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Manchester Pride Rules - 17-27 August 2012

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marc yeats

A contemporary classical composer and visual artist, Marc Yeats is our newly appointed Composer in Association.

He has written a special piece for this year's Pride Chamber Music Concerts, entitled “schlick’s approximation”, for clarinet, violin & piano, based on themes by Samuel Barber.

 www.myspace.com/marcyeats

We caught up with Marc Yeats to find out what makes him tick:

You are Manchester Pride's newly appointed Composer-in-Association. How important is it for you to be involved with the Pride Chamber Music Concerts?

I’m really thrilled about this! It’s not every day that a composer gets asked to be associate composer to a Pride festival, in fact, I think this may be the first time it has happened as I know of no other composers in association with Prides around the UK. So, perhaps a little bit of history being made? It's also an unusual and novel association for a composer as 'composers in association' are more commonly associated with orchestras or music festivals rather than Pride festivals. I’m thrilled to be part of a fantastic festival that celebrates life and diversity. And, in bringing a composer such as myself into the mix, the issue of diversity (in music) is further enhanced because the kind of music I write is very abstract; a wonderful contrast to some of the other forms of music available for festival goers to enjoy at Pride. So yes, I’m ecstatic!

You have written a piece especially for Manchester Pride 2010 and it will be premièring on Thursday 26th August. What can we expect from it?

It’s difficult to talk about what a new piece of music will sound like and describe it in words, but I can give you some idea of what inspirations lie behind the work:

Schlick’s Approximation, for clarinet, violin and piano was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of the birth of American composer Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981). The title for the work is drawn from the physics of refraction, in this case, refraction and reflection of light from metal surfaces (schlick’s approximation).

Why refraction? I felt that the physics of refraction best reflected some of the compositional processes and considerations that went into creating this music. My inspiration and starting point was the beautiful and lyrical work by Barber called Canzone, for flute and piano. From this piece I took the second phrase notated for flute and refracted (distorted) and harmonised it to the point where it was still recognisable but had become something quite different.

There is also reference to a work of mine: shadow and the moon. The refracted material from Canzone permeates the entire work but much of the fragmentary melodic material is extrapolated from shadow and the moon. Together with new material for the piano, the combined elements create a trio that I hope reflects much of the lyricism found in Barber’s Canzone whilst reflecting my own compositional aesthetics and language.

Where do you get your inspirations from when creating a visual art piece or music composition?

That’s a really hard question to answer. Inspiration comes from life and living life – from all those experiences, from everything you sense. These experiences, thoughts and impressions are stored somewhere deep inside memory and perception. They gestate and eventually emerge, quite transformed, into a piece of music or painting. Of course, there are intellectual faculties that are brought to bear on this process too; you need to know how to use instruments and notate music, you also need to know your craft and have a sense of your aesthetics.

Contrary to what most people think, there isn’t any direct correlation between what I’m feeling at the time I write a piece of music and what the music turns out like. A bad day or terribly frustrating week doesn’t necessarily result in music that expresses those feelings at that time – the process is a lot less obvious and a lot less ‘romantic’ than that. A commission involves certain parameters – instruments to be used, duration, occasion and sometimes a starting point or theme are suggested, such as in this commission where the starting point was the work of another composer. These parameters create the vessel into which I pour my musical thoughts. Often, I will not know exactly what I am going to end up with; I just have an impression of a mood or colour. That becomes my starting point and from there I let my imagination, craft and the musical material itself guide me to where it best feels realised. It’s a voyage of discovery for me too!

How did you get involved with music and how would you encourage others?

I loved music, especially classical music ever since I was a young teenage boy. My journey through music was a very frustrating one. I knew I had to write music – I believed that I could write music but was frustrated by my total lack of knowledge about how music worked, what instruments could do and how one wrote music down. Yet, I would hear this strange stuff – my own music - bubbling away in my head whilst feeling utterly frustrated about not being able to capture it or do anything with it in any way. For several years I despaired, not knowing what to do to bring this torment to an end.

When I was 16 I began the long journey of teaching myself how to read and write music. It took many years. As soon as I understood something, my imagination quickly moved on, demanding new techniques to be mastered. My musical imagination was constantly running ahead of my ability to keep up with it. Again, this was totally frustrating. Eventually, when I was 34, I had a number of breakthroughs in writing my music down that resulted in my sending some of my rather illiterate scores off to various people. One of these was Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and the Hoy Summer School that he ran on Orkney back then. Max saw my potential, took me under his wing and created some wonderful opportunities for me. I learnt much. I also realised that coming from a background where I had no musical or instrumental training, whilst not the best career start, turned out in many ways to inform a large part of the process that developed my musical voice and imagination into what it is today. As Max always used to tell me, “you are your own man”.

I would like to think that even after my inauspicious start as a composer, if I can now write music, feel fulfilled in what I do and hopefully bring some pleasure or distraction to others, it’s possible for anyone to do it where they have sufficient passion, drive and ultimately, self belief to carry them through the inevitable hurdles. If you love music, or have an interest in it; any hidden desires or aspirations to be a musician, then play and learn an instrument, listen to music, everything and anything, don’t be afraid to have a go at composing or improvising, learn how to write music down, if you want, but most of all, indulge your passion. Music is one of the most amazing gifts we have to enjoy. Go for it – get involved however you can and never say never!

Are you attending the Big Weekend this year and if so, is there anything in particular you are looking forward to seeing or doing at this year’s Manchester Pride?

Unfortunately I’m on a very tight schedule around that time so will only be able to come down for the concert itself plus a little time either side of that. However, I have very fond memories of Manchester. I met my partner, Mark at a concert at the RNCM in 1997. I also had several orchestral pieces commissioned, premiered, performed and broadcast by the BBC Philharmonic from Studio 7 in Broadcasting house. And, I’m fortunate enough to have a number of wonderful friends who live in Manchester whom I shall enjoy catching up with and hopefully bring along to the concert!

What else have you got in the pipeline for 2010?

My trio for flute, cello and piano, Strange Geometry, commissioned by Trio IAMA (Greece) is to be premiered in Cyprus (Nicosia / Shoe Factory) on the 10th November 2010 and later performed in Berlin at BKA Theatre on the 7th. December 2010.

There are a range of other premieres in the pipe-line happening in Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, Taiwan, and Malaysia with 'orare' (2009) for bass trombone and piano (dedicated to Dirk Amrein and Jürg Henneberger), and Conversational Geometry (2009) for amplified acoustic guitar, tenor trombone and piano (also dedicated to Dirk Amrein and Jürg Henneberger). Conversational Geometry will be recorded by Swiss Radio for broadcast in 2011.

Closer to home, October 2010 will see the premiere of 'rhêma' (2010) for harpsichord. Commissioned by BBC Radio 3. First performed by Mahan Esfahani, Leeds, October 2010. Subsequent broadcast on BBC Radio 3 scheduled for early 2011 (dedicated to Mahan Esfahani) duration circa 10.5 minutes.

Also later this year the world premiere of 'shadow, and the moon' (2009) (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, marimba, piano) commissioned by Kokoro (dedicated to Errollyn Wallen) - duration circa 19 mins. – will take place in Dorset.

There are a number of exciting and innovative collaborative projects that are coming to fruition as well. All in all, a very busy and active year!


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