Claire Edwardes Percussion  

 

    

  CLAIRE EDWARDES
PERCUSSION

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"French Music Magazine" / "Australian Music Centre Magazine" / "Beyond the Premiere"

Interview "French Music Magazine" 2005

I understand you started your studies in Australia. What was your 1st contact with percussion.

I began playing music when I was 5 – on piano. It wasn’t until late primary school that I discovered the magical world of percussion. As I wanted to play with other musicians in wind ensembles and orchestras I decided to give percussion a go – I actually auditioned on piano when I was 10 (as I couldn’t play any percussion then) and they put me on the xylophone as they were low on people who wanted to play xylophone. I was the youngest in a group of teenage boys who liked to bash drums really loud – so I never got to play snare drum or timpani – only the “girly” instruments like xylophone and glockenspiel.

When I was 18 and finishing high school I knew I wanted to become a professional musician so I decided to give percussion a go (even though I couldn’t really even play a snare drum roll at this stage) and I got into the Sydney Conservatorium Bachelor program! In my first year I worked very hard on the basics – 4 mallet technique on marimba, timpani and snare drum rolls and multiple percussion set-up pieces.

I realised quite fast that in the world of percussion you have two styles of music – transcriptions and often quite “corny” music composed by percussionists for percussionists to play and listen to and then you have “contemporary” music. I was like most other students – I had almost only been exposed to classical piano music as well as tonal and tuneful wind band music, so my ears were not at all used to the often challenging world of contemporary music. Through a new music ensemble which I was asked to join in my second year at the conservatorium I grew to love contemporary music, realising that it had a lot more to offer me musically! To this day it is still my passion! I realise that not all audiences are often exposed to or even fond of contemporary music but I believe that through balanced programming as a soloist and chamber percussionist and musician, I can help to bring contemporary music to a wider audience. Somehow, because of its visual element, contemporary percussion music is I think, easier to digest for audiences. It is a slow process but I believe that people like to be aurally and visually challenged and that is what percussion offers.

Why did you go to Holland? What kind of training were you looking for? What did you learn ?

My passion for new music is what took me to Holland for my post-graduate studies. I knew that there was a lot of government support for the arts in The Netherlands and especially for contemporary music ensembles. Also because it is such a small country I knew that if I was based in a particular city I could always easily travel to other cities to attend concerts and even play in concerts and festivals. I initially decided to study at the Rotterdam Conservatorium. A lot of my Australian peers had chosen to study in Amsterdam and I wanted to try something new and different. Although the department itself was quite young I learnt a great deal from my teachers Richard Janson and Hans Leenders, which I will carry with me for the rest of my career. As well as being exposed to a huge amount of new music by both young and established Dutch composers and also having the opportunity to meet a lot of composers, I learnt a lot about performance technique and how to present myself on stage – this was invaluable to me. I had already won a competition in 1999 (directly prior to moving to Holland) in Australia called “Young Performers” which is like BBC Young Musician – a national instrumental competition. I guess I had a good basis of technique and a natural presence on stage but it was something I had never spent so much time dwelling on and it was amazing (and also quite alarming) to find how much more there was to learn in relation to communicating with an audience at the same time as being true to the music! I went on to be awarded first place in a percussion competition (2000 Tromp Concours) in Holland which led to some great performance opportunities in Europe, as well as the Llangollen International Instrumentalist in 2001. As well as boosting my confidence these competition wins meant some very good exposure in Holland and Europe and also helped financially whilst I was still studying.

I went on in 2001 to spend the last two year’s of my Master’s degree at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. I wanted to stay in Holland and wanted to make the most of the fact that there were still several teaches who I felt I still had more to learn from in the Netherlands – in Amsterdam I studied with Peter Prommel, Jan Pustjens and Nick Woud. I graduated with honours in 2003.

 What groups (orchestras, quartet, duo...) you enjoy the most?

Now my career involves a mixture of solo performances (recitals as well as concerto’s with orchestra), chamber music recitals and performances as a freelance artist with small contemporary music ensembles as well as symphony orchestras. I have formed some of my own ensembles – “Duo Vertigo”, a percussion duo with Dutch percussionist Niels Meliefste as well as a duo with oboe and a duo with violin. I play often with bass clarinettist Carlos Galvez as well as several amazing pianist – Nicolas Hodges (UK), Tomoko Mukaiyama (Japan) and Ralph van Raat (the Netherlands). I love the one on one contact of small chamber music ensembles – every musician has his and her own input and the level attained can be extremely high. Plus of course you are not the only one carrying around your percussion instruments (which is certainly the case as a soloist!) – this is a huge practical bonus! In the summer I will record “The Axe Manuel” by Sir Harrison Birtwistle with Nicolas Hodges on the label Metronome Recordings Limited. We peformed the UK premiere and will make the premiere recording of this fantastic piece by a living master of comtemporary music!

 I understand you are playing today’s composers. Would you like to talk about some of them?

Other composers whose percussion and ensemble music I love to play include Iannis Xenakis, Luciano Berio, Franco Donatoni, Pierre Boulez and some of the music of Karlhienz Stockhausen (but not all!). As far as Dutch and Australian composers go I have close collaborations with a lot of the younger, up and coming composers who have written me pieces which are now a part of my repertoire. These composers include (from Australia) - Dominik Karski, Damien Ricketson, Mary Finsterer and Kate Neal and from the Netherlands, Rozalie Hirs, Michel van de Aa, Yannis Kyriakides and Richard Rijnvos.

Are you teaching percussion?

I don’t have a regular position teaching in a conservatorium yet (as I only graduated myself in 2003) BUT I would very music like to hold such a position soon! I feel that I have a lot to offer in regards to marimba technique, performance technique and a vast knowledge of repertoire. I now have some young private students and get a lot of pleasure out of teaching!

Do you have some other interests beside the percussion you would like to talk about?

It is difficult when you are a busy freelance percussionist to have time to spend on your other interests. I find that I am either completely stressed out and racing around with no time to practise let alone spend time with my boyfriend and other friends or I am sitting around wondering why the phone is not ringing (although the latter does not happen so often anymore). It is definitely hard to lead a balanced life style when you are travelling a lot. Having to organise and move instruments and every week is different but I do love to cook (from Australian cookbooks) when I have time and I also love to swim and watch good movies – the simple things in life. When I am in Australia my favourite thing is to lie on the beach all day and swim in the surf and then have a fresh salad at a laid back café by Bronte beach in Sydney. The lifestyle in Australia is amazing!


Article "Australian Music Centre Magazine" by Claire Edwardes 2004

I originally moved to the Netherlands on a Dutch NUFFIC scholarship which funded my first years of postgraduate percussion study at the Rotterdam Conservatorium. I left Australia almost the day after winning Young Performers in 1999. I can honestly say that at the time I was quite aware of the younger as well as the more established composers in Australia (through my time at the Sydney Conservatorium and being involved in the founding of Ensemble Offspring) but as far as ever having commissioned a work or taking any really assertive measures towards stimulating or becoming deeply involved in the scene on a personal level, I had little idea where to begin.

Obviously this had a lot to do with age (or lack thereof) as well as respect in the (Australian) musical community. I feel that finally these two aspects are beginning to develop as my career develops (although I could never say that I am overjoyed about the former). I believe very strongly in now attempting to use my experience in Europe and the fact that I am passionate about solo and chamber performance art. By commissioning new works for the ever-growing medium of percussion from Australian composers, I aim to include some of them in my "basic repertoire" and therefore perform them wherever I have the opportunity to, "overseas". This is already true of the music of young composers like Damien Ricketson and Domink Karski. 

I am still very much in touch with a lot of Australian composers and I am actively commissioning from my base in the Netherlands (with regular trips back to Australia). I often include classics of the repertoire as well as new works (often premieres) in my concerts as a part of a varied program. If the composition is strong, original and for a manageable set-up, I will try to include it (as much as possible) in my programming.  I hope that by putting, for example, composers like Maria Grenfell and Jane Stanley alongside more world-famous composers such as Arvo Part and Iannis Xenakis in a program in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (as I recently did), Australian composers are given greater exposure that is wholly deserved.

Often the rhythmic vigour and the optimistic and even light-hearted character of the “classic” Australian sound (especially found in the percussion music of Ross Edwards, Gerry Brophy and Peter Sculthorpe), excites the audience resulting in a really warm reaction to the music.

Maybe it is just coincidence, but there seem to be a lot of exciting young Australian female composers emerging at the moment – Kate Neal, Kate Moore, Katy Abbott and of course Mary Finsterer, Elena Kats-Chernin and Liza Lim. I am by no means a feminist but, being a female, I am an obvious advocate of women in music. I actively pursue commissions and performances of works by women whose work I find inspiring!

I hope, one day soon to return to Australia as an active musician. Whilst I am based in Europe though I plan to continue to include and advocate the Australian “voice” in my music making!

::Beyond the
Premiere:::::

by Claire Edwardes

 

 

 

 

Award-winning Australian percussionist Claire Edwardes writes on the re-interpretation of recent works by performers working beyond the premiere.

 

 

 

 

In most instances of new music composition, and with particular reference to percussion literature, nearly all works have been, and still are, written with a specific composer/ performer bond. This collaborative process guides the composer, often in instrumentation choice and technical issues stemming from the vast range of what are now classified as percussion instruments, available to composers today.

every interpretation grows from the score and is a truly original reflection of the performer’s priorities in music

It is the first great collaborative partnership in percussion literature, which springs to mind - that of Silvio Gualda and Iannis Xenakis. We know from old recordings, that technical mastery of multiple set-up in percussion (different instruments being played together such as skins woods and metal instruments) has developed greatly since the time of this collaboration, some 25 years ago. But in keeping this fact in mind, the way in which Xenakis always wrote for percussion was aimed at pushing the existing technical and physical boundaries. In both of his percussion solos, Psappha (1975) and Rebounds (1989), there are numerous techniques and entire sections for which the performer has to find his or her own solutions before they can realize the work. It was surely not technically possible in the time of Gualda (and may never be) to literally read and subsequently play what Xenakis actually wrote. This means that every interpretation grows from the score and is a truly original reflection of the performer’s priorities in music.

once wading through the onslaught of notes, the performer must ultimately make music

Another good example of such a composition is Bone Alphabet by Brian Ferneyhough (I hear the percussionists reading this screaming in horror). If anyone has ever pursued the score of this seldom-performed work, written in 1992 for Steven Schick they would have found themselves overwhelmed with strange poly-rhythms and seemingly unnecessary complex rhythmic layers

Although complexist composers are often criticized for difficult-to-read scores and over-complicated rhythmic text, what results from this style of writing is, as in the case of Xenakis, a freedom from the score and therefore a very personal interpretation. Once wading through the onslaught of notes, the performer must ultimately make music.

the first performance should never be considered the peak in the development of that particular work

Another factor which frees up the creative journey for the performer in Bone Alphabet, is the choice of instruments - no two performers are ever quite the same, as “within certain limits the performer is free to choose the 7 instruments” (Brian Ferneyhough: Bone Alphabet performance notes, solo percussion score, Peters Edition). Steve Schick even uses different combinations of instruments in each performance, depending on what is at hand, proving that there is the score itself. Often composers take the opposite angle, in limiting the instrumentation of a piece to what their performer’s studio contains. This is of course a great starting point, but what must be remembered by composer and performer alike, is that no two performances should be exactly the same. It is a basic freedom of choice for the performer, of colour along with an open interpretation of the music itself that makes the medium of percussion so exciting and ever growing.

When studying and interpreting a work, I always find it interesting and important to keep in mind a couple of things. Firstly how the performer, for whom the piece was written, could and would have played the piece; what the composer actually wants or wanted; and, most importantly, what you as the performer are capable of NOW. Whilst the collaborative process is important, and almost essential in writing for percussion, the first performance should never be considered the peak in the development of that particular work. This is why the works above of Xenakis and Ferneyhough are both extremely interesting cases, as both have received quality, and varied performances since the premieres, which have contributed to the sense of a developing perception of the works.”

       

For More Information Contact:

Claire Edwardes - Percussion
Tel: +61 409848750 (AUS)
       +31 623030996 (NL)
Internet: claire@claireedwardes.com

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