwards I was really happy with it.” Ben: “The dynamic between solo cellist and conductor was really balanced and I feel as though, to an extent, we were both conducting the piece. There were differences in ideas; at the end of the piece, for instance, Alex felt it should leave the listener hanging on whereas I thought it should leave the Cathedral ringing out – but we managed to find an agreement and that scrutiny and the need to justify our thinking helped to really consolidate our thinking.” Alex: “For me the ‘take away’ would be to have dialogue with the conductor at an early stage and to work together throughout because you generate so many more ideas that way.”
Neil (S6) from Argyll, Scotland I study jazz piano, and have been playing for 11 years. I love how versatile and adaptable it can be in a jazz context and I love the huge range of colour and expression it can create. ‘Jazz standards’ are a big part of what I play so they are always good fun. Also more modern/abstract tunes can be very challenging and pretty inspiring to explore. I do love Bill Evans’ writing. Although Brad Mehldau, Keith Jarrett, Steve Reich and Wayne Shorter are also top favourites. My highlight so far has been going on tour with NYOS Jazz across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland – a great bunch
Yonina (S4) from Frankfurt, Germany I play the piano and I sing. I’ve been playing the piano for almost 12 years and I started singing a few months before I came to the School. I love expressing my feelings with the piano and finding something in between telling my story, my interpretation and the composer’s interpretation. And I love that I can sing but also act at the same time, because I have to show a lot of emotion and understanding. One of my favourite pieces for piano is Mendelssohn’s Rondo Capriccioso, op. 14: I, it has some slow parts with beautiful melodies but the piece is still technically very demanding and you can learn a lot from it. My favourite composer is Mendelssohn. The highlight of my playing career was preparing for the audition at St Mary’s Music School… and then being told that I’d got in.
Ben: “If there is one thing I hope comes out of this, it’s that more people are inspired to go away and listen to composers who write for video games.”
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