PHILIP FOWKE
PIANIST
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Philip just returned from the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam where he performed with the Prince Consort, a group founded by his former student Alisdair Hogarth. The recital was broadcast live on Netherlands 4 and you can listen to the concert for a limited period here.
On 2 December 2012 at 11am, Philip will be appearing at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with his former student Alisdair Hogarth and the Prince Consort. The programme features the complete Brahms Liebeslieder and will be broadcast live on the radio.
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Biography
".........Claudio Arrau was to have been the soloist in tonight’s Promenade Concert.The virtuosity and acute musianship of Philip Fowke, who took his place, repaired the omission in no uncertain terms." The DailyTelegraph
Philip Fowke, known for his many BBC Promenade Concert appearances, numerous recordings and broad range of repertoire, has appeared in many of the major concert halls worldwide with leading conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Simon Rattle and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky. Philip Fowke is currently Senior Fellow of Keyboard at Trinity College of Music and is recognized for his teaching, coaching and tutoring in which he enjoys exploring students’ potential, encouraging them to develop their own individuality. Unconventional and alternative, he avoids methods and systems preferring a more holistic, imaginative approach. He is a regular tutor at the International Shrewsbury Summer School as well as at Chethams International Summer School and will be returning to both next year. Has also been invited to be on the jury of the 2nd International Shura Cherkassky Piano Competition to be held in Milan in 2012.
Philip Fowke has made recordings for EMI, Lyrita, Unicorn, CRD, Chandos and Naxos. These include the concertos of Addinsell, Bliss, Delius, Hoddinnott, Rachmaninoff, Ravel and Tchaikowsky. He has also made solo records including the Complete Chopin Waltzes, the Chopin Sonatas, and an album of Piano Transcriptions. He has recently made a CD with The Prince Concert for Linn Records in which he and Stephen Hough both partner Alisdair Hogarth on the piano. This recording has received outstanding acclaim, and was nominated CD of the month by Gramophone Magazine. He has also recently recorded the Piano Sonata no 3 and Tango by Antony Hopkins CBE in celebration of the composer’s 90th birthday.
Philip Fowke has recently performed with The Prince Consort in the Wigmore Hall, Cheltenham Festival, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (broadcast live on Netherlands 4), and he also gave a solo recital at the Fairfield Hall. His recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no 2 and the Paganini Rhapsody with the RPO conducted by Yuri Temirkanov on EMI has recently been re-released.
ALTERNATIVE BIOGRAPHY
Coming to a website near you soon...
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Diary
- 20122 DecemberConcertgebouw, AmsterdamRecital with The Prince Consort9 DecemberWestminster Cathedral Hall, LondonRecital for Chopin Society20135 FebruaryClass in Calcutta, India6 FebruaryRecital in Calcutta, India2 MarchRecital in Poona, India12 AprilWorthing Civic HallAdjudicator in 2nd Sussex International Piano Competition10-12 MayGreat Elm, Frome, SomersetTutor at Jackdaws Educational Trust16 MayMilanRecital at Societa del Giardino24 MayCambridgeCharity recital in aid of Cambridgeshire Mencap, dedicated to the late Geoffrey Long6-7 JuneTheatre du ChateletTutor at Festival de piano Les Amateurs15-21 JulyTutor at Musiques Festival Colombes France14-20 AugustChethams, Manchester29-30 AugustChristchurch University, Canterbury
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Audio
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Press
- The extrovert piano virtuoso is hardly a British species, but Philip Fowke unquestionably belongs to it...his unabashed pleasure in this genre of pianism is thoroughly taking, a kind of executive privilege that he has fully earnedFINANCIAL TIMES
Claudio Arrau was to have been the soloist in tonight's Promenade concert at the Royal Albert Hall, the virtuosity and acute musicianship of Philip Fowke, who took his place, repaired the omission in no uncertain terms.THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
Philip Fowke joins Alisdair Hogarth on piano for the Brahms and they play with such unanimity that a listener not familiar with the piano could be forgiven for thinking it was just one musician.SA-CD.net review of 'Other Love Songs'
Mr. Fowke's interpretation was appropriately informed by a single expressive thrust. There was some splendid pianism here...Fowke threw it all off with a fine display of apparently careless rapture which in fact concealed an admirably stringent discipline.THE TIMES
The Prince Consort, a flexible group of five singers and pianist Alisdair Hogarth (here joined by pianist Philip Fowke), deliver a performance of sparkle and precision, restoring muscularity to Brahms's charming part-songs.THE OBSERVER review of 'Other Love Songs'
Not only is it a generous pianist who ends a two hour-long recital with the Liszt Sonata, but if the latter work retains a grip on mind and fingers, it is an uncommonly fit one too.THE GUARDIAN
Fowke is a player with a glittering technique, a compelling confidence on stage and, above all, an intellect.THE DAILY TELEGRAPHPHILIP FOWKE AT 60
An interview with Murray McLachlan
EPTA Professional Piano MagazineWhen and how did you first get started at the piano?When I first went to my Kindergarten school I remember being fascinated listening to and watching the headmistress, Miss France, playing the big upright piano. I couldn't keep my eyes off it. Initially I taught myself as my sister had started learning and we had recently had a piano delivered to our house. Miss France used to ask me to play during break which is when I first began to have a taste for showing off. I remember playing "The British Grenadiers" with an improvised bass.Tell us about your family and how they responded to music in particular.They were always very supportive. I had two aunts on both sides of the family who had been to the Royal Academy of Music. I was, fortunately, never coerced, and the piano was treated as an absorbing hobby. For this, I am eternally gratefulWhen did you first realise that you wanted to be a musician and/or pianist?This came relatively late. Although my wonderful teacher, Marjorie Withers (wife of Herbert "Bertie" Withers, cellist, who was Head of Chamber Music at the Royal Academy of Music in the 1930s) encouraged me in every way, and got me to a standard where I was able to play on "Music Club" a programme on the Childrens' Department of the BBC Home Service when I was 13 yrs old, it never occurred to me that this could be a profession. When I was 16, my father and aunt took me to the Royal Festival Hall to hear Julius Katchen, and that was a turning point. I remember feeling cross that he could play Brahms Paganini Variations better than I could. I determined to try to reach his level from that moment on. It was in a tea shop in Beaconsfield that I told my mother that I wanted to become a pianistDescribe in as much detail as you can stand the influences and approaches of each of your teachers and/or mentors.Marjorie Withers, whom I mentioned earlier, was a great influence. She lived in Gerrards Cross where we did, and I used to love the lessons at Hillside, her atmospheric house. A fine pianist herself who had studied with Percy Waller at the Royal Academy of Music in the 1920s, she was an outstandingly gifted teacher. Although detailed and rigorous in many ways, there was always laughter and a sense of adventure. Above all, she allowed me great freedom in indulging my passion for popular music, then Russ Conway and Winifred Atwell. She always encouraged me in this and to explore my own arrangements and harmonizations. She was ahead of her time in many ways. Her regular pupils' concerts were always a highlight though I was always placed last so learnt from an early age the agony of waiting to perform.
I would also like to pay tribute to the late John Rowley who was a teacher at my prep school Gayhurst in Gerrards Cross. He was a Morris dancer and he trained a group of boys to be a Morris team and I played the melodeon, an instrument I loved and still do. We became a rather well known boys' team and went round the country with some considerable success, notably at the Sidmouth Folk Festival in 1963. We were filmed by the local TV station and I have often wondered whether it still exists in some archive or other. Playing the wonderful tunes gave me a pretty good knowledge of country music and, I like to think, a strong sense of steady pulse. It also gave me a love of dance…if not actually dancing!
I would also like to mention the late Roger Bevan who was Director of Music at Downside Abbey School where I boarded from 1964-1967. Frederick Grinke and Geoffrey Pratley came to give a recital in about 1966 and Roger Bevan arranged for me to play to them for an assessment of my abilities and what they would advise. And so it was that I went to the Royal Academy of Music to study with Gordon Green on their recommendation.
Gordon Green was so much more than a great teacher. A great human being of wide interest, learned, and with a fund of anecdotes, literary, musical and scatological on occasion. His aim, as he often said, was to make himself redundant…meaning that his priority was to enable a students to think for themselves and to become their own teacher. He had a gift for bringing out the individuality of every student, to allow them to develop in their own way, and yet under wise and careful stewardship. His maxim that too many pianists play too well too soon has stayed with me to this day. He was interested in talent developing like a fine wine over years of careful nurturing. Not for him the microwaved interpretations so prevalent these days.Is there anyone else who was helpful to you?There have been many people who have been supportive and helpful over the years; I think of dear Lucie Swiateck, foundress of the Chopin Society who did so much for me and many other young pianists. I was enormously fortunate to meet Daisy Kennedy, violinist and first wife of Benno Moiseiwitsch, at a recital I gave at Lucie's newly founded society. Daisy was an impressive and beautiful old lady of over 80 years of age and I fell for her instantly. She suggested I contact her younger daughter Sandra, then living not far from us in Buckinghamshire. She had one of Benno's Steinways and to cut a long story short, I acquired this piano together with the music cabinet and all Benno's annotated scores…an enormous treasure. I kept his music for 25 years until conscience got the better of me and I donated the collection to the British Library. I subsequently inherited Benno's other Steinway which Tanya, the stage designer and elder daughter, was anxious I should have so that the two pianos could be together again after a separation of nearly forty years.
Shura Cherkassky was a pianist I have always held in high regard and affection. I loved his playing from the first; it appealed on every level. His colour, his spontaneity, the sheer beauty of sound. And then, of course, his mischievous teasing of inner parts often to great effect, sometimes rather less so…but always thought provoking. I got to know him well and used to visit him often at the White House Hotel where he lived near Regent's Park. For all his success and busy concert schedule, he was intensely lonely. He craved company and was always happy to chat on the phone…though, as he told me, he timed the call and deducted the number of minutes from his daily practice schedule of four hours. In this way, he could always be sure of making up the time lost in the call. He once memorably said to me that if I heard him practise I wouldn't think he could play the piano! On another occasion when, somewhat naively I asked him for some practising tips, he thought for a while and simply replied that he always tried to play the notes "right in the middle". I was disappointed with this answer, but have now come to value it as there is rather more to this than I perceived at the time.
An amusing anecdote I cannot resist sharing is the time Shura and I went for a walk in Regents Park. It was a pleasant and leisurely afternoon, and it came about that Shura needed to answer the call of nature quite urgently. I could think of nowhere convenient, but as we were close to the Royal Academy of Music, I thought that would provide the appropriate facilities. Shura was rather amused himself having never been to the RAM. It gave me a certain pleasure to direct Shura Cherkassky, one of the world's greatest pianists, to such a striking public convenience in the Marylebone Road!Describe some of the joys and sorrows of being a professional pianist which you have encountered.This is a difficult one. In many ways performing makes conflicting demands. It is not enough simply to be able to play. There is so much more. I remember Gordon Green saying that the finest performances one gives can often be those in which one is almost disengaged in the sense that one is, as it were, the director, the producer, the lighting engineer, prompt, stage manager etc. One needs to maintain a certain distance from the proceedings in order to ensure that everything goes according to plan.. In many ways one has to be slightly mad to perform, schizophrenic, enormously resilient physically, emotionally and psychologically. Above all, it is a very lonely activity and never more so than walking on to a platform…or off for that matter. A successful performer has to have the heart of a poet and the hide of a rhinocerosTell us in detail about when you famously stepped in for Claudio Arrau at the Edinburgh Festival.1983 was a memorable year for me; I was playing everywhere and was continuing a series of recordings for EMI….the Chopin Waltzes on this occasion. I had been invited to play the Chopin E minor concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Norman Del Mar, and I was also asked by the BBC to understudy Claudio Arrau in the Weber Koncertstuck and the Strauss Burlesqe. Arrau was becoming quite elderly and prone to cancelling concerts, hence this invitation. As it happened, such had been my commitments that year, I found myself back in London with exactly five weeks to learn all this repertoire including the Chopin. In my studio in the East End of London, I remember working in the sweltering heat of that summer and planning a schedule of practise which totalled something like eleven hours per day. I gave myself a deadline of knowing everything, securely and from memory, of three weeks. I gave a private concert to some friends knowing that I still had another two weeks of honing and polishing. I knew throughout this period that I was going through something that would change me for life and nothing would ever quite be the same again. And so it has proved. Arrau duly cancelled and so I found myself with two Prom appearances that year barely three weeks apart as well as a repeat of the Arrau programme at the Edinburgh Festival with the LPO conducted by Klaus TennstedtDescribe and list each of the proms that you have appeared in.- 1979 Ireland Piano Concerto BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Simon Rattle (televised on BBC TV)
- 1981 Ravel LH Piano Concerto BBC Concert Orchestra Nicholas Cleobury
- 1982 Rachmaninoff Paganini Rhapsody RPO Sir Charles Groves
- 1983 Strauss Burlesque: Weber Koncertstuck RPO Norman Del Mar
- Chopin E minor BBC SO Norman Del Mar
- 1984 Ravel G major BBC SO Dennis Russell Davies
- 1986 Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no4 CBSO Simon Rattle
- 1987 Dohnanyi Nursery Song Variations Hallé Bryden Thomson (televised on BBC TV)
- 1990 Prokofiev Piano Concerto no 1 Franck Symphonic Variations BBC Concert Orchestra Barry Wordsworth
- 2001 Lambert Piano Concerto (1924) Britten Sinfonia Nicholas Cleobury
- 2003 Addinsell Warsaw Concerto BBC Concert Orchestra Rumon Gamba (televised on BBC TV)
When did you first become interested in teaching? How does teaching fit in with your musical life?Throughout my years of playing, and indeed ever since I was a student at the Royal Academy, I have always been drawn to teaching. Even at my busiest I managed to keep up a few regular private students. When Gordon Green became ill, not long before he died, he asked me to oversee his students in his absence. This was an extraordinary honour, and I have often wondered why he chose me out of so many more suitable candidates. It may have been because he sensed teaching was something which interested me or for which he thought I might have an aptitude. Whatever the reason, it was something I took to and it was a great pleasure when I was invited to join the staff following Gordon's death. I enjoyed my work there for a number of years, but things were changing at the time, and I found that there was no real way forward for me in the institution, and so with great personal reluctance I tendered my resignation. Shortly after, Julian Jacobson invited me to join the Piano Faculty at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. I enjoyed this very much, but shortly after, the post of Head of Keyboard came up at Trinity College of Music and so I applied and was, rather amazingly to my way of thinking, accepted.You are well known for teaching adults. Describe some of the joys of working with adult amateurs.My work with adult amateurs has always been an immense pleasure to me. We live in a world dominated by achievement and competitiveness which tends to foster the notion that talent is the prerogative of the young. This has caused a terrible distortion for, of course, talent is eternal and can be as fresh at eighty as at eight. To enable a struggling so called amateur (dreadful word which seems to forget its root meaning of lover) to play even one bar or one passage in a way they never thought possible, is one of the great rewards of teaching. In many ways, it is my work in this area which can be the most satisfying. My maxim is that it is never too late, and it grieves me that so many feel, wrongly, that it is. I also think that the role of the amateur musician is undervalued. In my view too many young people are encouraged to go to college when they would be more fulfilled and better off if they were to maintain their playing to a high level but not as professional musicians.Do you only teach the most talented, high flying students, or are you willing to teach those who are less talented?I tend to think that the exceptionally talented will, up to a point, take care of themselves. There can be an insidious danger of over-teaching. Students must be given leeway to make mistakes, misjudgements. It is from our failures not our successes, that we learn the most. It is all too easy for a teacher to get a reputation by selecting talented students, already well trained and experienced in performing, and claim credit for any subsequent success on the student's part. I am more interested in working with those of perhaps a more modest ability and enabling them to achieve the maximum within the parameters of their talent. Paradoxically it is often those who struggle the most who say the most in their playingWhat do you expect from your long term students?To develop naturally, at their own pace, to question and explore. To take nothing for granted and to avoid received or off the peg interpretations. To have the courage of their convictions and not to become reliant on me or anyone else. To take musical risks. To be unafraid of individuality. Finally, I hope my students become life long friendsWhat are your views on competitions?Mostly unprintable. There are too many and the major ones are too frequent. Every 5 years would place more value on them and give a chance for the profession to absorb newcomers. If I had my way, I would close down a few and found a new competition entitled Middle-aged Musician of the YearWhat advice would you give to young pianists today who wish to have careers as professional musicians?To think very carefully about their other interests and abilities. There is nothing wrong in being a fine amateur musician.You have been involved in chamber music to a greater extent in recent years. Describe some of your recent projects.For some time a few years ago I was a member of the London Piano Quartet with Nona Liddell, my wife Elizabeth Turnbull and David Kenedy. We did a couple of recordings of Cyril Scott and Alan Bush. We gave a number of concerts during this period in London (St John's Smith Square) the Three Moors Festival, and Dartington. It was a great experience, and though I loved it in so many ways, the pressure of learning new repertoire combined with my regular playing, but mostly the commitment to teaching, made it, at least for me, unsustainable. It is to my lasting regret that I didn't do more chamber music earlier on in my career as it is something for which I feel a natural affinity. Another area of regret is not having pursued accompanying lieder. For many years, as an organist, an occupation I seriously considered earlier on, I worked with choirs. The voice is a medium I find very attractive.CODAHaving reached the grand old age of 60 I can say that I have few regrets and that I have been enormously fortunate to have experienced performing at an international level for a number of years. I do feel, or at least hope, that this might lend my teaching a certain practicality. It is all very well to feel the music and think one has things to say. You have to have the equipment with which to reliably support and realize such insights as one may have. All too often I find students expect to achieve a great deal on very little technical resource. Again, the word "tension" is too often bandied about when the real cause can often be a practical issue of fingering or general lack of choreographic understanding. I prefer the word "uncomfortable" to the negative implication of the word "tension". Then we can work towards finding a comfortable solution. It is a continual source of amazement to me that so few can, or dare to, improvise or simply muck about at the keyboard…explore it, play with it, caress it. The keyboard might seem familiar, but in my experience, there are few who really seem to explore it and delve into its infinite possibilities. I often sense an intrinsic fear of the keyboard, and you only have to listen to students practising, usually loud, fast and with what seems to me mindless repetition. You can hear the fear, the underlying panic and frantic pursuit to get something right as opposed to calmly discovering the means, mechanisms and musical clues which will ensure never getting it wrong. The word "teacher" always makes me uneasy. The teacher/pupil relationship is a delicate balance, and trust must form the basis. It is a collaboration, a sharing. I always like to say that I have no answers only suggestions. The one thing I can offer that a student hasn't yet acquired is experience.
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Teaching
The Craft of Practising
Gordon Green, my revered and much beloved teacher, used to refer to the craft of practising. This made an impression upon me, all the more vivid when he likened the pianist to a master joiner with his box of tools, sharpened, polished and oiled. Each implement was designed for a specific task; a curve, a grooved edge, a finely wrought detail. As the joiner adds to his collection of tools over the years becoming accustomed to some yet discovering new ones along the way, so the pianist has to build up his box of tools and to treasure them as an invaluable resource in their velvet lined box.
This image has remained with me over the years and is one which I endeavour to pass on to my own students. That and Gordon’s view that good practising should always be the occasion of endless possibilities, pleasure in pursuing them, a voyage of discovery. His maxim was that you mustn’t practise to get it right, but never to get it wrong. I was fortunate in that my teacher from childhood, Marjorie Withers, instilled in me similar attitudes so by the time I got to Gordon in my teens I was already doing quite a bit of my own exploring.
In general I live in fear of received wisdom, methods, and traditions. Words such as tension, relaxation, together with expressions such as legato fingering, loose wrist, arm weight baffle me as much now as when I first heard them. A small child comes to a piano for the first time and bangs notes down and is told to stop making such a nasty din. And so the die is cast. The seeds of fear of the keyboard are sown. Yet piano lessons begin and the child is subjected to complicated instructions as to how to approach a key. I often use the analogy of attempting to teach a child to walk, assuming it had the ability of understanding speech. “Now lift the leg a little higher…, no not that high. Yes, now prepare the foot…no that’s too tense! Brace the other foot to transfer the weight before lifting the other one” and so on. The child would be in a wheelchair after much more of this! So it has sometimes been with teaching the piano Natural curiosity has been checked at the outset and the possibility of improvisation seriously undermined. The opportunity of natural ease is blocked at every turn with too many conflicting instructions. “No, mustn’t, never, shouldn’t, ought, wrong, become the watch words of a negative lexicon on which so much teaching has relied. And then all those pencil markings on the score… teacher’s graffitti. Circles, wavy lines, shooting arrows, exclamation marks. Independence of thought, pride in marking one’s own score, a healthy attitude towards slips and wrong notes, should be fostered from the very start. In classes I will sometimes, mischievously, ask a student what a particular circle means on their score. I am unsurprised when they seldom know or cannot recall why the teacher put it there. I make it a practice to offer my pencil (for they seldom bring one to a lesson) for the student to make their own markings.
The aim of a teacher, Gordon often used to say, should be to make oneself redundant. My addenda to this after forty years of teaching is also to do as little damage as possible.
Some practical tips
What does one mean by the word practice? The more I use it the more meaningless it becomes, for practising has and incorporates so many elements. State of health and physical fitness for one thing. I recommend a simple regime of body exercises before settling at the piano.
Posture seems extraordinarily overlooked in these days of aerobics and Tai Chi. Sit neither too high nor too low, neither too close nor too far. Be within easy reach of the extremities of the keyboard. Always feel comfortable in the shoulders with a continual sense of ease and freedom of movement. Feet at pedals and not restlessly moving about. Lean forward and gently clasp the cheeks of the piano for a few moments. Be aware of the extent of the keyboard and the space in which it exists, and also of the instrument. Be aware of circles eg the length of the keyboard being the diameter of a circle horizontally and vertically.
Finger exercises have their place and studies such as Joseffy, Beringer, Dohnanyi and Cortot (as many instructions as there are notes!).are recommended provided they are used intelligently and imaginatively. They can be played musically. I find Tankard and Harrison covers most things. Invent your own
Improvise by way of warm up. Just explore the feel of the keys and don’t concern yourself with conventional harmony. Crawl over and caress the keys with the fingers. Make beautiful sounds out of dissonant note clusters. Arpeggiate, cross hands, fake a fugue. Make up ripples and roulades. Create a mood
A thorough knowledge of scales and arpeggios also contributes to the basic kit of a pianist. But in this, I encourage an imaginative and creative approach. Reinvent them, use different rhythms, adapt and recompose them, play them 2 and 3 octaves apart, in different keys simultaneously, different dynamics and touches. Contrary motion starting from the extremities of the keyboard downwards/outwards, scales descending/ascending. Be comfortable in what you do. Above all, avoid starting with C but by all means learn to play all scales with C major fingering
The keyboard is not only left to right, right to left, but front to back, back to front Make use of the topography. Slide. Explore and enjoy it. Grope the keys
Learn to use the wrist and fingers in different combinations, high and low. Imagine investing in a movement account I often think that the word tension is used inappropriately as, in my experience, many problems which cause tension are often due to poorly conceived fingering and an overdrawn movement account. Tension is often the symptom of a difficulty rather than the cause. Emphasizing tension with a student can be unhelpful and I avoid this intrinsically negative use of the word preferring to talk in terms of comfort and discomfort.
The insistence on legato fingering in all circumstances has done a lot of damage and caused needless misery and tension, let alone ugly sounds. Excessive and tortuous finger substitution can be relieved by judicious pedalling and the shocking permission let go of the key. I like to talk about moral and immoral fingering; I prefer an immoral beautiful sound to a moral nasty one.
Morality can be equally applied to pedalling! In general the pedal is changed too quickly too soon. Too often it is used indiscrimately to flavour everything….like tomato ketchup. Learn to pedal in rhythms and pulse, independent of that in which one is playing. Integrate the fingers with the pedals. I use terms such as twitch, dab, flutter, squeeze. Ultimately one pedals with one’s ears and with one’s fingers.
Don’t allow the pressure of memorizing to tyrannise you. There’s more to music than memory.
Too much practice is unnecessarily loud. Work at forte passages ppp. Learn to listen to every nuance of sound and colour.
Conversely practise ppp passages fortissimo. Sometimes it takes the most energetic practice to make the most beautiful sounds. The minutest pianissimo requires considerable strength
If you think you’re playing piano, play quieter……and quieter again
If you think you’re playing forte, you probably are……..too much so
Avoid wishful listening.
Practise staccato passages legatissimo. You won’t get so nervous
Difficult passages can always be broken down into easy components
Consciously breathe when practising. Breath rests
If any kind of a slip or hesitation occurs, ask yourself why
Sometimes a problem is caused by the approach route. Examine previous bars leading up to the problematic one. Amazing what one can discover en route
Problems can be solved in many ways. There is no one way
Slow practice, vitally important though it is, can lead to equally slow physical and thought processes. Furthermore it can slow down the listening responses. When practising slowly there can be a danger that you’re practising to play slowly. Physical and listening processes benefit from practising in and above tempo in short sections. Always know your intended pulse and where the beats lie. Then drop from above into it. Be brave!
Practising hands separately has benefits, but fewer than one would think. The hands and arms need to collaborate early on. Each hand can inform the other over fingering patterns for example
Be alert and adventurous when fingering. Never be tied to an editor’s view. Choose a range of options to explore. There is fingering for sound, fingering for colour, fingering for balance, fingering for memory, fingering for pedalling, to suggest but a few. Sometimes the fingers insist on their own choice. Provided they are well informed, allow them to follow their instincts. Occasionally they can be right!
Practise away from the keyboard. Listen with the score.
Start learning a piece from the middle out. Makes a change
Practise on the surface of the keys making no sound except the delicate padding sound of the finger striking the surface. Good for memory and the neighbours love it!
Practise looking at the keyboard imagining the act of performing; sight lines and where to look. Strategic visualisation is seldom thought about. The old mantra of never being allowed to look at one’s hands has a lot to answer for
Take regular breaks and do some body stretching and breathing exercises. Check shoulders. Gently rotate them
The fingers are all members of a platoon and need to be thoroughly briefed when out on exercise. Some have a wilful character and need restraint whilst others hold back and need persuasion. Encourage teamwork
Fingers are all members of a corps de ballet. They need disciplined bar work in addition to thorough coaching with the choreographer. Shapes, movements, preparation of positions, anticipation of leaps, harnassing and releasing of energy, comfort points. Always guided by the arm with a sense of comfort and ease of movement in the shoulders.
A performer is producer, director, script editor, lighting engineer, prompt, all rolled into one. The best performances occur when one is at one remove from all these processes yet monitoring them at the same time
Don’t let the good be the enemy of the better
Find balancing points- moments when you can gather your forces physically, musically, technically, psychologically. Performing is like riding a bicycle; a momentary wobble will lead to disaster.
A performance is as strong as its weakest link. There must be no room for thoughts such as here comes the difficult bit. Nerves often occur in proportion to the level of preparation one has done. Whereas there is such a thing as over practice, there is no such thing as over preparation.
Quantity of practice is common. Quality of practice is rare
Know the exact sound you want before attempting it. Thoughtless repetition is the enemy of discriminating listening
Record yourself practising- occasionally
Practise your vulnerabilities not your strengths
In performance, try to play a little slower than you mean to in the quick sections, and a little quicker than you mean to in the slow sections
Always play to trusted friends and colleagues. Get the shaky playing over in private before exposing yourself in public!
Good luck!
Copyright 2013Philip FowkeEPTA SYMPOSIUM 2012
Do you enjoy teaching Adult Amateurs? What are some of the special joys of working with adults as opposed to younger students?
I certainly enjoy teaching adult amateurs and for many reasons. There is of course the fact that the level of communication can sometimes be more probing and rational allowing for greater discussion and analysis. A great pleasure for me is to help over small issues; a run that’s never worked, an unevenness corrected, an ornament released from its tangled confusion.
What are some of the special challenges, issues and concerns that arise from working with adults?
One of the later questions will cover this..namely the tendency to choose too challenging a repertoire. Also nerves and confidence. Then there is physical condition, ie muscular flexibility. This can be very variable. In general my approach is always to build positively on whatever the situation presents. It is all too easy to be inadvertently discouraging and negative. Always be upbeat and positive. Quite often there have been bad, even traumatic experiences with past teachers and this can result in a general crisis of confidence which has never been fully addressed. Inevitably there is a tremendous legacy of vulnerability which must be handled with sensitivity and gentleness.. The sense of “I’m no good” is very prevalent as a rule. The early lessons need to be a form of therapy with a bit of piano occasionally thrown in with no strings attached preferably! I often start with a course of simple exercises which involve the entire keyboard….a kind of embrace and bonding with the keys. It is also important do some simple pre-keyboard exercises, standing, bending stretching and relaxed breathing. It is also good to be aware of the prevalent danger of “wishful listening”. This is very common and accounts for attempting to play pieces before they have been sufficiently prepared and studied. The trouble is, a habit forms whereby the student doesn’t hear what’s actually being played, but hears an imaginary and vastly edited version which sounds, to their ears, acceptable. But isn’t!
Is there a fundamental different approach to teaching technique with adult amateurs?
I find that the same issues arise with amateurs as with college students…only to a different degree
What are some of the work plans you follow with adults?
I am firmly of the conviction that work plans can be problematic and best avoided on the whole. If applied, these can cause all the problems of earlier years; tension, anxiety, fear etc. Time is also a factor inasmuch as work patterns are very variable with adult amateurs. It is so easy to assume that they have more time than they do in reality. Furthermore, adult amateur expectations can be a little unrealistic so I find it best to take each session on its own merits and adjust accordingly. Sometimes the lesson becomes a practice session in itself. I find this a good thing in every way. It takes the pressure off the student, and can introduce new ideas of working, of finding strategies to deal with technical and musical issues. It is so important to work in a relaxed, unchallenging environment. I have found over the years that students, whether amateur or other, tend to think of the lesson as some kind of audition or concert platform. This causes pieces to be forced into playing condition long before they are ready. Microwave learning is the cause of many of the problems of tension and anxiety so prevalent these days. For me, a lesson is a workshop where things are dismantled and reassembled, where ideas and possibilities are discussed, different ways tried. One must allow a student the validity of their own conception. It is all too easy to get them to play your way….despite one’s best intentions
Do you find many adults get more nervous in performance than younger students? Do they suffer from issues relating to confidence to a greater degree? If so, how do you deal with their nerves and confidence issues?
On balance I would say that adult amateurs do get more nervous than younger students……but not invariably so. Issues of confidence are often very developed and one has to face these but with sensitivity and practicality. It is essential to create a sense of ease and acceptance so that mistakes and confused, nervous playing can be discussed openly and indeed with humour. I always remind students that we learn from our failures and not from our successes. It takes courage to face our vulnerabilities and we must allow the possibility of things going wrong before we can discover strategies to help us get things right. Playing badly can be a vital stepping stone to playing better.
When faced with adults with posture and/or health issues that affect their playing, what do you do?
I think it wise to discuss the issues involved. It is no good simply to ignore such problems. I always like to get students to be honest and open in order to help them accept whatever condition they may be having to deal with and to share it in complete confidence. The playing in such cases can be very nervous and incoherent even, but there is always a strategy to alleviate even the smallest infelicity. Tackle one thing at a time. Each little triumph can contribute to a greater.
Is there such a thing as “horizontal progress” with certain adult students? How do you deal with this? (Repertoire, approach to lessons, practice etc)
This sounds rather sinister! I suppose you mean those students who plan a kind of progress trajectory. If this is so, then I do sometimes find it problematic. It depends on the student. Sometimes it can be helpful as it saves me the bother of working out a planned schedule….never my favourite occupation! There are those students who can be very consumeristic about their lessons in matters of what they consider to be quality and quantity. They steal sly glances at their watch to ensure they get every minute’s worth. I steal sly glances at my watch to see how much longer the agony is going to last! As a last resort, I might suggest a change ot teacher
Have you ever taught a complete beginner who is an adult? If so, describe some of your experiences and also which material you found most useful
If I have, I’ve forgotten. However, if I were to, I would avoid learning primers at all costs and concentrate on improvisation and getting to know the keyboard. So many quite advanced pianists don’t know the keyboard. Then, and only then, would we peek at some music, and preferably not one with those intimidating diagrams of fingers and keyboards……..and the tyrannical emphasis of the dreaded “middle C”
What do you do when adults consistently bring along repertoire that is too hard for them to manage?
This can be quite a problem. In general, I find it best to indulge such students. It is not such a great sacrifice other than hearing great pieces butchered which I listen to with a kind of horrified fascination! The enthusiasm is the important thing. Such times as I have suggested rather less complex repertoire have been met with dismay and as a kind of negative commentary on their playing…..which it is of course! So I steer away from this and even quite enjoy finding strategies and solutions to simplify treacherous technical demands. Then everyone is happy. We must remember that the amateur is playing for pleasure……a fact we could do well to reflect upon in our own work.
Describe experiences you may have had, along with coping strategies, when dealing with pupils who played up to a higher grade level in their teens (say grade 6-8) but gave up for several decades and have only recently come back to playing and lessons
Always be positive. Build on what has gone before. Never appear to be “changing” things or “starting again” Using such phrases can be so dismaying and disheartening. There are ways of adapting and discreetly adjusting rusty, modest playing. A complete stripdown and rebuild is not my way of doing things in such cases. A course of gentle exercises can be enjoyable and productive. Encourage analysis of difficulties, really looking at the score. My maxim is to look first and see, then play. If things go wrong, which they invariably do, keep the hands at the keyboard rather than flying up into the air with horror. All the clues for the mistake have been erased by this gesture. It takes a lot of discipline to learn to hold the hands at the moment of the accident. If this can be achieved, one can see how the hand and/or arm is in an inappropriate position or that a finger is not prepared. There are no such things as unemployed fingers. Even when not playing, a finger is in transit to a new location. I encourage a “dialogue” of the fingers: they must all know what the others are doing at any given moment. In learning I suggest the idea of the fingers sniffing around for clues, for links, for shared notes, fleeting meetings, chats and discourse. Find groupings and clusters. Fingers must be supportive friends to one another. They are a team, a Corps de Ballet, the Red Arrows
Mention anything else about teaching adults that you think would be interesting
An issue which often arises is the one of that dreaded word “tension”. I make a point of never using the word preferring to ask whether the students feels “comfortable” in a particular passage. Invariably the answer is uncomfortable, so I suggest that together we find a more comfortable way of doing it. This, in itself, reduces tightness and anxiety. To simply say ”that looks tense” exacerbates the problem and is, in my view, poor teaching psychology. I have found that many tension issues have not been addressed simply because the symptoms have been treated and not the cause. A tight wrist can be the result of weak fingers or an impractical fingering. It’s amazing what an unconventional fingering or a cunning redistribution can achieve…let alone the discreet omission of troublesome notes which can barely be heard. I rather hear fewer notes comfortably and confidently played than more, scrambled!
Another issue which causes difficulty is the release of notes, usually caused by the notion that everything must be legato fingering. The horror of letting go and allowing the pedal to help in appropriate situations, is a real psychological and physical difficulty. The traditional tyranny has taught that not doing legato fingering is to take the high road to Hell. There are ways of achieving legato other than holding on to notes in distorted and twisted ways which make a horrid sound and cause great discomfort. In saying this, I do not wish to mean that legato fingering is of no importance….it is essential, but a realistic balance needs to be found and allowed for. Too often I encounter “off the peg” fingering…one size fits all. Only it doesn’t!
In generaI I find with adults, as with the younger generation, stretch and extension exercises have not been addressed. Fingers operate in isolation with one another. I encourage a dialogue between all the fingers so that they can get to know one another. Coordination exercises also can be of great benefit. So often fingers are complete strangers to one another, and rather hostile ones at that! Explore movement; find the slip roads on to the motorway. Ski, fly, grope the keys. When fingering, explore options, be daring. Give the fingers a choice. Within a very short time they will make their own decision….. and a good one provided they have the initial choice. Let the miserable, bald battery fingers out of their cages to roam free, grow feathers and lay big fat brown eggs. They’ll make a better sound. I call it Fowke’s Free Range Fingering. Your fingers will smile in gratitude and relief scuttling off into pastures new in sunlit glades.
Don’t get stuck on slow practice. Practice above tempo in short bursts, strong beat to strong beat to learn movements and gestures which can help the keyboard choreography. Practising slowly, though essential at all stages, does need an antidote. There can be a danger of practising to play slowly. Similarly with hands separate practice.
Practise pianissimo, or on the surface of the keys. Too much practice is too loud and too fast. Listen in your head. A good maxim, though not invariable, is to practise loud passages pianissimo, and piano passages forte. Similarly, practise slow movements quickly and quick movements slowly. Play in different registers, crossed hands, even in different keys. Muck about. Practising can be like a kitten teasing a ball of wool. I always remember Shura Cherkassky saying to me that if I heard him practise, I wouldn’t think he could play the piano. This made an indelible impression on me at the time and beautifully describes real practice…. a craft that has to be carefully honed. Learn to dismantle a piece down to the tiniest component
We press keys down, but do we consider the release? Same with the pedal. Practise the sustaining pedal with the left foot. Concentrates the mind and ear wonderfully!
Just a few thoughts!
Philip Fowke
February 2012
My influencesGordon GreenI have been enormously influenced by the following artists and teachers in my own work: Gordon Green, Shura Cherkassky (click here for an excellent interview with Shura by my Stephen Hough), Eileen Joyce, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Peter Katin, Russ Conway and Winifred Atwell.
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Testimonials
- "My dear friend Philip has been a help, support and inspiration for over twenty five years and a neighbour for five! He has helped me endlessly not only with my own playing, but with my teaching, and overall outlook on both music and life. I remember almost running to my early lessons at his unique house in Mile End, I was so excited – it was wonderful to get the chance to discuss every aspect of piano playing with someone who treated me as a complete equal, and who was never insistent on only “his” way of approaching things – I carry with me to this day the idea of having a “tool box” of piano techniques, and even though I have now been teaching for thirty years myself, I still find Philips approach of exploring and enjoying the piano so refreshing, and are the mainstays of my approach. Now that he lives so near, it is wonderful to be able to meet (often in the pub or over a bottle of Pino Grigio!)to discuss life, the piano, the universe…everything! Being a teacher is about someone who you trust completely, and I can honestly say that Philip has been there for me either in person or at the end of a ‘phone in both the ups and downs of my life – he is a true friend and I feel very lucky to know him and be in some little way part of his life too."ANNA MARKLAND, pianist, singer and teacher
"Philip has been a mentor to me since I was a boy, when I did my grade 8 with him. I returned regularly to play for him in my student days at the RCM, as well as after I graduated. His influence in my life has been profound and my experiences always positive - I am so grateful for this! I found Philip's approach to teaching unique - a mine of information and inventiveness when it came to practising, an intimate knowledge of the piano, impeccable demonstrations always and an inspiring and illuminating teacher of whatever repertoire I brought along. His manner was always friendly and supportive, and he knew how to nurture talent. I count myself blessed to have had Philip in my life."GRAHAM FITCH, pianist, teacher and writer
"Philip Fowke, a dear friend and a great pianist, has been a treasured part of my life for more than half of that life. We've shared much laughter, a crate or two of wine, a sack or two of pasta, even a monastic retreat, and lots of music over the past 30 years. Indeed he has shared with me some of his ingenious tricks at the keyboard for which I am ever grateful - a thumb in the Mephisto Waltz and a redistribution in Rachmaninov 3rd come immediately to mind and hand. Philip is an infectious man: to be with him is to catch his love of music and the piano, his love for sharing his wisdom and knowledge, and a good humour which lifts hearts and spirits. No one else I know has quite the same knack of turning life's cheese on toast into a great celebratory feast."STEPHEN HOUGH, pianist
"Philip Fowke has that unique and rare ability to solve technical and musical issues at the same time; I've not once been to a session where I haven't taken away some piece of advice that has proved invaluable to my career and playing."ALISDAIR HOGARTH, Artistic Director, The Prince Consort
"Lessons with Philip Fowke were an absolute joy. As a teacher he stretched and challenged me in many ways, while at the same time according me respect both as a musician and a person. I always felt that Philip's teaching was brilliant, inspired and totally lacking in 'ego' - a rare combination! Whatever his words of wisdom - whether they touched on beauty of sound production or on ingenious fingering strategies, I always came away from sessions feeling invigorated and empowered."ANNABELLE LAWSON, pianist, Lawson Trio
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Press Reviews
- Sonata No 2 for piano by Antony Hopkins
HOPKINS Viola Sonata Piano Sonatas: No. 2—Rondo; No. 3. A Humble Song to the Birds. Partita. Suite. Pastiche Suite. Three French Folksongs Tango. Three Seductions. Early One Morning: First Love Hands Across the Sky: I've Lost my Love.A Melancholy Song Back to Methusalah: Four Dances. Three Poems. Johnny the Priest: Vicarage Tea; Be Not Afraid. Three's Company: Trio Matthew Jones (va); Leslie-Jane Rogers (sop); James Gilchrist (ten); 5Paul Barritt (vn); John Turner (rec); Jeremy Brett, Stephanie Voss, Phillada Sewell, Elizabeth Boyd, Stephen Manton, Eric Shilling (vocs); Michael Hampton, Philip Fowke, Janet Simpson (pns); Anthony Hopkins orchestra DIVINE ART 21217 (two discs: 125:29)
k VARIOUS Eight Tributes to Anthony Hopkins.
Antony Hopkins is well known in the United Kingdom as a broadcaster and author (particularly on Auntie, otherwise known as the BBC). His music is finely constructed (he is well known for his ability to work to order) and undemanding. Yet he uses dissonance effectively and pungently, sometimes bringing to mind Hindemith.
The piano Rondo from the Second Piano Sonata boasts an angular, entwining theme. The piece is dedicated to Michael Tippett, and is a conscious imitation of Tippett's piano writing. It works well, especially when as well played as this (yes, it makes one want to hear the whole thing). The Third Sonata in C-Sharp Minor of 1946—48 was written for the fabulous pianist Noel Mewton-Wood (unfortunately Mewton-Wood died before receiving the piece). There is plenty of jauntiness to the opening Allegro vigoroso in this performance by Philip Fowke. Yet it is the haunting Largo that the listener carries away with him, and the way the fugal entries of the Tranquillo opening of the finale creep in, brilliantly and (seemingly) inevitably. Fowke is equally impressive in the seductive Tango that opens the second disc; seductive, yes, but with a distinctly conspiratorial raised eyebrow throughout.Colin Clarke
