Landscape Preludes: Stephen De Pledge comments

Between 2003 and 2007 ex-pat pianist Stephen De Pledge oversaw a commissioning project which resulted in the creation of 12 piano preludes from 12 New Zealand composers. The entire set were performed together for the first time in the Ilott Thetre, Wellington on Wednesday 27 February 2008 as part of the 2008 New Zealand International Arts Festival.

A list of the 12 Landscape Preludes, with links to the composers, works and scores on the SOUNZ website, appears below. Following is a paraphrase of an interview with Stephen De Pledge in which he describes the project, the initial idea, his brief to composers and how he has approached performing the resulting works.  

[In cooperation with the NZ International Arts Festival 2008, Radio NZ Concert and Aoraki Polytechnic, videos of an interview with Stephen Depledge plus his  performance of the 12 Landscape Preludes in this concert event (some including interviews with the composers) are available on the SOUNZ channel of YouTube.]

The Landscape Preludes 

• Gillian Whitehead Arapatiki
• Ross Harris A landscape with too few lovers
• Lyell Cresswell Chiaroscuro
• Gareth Farr The Horizon from Owhiro Bay
• Dylan Lardelli Reign
• Eve de Castro-Robinson this liquid drift of light
• Jack Body The Street Where I Live
• Samuel Holloway Terrain Vague
• Michael Norris Machine Noise
• John Psathas Sleeper
• Jenny McLeod Landscape Prelude
• Victoria Kelly Goodnight Kiwi

  Some questions (SOUNZ) and answers (Stephen De Pledge)

SOUNZ: How did the idea for a set of Landscape Preludes come about?
SDP: The idea for the preludes came about because I wanted some new NZ pieces to play in concerts - and it seemed like a good way of getting flexible timings, so I could have whatever length I might need.  Also, I really liked the idea of a collection of pieces by different composers, but under the same 'umbrella'.  Also, I just thought it would be something different, and fun.  I have always loved the Debussy preludes, also in their sets of 12, so that was the obvious parallel - and I think of many of those Debussy pieces as 'Landscape Preludes' in a way I suppose.

 
SOUNZ:  What do YOU mean (and what did composers understand) by the term ‘Landscape Preludes’?
SDP: I didn't mean anything in particular - I just wanted something to use as a 'binding agent' for the set, so they were in some way joined in spirit.  The words Landscape Preludes I thought sounded rather poetic, and also I hoped (presumed?) that many of the pieces would be imbued with some sort of NZ sensibility if they were titled 'Landscape'.   The composers were given completely free reign to interpret it any way they wanted - and there have been many different responses, sonic landscapes, cultural landscapes, etc. as well as the more traditional musical landscape painting.

 
SOUNZ: Is that an accurate collective title given the collection you now have?
SDP:Absolutely, I think it is fascinating to see the different composers' reactions - and it has achieved the aim of being cohesive, and yet highly individualistic.

SOUNZ: The first was in 2004?
SDP: The first three were played at the Wigmore Hall in early 2004, and the rest have been trickling in since then.  Six are premieres for the Festival concert.


SOUNZ: The funding is from various sources including Creative New Zealand and...?
SDP: The first 3 were Creative NZ, I had no plans as to funding after that.  I was hoping to interest individuals in the project and ask them to sponsor individual Preludes - which initially happened very easily, people were very keen on the idea.  I think often people don't realise how easy it is to pay composers to write music, and be involved in the creative process in this way, and I'd hoped to encourage this by the relatively cheap short piano prelude!  So the next few were done like this through JAck Richards and also Chamber Music NZ.  Then James Wallace stepped in, and offered to fund the rest of the set, which was fantastic.


SOUNZ: What sort of ‘brief’ did you give the composers? Did that change or evolve over the period of time that the project has run?
SDP: The brief has remained unchanged, and was very simple - a short, 2-4 min piece, inspired in some way by Landscape.

SOUNZ: How did you select the composers?
SDP: I wanted a cross-section of the NZ composing scene - it was as simple as that.  I tried not to think ‘politically’ at all.  There were several composers I've always loved, who I definitely wanted to include.  Having lived overseas for 14 years, I am slightly out of touch, so I talked to people, and listened to a lot of music (including a huge pile of CDs from SOUNZ!) which I listened to without knowing whose music it was, and then looked afterwards!

SOUNZ: Are they definably ‘Kiwi’ or doesn’t that come into it? How would you describe the range of compositional style over the 12 works?
SDP: This is very difficult to answer - I fancy I can hear a ‘New Zealandness’ in these pieces, but I could be imagining it.  The thing is, they are so incredibly different from each other, that is what marks them out for me - to have pieces written in the same decade which are so vastly stylistically different, that is the really exciting thing about composition at the moment.  Anything goes, nothing is considered unacceptable, stylistically speaking.

 
SOUNZ: What is your approach to learning a brand new work? Do you have a to and fro process with the composers?
SDP: My approach to learning a brand new work is the same as learning an existing work, (ie learn the notes, and work out how to perform them) except you have the option of discussing things with the composer.  I fire questions over every now and again, for clarifications mostly, but in general I just get on with it, and then see the reaction when they hear it for the first time. There are differences between composers of course - some give a lot of information on the score, some don't.  Some want/allow a lot of freedom, some are more literal.  I try to be as flexible as I can, obviously, and try and work out the composer's intentions.

SOUNZ: Has a ‘natural’ order for performance developed?
SDP: I have put them into a particular order (as above and as performed in the Festival concert).  It's not a 'natural' order, because there isn't one - it's intriguing how the whole 'feel' of the set changes depending on the order, and how different pieces sound different depending on where they sit in the order.  But I have decided on this one, after much experimentation. It's certainly not definitive, and I might change it next time I play them!