Sunday, 29 July 2018

Is chamber music dead or a staple diet for all musicians?


When you are thinking about a musical career I don’t think you cross off any aspect of it. Your repertoire will include concertos, sonatas and recital pieces1. Cellists may well have the goal of becoming a soloist but role models from the past show how you don’t just play with orchestras and piano accompanists as a soloist but you can also play chamber music. Many of the greats like Casals and du Pre have played in chamber ensembles. So it has always been the case that chamber music has been a component of a solo cellist’s repertoire. Everyone benefits from having a diverse repertoire because realistically you won’t have enough engagements to perform as a soloist. So it’s important to have variety in your repertoire and musicianship skills so you can respond to a range of opportunities.  

Young cellists all learn the solo repertoire, including concertos and recital pieces, irrespective of whether they wish to specialise in solo, chamber or orchestral playing. This is because they need to perform concertos, sonatas and shorter recital pieces in order to pass exams and auditions at all levels for a place (Undergraduate/Postgraduate) at a conservatoire. For instance, to audition for a place on the Royal College of Music undergraduate cello course, you need to demonstrate you can play “First movement of a concerto” and “A contrasting piece of your own choice”2. Again, for a place on their taught postgraduate course, you need to prepare a “First (or significant) movement from a major concerto from the 19th or 20th century” and a “A contrasting piece of your own choice”3.  You will not need to demonstrate your ability to play chamber music with others or play within an orchestra for these main degree courses. The only other musician you are allowed to have playing with you is just the one accompanist:

“The only people in your audition room will be you, your accompanist and the audition panel.”4

The same is true of the Guildhall school of Music, with a few additions. For the undergraduate degree in cello, you again prepare “The 1st movement from a concerto in the standard repertory” and “One contrasting piece of the candidate's own choice.”5 In addition, you should prepare a listed study from the Popper High School of Cello Playing. Obviously the solo repertoire is still taught at undergraduate level and seen as an important way to assess proficiency in cello playing because to progress onto their postgraduate degree for Advanced Instrumental Studies, you again need to play “The first movement of a concerto from the standard repertoire with cadenza” and “The first movement of a duo sonata (with piano) written after 1800” in your audition6. Indeed, the extra element to prepare here for postgraduate study involves demonstrating you can play without any accompaniment at all: “One movement of unaccompanied Bach”7. As far as I can see, there are no chamber music qualifications or degrees at these two conservatoires. If you want to specialise in chamber music, you take an optional module/s eg Guildhall School of Music but this is only if you already have a fair amount of chamber music experience and are part of an ensemble, then you put your ensemble forward for consideration for a postgrad option. Afterwards, auditions for joining an orchestra require performing a concerto as a soloist eg Haydn. So the solo repertoire remains highly relevant, even for those who become orchestral players. It is the solo repertoire that is the staple diet for a cellist, not chamber music. The solo cello repertoire, including concertos, sonatas, recital pieces and unaccompanied pieces are also generally considered to be the best music written for the cello. For the top 10, see:


If a cellist doesn’t learn these, s/he is missing out on the best cello music ever written!

So, just like everyone else, I learnt a core repertoire of concertos and recital pieces eg Waldesruhe (Dvorak), Vocalise (Rachmaninoff), The Swan (Saint Saens), sonatas and unaccompanied pieces eg Bach Suites. The purpose was to perform them with pianists or otherwise. I loved technique be it Sevcik for the violin or Feuillard, Franchomme and Popper for the cello. I was even taught some interestingly difficult exercises made up by Rostropovich. At a young age it was all about technique and performance (including reading the score carefully and interpreting how to play what’s written in it) because these are physical skills that are very demanding so it helps to train your fingers to be capable of complex dexterity. The history and musicology behind the music can be learnt just as easily and better when an adult. I think history does play a part in understanding a piece but it doesn’t warrant a deep study of it at a young age. This can be incorporated as and when relevant later to acquire a deeper appreciation of a piece of music and examine how to play it authentically. This is, however, difficult to ascertain because original first publications of scores did not always reflect the composer’s wishes and some were more vocal than others about how representative the score was of their intentions. There is no one objective source to consult which tells us exactly what the composer wanted. Some composers were more prescriptive compared with others who preferred the instrumentalist to have more freedom of interpretation. There are also many different arrangements which, by definition, do not replicate the original score and vary in how much they take the composer’s possible wishes into consideration eg in expression markings. Some pieces are transposed for a different instrument. While some are transposed for a related instrument eg violin to cello, others are unrelated eg horn to cello. Transposing, especially between unrelated instruments, means the instrument, as well as the musician, will express the music very differently from the instrument for which it was originally written. So when we refer to authentic renditions of a piece, what do we mean? What is and isn’t completely authentic is itself open to interpretation.  

Furthermore, there’s nothing wrong with reinterpreting the score and giving it a new, fresh approach. Some may view this as being almost a cross-over style but I think all musicians, classical or not, have made the pieces their own in some way throughout the ages. It’s unavoidable. Much as a writer has their own voice so a musician has theirs. Therefore, the way musicians interpret a piece of music will vary from person to person. Even classical drama eg Shakespeare is often given a contemporary interpretation. We don’t think a contemporary production of a period play is automatically worse simply because it isn’t an historically authentic production. We value the new light it sheds on the play as much as productions which re-enact the original play and the staging of it. Many of ‘the greats’ in the past approached cello pieces in this way eg Casals’ unique interpretation and recording of the Bach Suites. Singers are expected to make songs in their repertoire their own so why shouldn’t instrumentalists? I’m not saying never be authentic but it’s not entirely realistic to be so since we haven’t lived in the composer’s era or often even close to it!

To answer my question, I don’t think chamber music is dead and never has been but neither is it a staple diet for musicians. Many musicians try to be part of a chamber ensemble in the same way as most tennis players play doubles, at some point in their career, not just singles. Is it necessary to play chamber music? No, it isn’t. Just as a few top singles tennis players opt out of doubles it’s perfectly fine for a soloist eg cellist to do likewise and opt out of playing regularly in chamber ensembles and orchestras. They are not less good musicians or tennis players because they haven’t done so. They may well prefer to focus on one specialisation be it singles for a tennis player or as a soloist for a musician. It’s not something everyone wants to do but if they do then their focus may yield unique insights into the solo repertoire. Similarly, top tennis players, especially on the men’s tour, don’t play doubles eg Nadal but he brings something special to the court much as Serena Williams does in the women’s game.

It’s the musician’s choice. Music is a creative process not an academic pursuit so a literal interpretation is not as paramount as expressing an unique voice and providing listeners with an aesthetic experience.   





1 Based on my comments on Steven Isserlis’s post ‘Some good news, amidst somewhat surreal times?’ 7/3/2017 available at:



 3 ibid

4 ibid


6 ibid

7 ibid
at No comments:

What’s the difference between listening and really listening?


One of my earlier cello teachers would constantly say ‘You have to REALLY listen!’ (I use uppercase because she emphasized that word)1. I’ve spent the rest of my life hearing that phrase in my head and repeating it. I’ve always remembered it despite not fully appreciating what it meant at the time. I thought: I am listening! What more can I do? What’s the difference between listening and really listening? Over the years I’ve come to realise two things. One, there are many ways of listening as a musician, many of which we take for granted. Two, there’s also different levels of intensity and concentration involved when listening to yourself and others.  

I started learning the violin and cello within group classes (3 & 5/6yrs of age respectively). It was fun playing with them as a group. This starts a child on the road to really listening which is of great value in itself and probably the best way to start learning an instrument rather than having individual lessons. In addition, I attended classes at a well-known theatre school from a very early age. So I had already learnt to listen, co-ordinate and co-operate with others whether it be playing classical instruments, singing, dancing, acting, musical theatre or working as a large group when putting on a show. In retrospect, I have come to appreciate the diversity of musical experience I was exposed to as a child which helped me later. It’s similar to sport. If you want to be a professional tennis player it’s a good idea to play other sports too when you’re younger. Likewise, if you want to be a professional musician it helps to participate in a wide range of musical experiences and genres. So, for me, working with others, including musically, comes naturally.

Really listening to your playing as well as the musicians around you is not a skill that is unique to playing with an orchestra or playing chamber music. All musicians in every genre need to develop these various musicianship skills. For instance, it makes no sense for a singer to go off on their own tangent leaving musicians to keep up as best they can. That would be a cacophony. Take a pop star, such as, Celine Dion. She is a solo singer but, nevertheless, has backing singers and a band. All of them have to co-ordinate and synchronize otherwise no-one will come to the concerts! There are often certain chords or drum beats that cue the singer to land certain notes and if this isn’t timed absolutely correctly then the song falls apart. Equally, Celine can’t just speed up in the middle of a song when she feels like it because it would confuse her backing singers and band and they’ll end up out of sync with her. Unhappy backers, unhappy band and one unhappy audience who couldn’t sing along to their favourite song.

It’s the same with classical musicians. The soloist is important but not to the extent that the conductor and orchestra are left to fend for themselves while s/he plays the concerto as s/he hears it in her head without paying any attention to the musical dialogue between soloist and orchestra. As for conductors, I don’t think paying attention to a conductor or choir leader should replace being sensitive to what’s going on around you musically. Conductors or choir leaders add something different to the mix. For instance, they give cues to improve anticipation, timing, and help a large group of musicians or singers gel together with ease. They impart musical ideas and feedback as and when needed.

Listening to yourself helps you maintain perfect pitch and intonation as well as a good tonal quality. It also trains you to have an ear for simultaneously listening to yourself and others with whom you are making music as well as how your combined efforts blend together musically and aesthetically. In addition, you have to be quick enough to adapt and adjust to the musicians around you and the conductor/leader in a matter of milliseconds to keep a balance between pre-prepared interpretation and an element of spontaneity within the musical interactions. So, for instance, in a concerto, it’s a dialogue between soloist and orchestra. It’s always a matter of knowing when to, figuratively speaking, talk and when to listen. If the two (soloist, orchestra) don’t do this and talk over each other it ceases to be a musical conversation, loses meaning and becomes a mess. The same applies to singing or playing a musical instrument accompanied by a pianist. When playing my cello repertoire with my cello teacher accompanying me on the piano, I found myself listening to what I was playing as well as what she was playing as an accompaniment and remembering to complement her to create a harmonious sound. This skill also translated well when singing pop and musical theatre songs with my singing teachers accompanying me and/or us singing as a group.

So to return to my two points at the beginning. What you take for granted is the variety of ways you listen as a musician:

1)      You listen to your playing/singing but not in a general way which merely results in you hearing yourself. You train your ear to pick up the slightest changes of pitch and tonal quality and learn how to make constant tiny adjustments to maintain consistency and perfection. Nobody achieves 100% perfection but we all have to strive for it to provide the best possible experience for the listener/audience.



Furthermore, different genres have different pitches. Classical music has the highest pitch, making its standard pitch slightly sharper than the norm. Some pop singers, especially divas, use a more classical pitch while most others’ pitch is slightly flatter to varying degrees. Musical theatre singers are mostly around the norm in pitch although those with some classical background may be closer to a classical pitch. Country and folk singers generally have a flatter pitch but there are exceptions such as Dolly Parton. Some genres have their own scale. For instance, the blues scale flattens the 3rd, 7th and sometimes 5th even though it is a major scale. In classical music, minor scales characteristically have a flattened/minor sound so composers use this scale to write music in a minor key to depict sad emotions as opposed to major scales and keys which are typically seen as conveying happiness. Musicians nearly always choose one pitch and sing or play everything according to it.



I sing and play the cello (and other instruments) according to classical pitch, partly because that was how I was taught as a child and partly for technical reasons, such as it keeps you more reliably in tune. However, when making music with others, especially when singing with others, it is very useful to be aware of their type of pitch and adjust accordingly so you blend with them and avoid pitch clashes. This is part of what my cello teacher meant by REALLY listening: develop your listening skills so you pick up on small details and not just the general picture.  



2)      Pitch isn’t the only aspect of music you need to attune your ear to in order to have musical awareness. Other aspects include tempo, rhythm, rests, when and how others are beginning and ending notes, their colouring, timbre and volume. All this takes a huge amount of concentration and intensity. This is the difference between listening and REALLY listening. You cease to listen to music like a non-musician who can relax and let the music wash over them. For the musician, it’s a matter of combining all these different types of listening with heightened awareness and concentration and being attentive to the minutest details in sound production. It’s not a passive process but a constant, active process of analytical, critical listening.



1Based on my comment on facebook in response to Steven Isserlis’s post: ‘All the World’s a (chamber music) stage…’ 28/06/2017 available at:

at No comments: