Piano magazine October 2005
(taken from the Symposium edition 2005)
JEREMY SIEPMANN: When did you decide to specialise as a pianist collaborating with other instrumentalists and singers?
JULIUS DRAKE: I found out quite early on that being a solo pianist just didn’t suit me. It wasn’t so much a question of technique but of temperament. I was studying to be a solo pianist all through my teens at The Purcell School in London (a specialist music school), and from the age of seven with a marvellous piano teacher, Anthya Rael. I then went to the Royal College of Music in London where I was accepted as a pupil of Angus Morrison (whom I adored) and it was there that I first got together with my peers, playing chamber music. I realised then– it really was like a revelation – that this was what I really wanted to do. I started taking lessons in addition with Roger Vignoles – another superb teacher – but it wasn’t until I left the RCM that my interest in song developed. I was very fortunate that Geoffrey Parsons took me under his wing and with his help I discovered the great riches of the repertoire, particularly the incomparable songs of Wolf and Schumann and Mahler and Schubert. I remain – and always will remain -tremendously grateful to him.
JS: Should the term (and the concept of) ‘accompanist’ be banished?
DRAKE: The thing I most dislike about the term ‘accompanist’ is the implication that you’re following someone! Good chamber music playing, whether with instrumentalists or singers, is never a matter of anyone ‘following’ anyone. It’s mutual listening, as in any piano trio or string quartet. So “yes” is the answer to the question – but of course the difficulty is what to change it to!
JS: In reality (psychological reality), how equal a partnership is it?
DRAKE: In purely musical terms I think it’s an absolutely equal partnership. But in ‘career’ terms it’s fraught with potential psychological and practical problems: after all your partner is usually better known than you and gets better paid than you! It’s a profession that requires great tact, and I think good humour – we’re working with and adjusting to different people all the time. From that point of view certainly it’s a difficult profession; on the other hand in many ways it is also what makes it so rewarding.
JS: When learning or reviving a song, do you begin with the music or the words?
DRAKE: If I’m reviving a song it’s probably the music first, But learning a new one, I will always start with the poem, get the gist of it, then go back to the dictionary to fill in the gaps, then learn the music. And with the help of a dictionary gradually you can build up a larger vocabulary, until you find you only need to look up a few words.. You certainly don’t need to become a fluent speaker in every language but I think you do need a real interest in words and languages.
JS: Is it essential that an accompanist should know the literal meaning of every word of the text?
DRAKE: I think you can’t really do the job properly without knowing the meaning of every word. After all the poem came first – it is the fundamental.
JS: What are the principal challenges of the strophic song, and how can they be resolved?
DRAKE: Knowing what every word means is a good start, and having a real feeling for the character and content of each verse. And then, rather than necessarily working out a pre-conceived scheme of pianistic characterisation, I think you can rely on your piano playing to change as the text changes. If this isn’t working then of course there’s nothing wrong with making a more specific plan.
JS: Are there fundamental differences between accompanying a singer and accompanying an instrumentalist?
DRAKE: I would say that there are no differences at all – bar one. Songs have words! If you work with singers words have to become important to you …..
JS: That’s pretty fundamental!
DRAKE: Yes. But not just in the ways we’ve mostly been talking about, which relate to the meaning of the words. There are special challenges of ensemble when playing with a singer that don’t arise with instrumentalists. Words have consonants and vowels, and you have to allow space for the consonants to speak. And of course these operate differently in different languages so you have to be sensitively attuned to this particular aspect of every language.
JS. What are the difficulties and dangers of transposition?
DRAKE: I find that being able to transpose can be very useful, and I thank God that I did acquire the knack of transposing, at least up or down a tone or semitone. It saves an ENORMOUS amount of time if you don’t have to write out the whole of a song! But in the last ten years or so I’ve become a lot less happy about transposing in a concert. And though I still transpose up or down a lot in rehearsal I tend to try and find transpositions or get it written out when it comes to the concert. There’s enough stress already without worrying that you’ll have a brainstorm on stage and go off in the wrong key!!
JS: Is a good accompanist by definition a good sight-reader?
DRAKE: No. Good sight-reading is irrelevant to how good an accompanist is, just as it is to how good a soloist is. No good professional comes unprepared to a rehearsal. I’m not a naturally a good sight-reader but I’ve been able to become a competent one. What matters once you are on the concert platform is how you play – not how you sight-read!
JS: How much (and how) can you teach a pupil the art of accompaniment without the presence of a participating musician?
DRAKE: When it comes to achieving a proper ensemble, I think you do of course need the other person in the ensemble there. What you can teach people, and what of course is the most important thing of all, is how they can improve the way they play the piano. Being able to get around the piano, to find the colours you want, being able to play with equal control at all dynamic levels, this is all essential to a pianist’s skill. If your fingers are unable to get subtlety and refinement at the piano, then you’re lost playing chamber music.
JS: Is unanimity of view essential to a good or great performance, or is a certain ‘conversational’ tension sometimes an advantage?
DRAKE: I think it probably is an advantage. Achieving unanimity of view, as nearly as possible, is one of the reasons you rehearse, of course. And that process can be enormously stimulating. But (within reason, of course!) I think tension can be a great advantage on the stage. The performances I most enjoy hearing have tension, in the form of intensity, between the performers.
JS: Are there any tried and tested ways of solving problems of balance (with singer or instrumentalist), given that almost every circumstance (concert/record/venue/audience etc.) is unique?
DRAKE: Of course every hall is different and you have to adjust accordingly. But I’ve grown to feel that it’s a completely fruitless exercise to have someone stationed in a hall during the rehearsal, because a hall full of people is effectively a different hall from one with an audience of one or two people! I think in the end you must rely on your own ears and be incredibly alive to the balance – through every minute of a concert.
JS: Has accompanying many partners in the same piece, especially in a shortish period of time, affected your learning/relearning solo repertoire? Do you, for instance, find yourself coming up with several quite different but equally viable interpretations? Does the experience of accompanying nourish the imagination in a particular way that solo playing/preparation doesn’t?
DRAKE: I think one of the things that makes my chamber music life so rewarding is precisely that I do play with different people, each of whom brings very different ideas and views to the music. It’s rejuvenating and inspiring, because of course there can never be an absolutely definitive performance of any piece. Your vision of the work is constantly changing and widening, you are constantly discovering things that are new and that increase your understanding. Nothing stays the same …
JS: What are the pieces that most strike fear into the hearts (and upper limbs) of accompanists (and why)?
DRAKE: Quite a few ! However the leading contender for striking fear into the heart and limbs has to be Schubert’s great song, Erlkönig. The only way I’ve found of doing Erlkönig is by finding ways of dividing the hands. It’s always a challenge – and of course the song is one of the most exciting & frightening songs ever written…
JS: Finally has your experience of accompanying had beneficial effects on your life as a whole?
DRAKE: It certainly has. I feel tremendously lucky to be able to earn my living playing the piano. I am constantly stretched and stimulated by the music I play and I’m inspired by marvellous friends and colleagues. I am very privileged.