The renowned and controversial British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage says he has faced the fact that modern classical music is a major “turnoff” for many audiences, although he regrets the lack of frequent performances of contemporary work.
“What can you do? However, the strange thing is that the pieces of mine I have played the most are the ones I think are least likely to be performed again,” he said.
“So you can’t worry about it… I don’t really write hard modern music, but still it doesn’t get played on Classic FM.”
Talking candidly with Lauren Laverne Desert Island Discs Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday morning, the Essex-born musician also revealed his close-up experiences with unhappy concert-goers.
Recalling an incident in the men’s toilet at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank, he says: “I was in the urinal and a man said to his partner: ‘What pervert would write such nonsense?’ I felt like I should raise my hand and say ‘It’s me’, but I walked out of the toilet and went back to my seat.’
Choosing the music of Igor Stravinsky, Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder for his island stay, Turnage says it’s challenging to attend his own concerts. “I’m always worried about people getting bored. I’ve had a few occasions when I’ve heard people muttering while sitting next to me or in front of me… then when I finally get up to lift my head, they’re horrified, because they’re surprised That’s what I heard.
Turnage, 64, also admits that he finds it difficult to enjoy some living musicians. “I understand this and I have difficulty with a lot of contemporary classical music – not naming any names, obviously.
“I remember when gq The biggest ‘turn-offs’ were listed and contemporary classical music was at number one. And that was my world, so I thought: Come on, this is sad.
But he has an explanation: “People feel trapped. If you go to an art gallery and there’s a painting you don’t like, you can walk away, but if you’re at a concert and are sitting in the middle of the row, people are polite and won’t move out. . ,
But the Ivor Novello and Olivier Award-winning composer also assured Laverne that he “absolutely loves” his work. His best-known operas include an adaptation of the Steven Berkoff play GreekRegarded as a major modern masterpiece, and his treatment of Seán O’Casey The Silver TassieWhich has entered the contemporary classical theory.
He is also famous for the amount of profanity in the songs of his operas. His foul-mouthed Covent Garden opera is based on a life of debauchery Slacker Pin-up Anna Nicole Smith caused controversy in 2011. It returned to the Royal Opera House in 2014.
Although Turnage does not write the words, he admits to Laverne that he may be secretly motivated by a desire to surprise his religious parents. “Besides, all my operas are badly abused The Silver Tassie And CoralineMy children’s opera.