Going back to the BBC Proms

It had been a while since my last appearance at the Proms (eight years, to be more precise) so you can imagine my excitement when I was invited back, especially in the year I celebrate my 50^th birthday. As it turned out, the day of the performance marked the 120^th birthday of the Proms too – a complete coincidence, but a great honour nonetheless.

As soon as I received the invitation, I started to wonder: what do I want to share? what is it that I want the audience to experience? My main focus was obviously on repertoire. I wanted to deliver something different, something undoubtedly percussive, but also something that displayed the breadth of expression open to us as percussion players.

After much consideration and careful planning, it was decided – I wanted to do something with my long-time friend and colleague, pianist Philip Smith. I shared the stage with Philip during my very first Proms appearance back in 1989, so joining forces again felt right. There’s some great repertoire out there for percussion and piano duet (rather than percussion accompanied by piano) and this was a great opportunity to give some of it an airing. I also wanted to commission a new piece for the Aluphone, which is a fairly young instrument, the repertoire for which is growing all the time. With this in mind I talked to student composer Bertram Wee, who I worked with last year, to see if he wanted to write a new piece for the instrument – a challenge he took to with great enthusiasm.

We all had a fantastic time. It was a challenging weekend, filled with intense rehearsals, technical jiggery-pokery, a broken mallet and endless cups of coffee. Oh, the things we go through! Here’s a quick glimpse behind the curtain plus some choice words from Bertram and Philip.

“I think the Aluphone is an instrument with a beautiful, otherworldly sound but I think the greatest challenge was trying to overcome it’s physical limitations […] I would love to write more for the instrument in an ensemble/orchestral context, but for solo music I think I’m definitely done for now!”

Bertram Wee

“I like to think of Dithyrambs as an evocation of wild, unbridled worship, a parallel existing in many contemporary Christian churches today – hopefully the connection between this idea and the title doesn’t seem too arbitrary!”

Bertram Wee

“I like to think of Dithyrambs as an evocation of wild, unbridled worship, a parallel existing in many contemporary Christian churches today – hopefully the connection between this idea and the title doesn’t seem too arbitrary!”

Bertram Wee

“To be invited to play at the Proms is always a special thing. Having worked together on and off for over 25 years we could show how we play off each other’s musical statements… I like the way jazz players talk about a solo – ‘he says this so I say that’ – it is a kind of conversation. So, luckily we can converse well musically and get on well personally.”

Philip Smith

“It’s like coming home if we haven’t performed together recently then suddenly something comes up. Like with an old friend, you just pick up from where you left off and carry on with no fuss. In my other work the repertoire is more conventional so it’s an exciting contrast to work with Evelyn, who is always taking on new works and thinking of original projects and ideas to test my brain!”

Philip Smith

“It’s like coming home if we haven’t performed together recently then suddenly something comes up. Like with an old friend, you just pick up from where you left off and carry on with no fuss. In my other work the repertoire is more conventional so it’s an exciting contrast to work with Evelyn, who is always taking on new works and thinking of original projects and ideas to test my brain!”

Philip Smith

BBC Proms Chamber Music 4
Monday 10 August 2015
Cadogan Hall, London

Keiko Abe: Prism Rhapsody
Evelyn Glennie/Philip Sheppard: Orologeria aureola
Bertram Wee: Dithyrambs (world première)
John Psathas: View from Olympus (world première of this version)
John Psathas: Fragment (encore)