BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Andrew Ford has built his life around expression.
A communicator of music, his compositions have been presented by established groups including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Brodsky Quartet, and New Juilliard Ensemble.
A communicator about music, Andrew has worked extensively in broadcast having hosted ABC Radio National’s The Music Show since ’95, and is the author of nine books. (You can read our review of one of these books right here.)
He has won prestigious awards in each of his artistic fields, so it’s safe to say he’ll know a thing or two when he communicates his knowledge to those attending his upcoming lecture Writing About Music at the ANU School of Music.
We chat with the 2018 HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellow ahead of the March 26 event.
Andrew, you’ve worked from composition to broadcast and writing. Why have you centred your life around expression and communication?
That’s a bit hard to answer, because the question implies I had a plan, which I never have. But I was a music lover first and then a composer, and I think the impulse to foist one’s musical tastes on others – some would call it cultural imperialism – isn’t that different from wanting people to hear your own music.
What does writing about music teach you about your own works as a composer?
Putting something into words often helps one understand it. I found this when I used to teach. But as a composer, I’m not sure I want to understand exactly what I do. There’s a risk of self-consciousness, and that’s the worst thing for any artist. Unself-consciousness is the aim.
So when you’re not in the midst of penning your next critically acclaimed book…what do you like to read?
When I’m writing a book, I tend to read nonfiction. Not necessarily music – in fact, hardly ever – but history, biography, essays (such as Helen Garner’s Everywhere I Look), literary criticism – especially about poetry.
I read lots of poetry, all the time – classic and modern. Poetry is good to travel with. The books are usually slim, the writings are often short, and you can reread everything many times. And when I’m not writing a book myself, I return to fiction: recent favourites include books by Joan London, Charlotte Wood, Ashley Hay, Sebastian Barry and Elizabeth Strout.
Approaches to writing about music have changed greatly over the past few decades. What are some biggest differences you’ve observed, and what do you feel typifies a modern style of writing about music?
Depends which music you mean. If you mean classical music, which I think you do, I suppose it’s become more focused on the society in which it is created, and its place in that society.
This isn’t new, though. Wilfrid Mellers was always at pains to offer contexts for his writing about music. But Wilfrid also stressed that if you’re not writing technically about music (whether Bach or the Beatles), you’re not writing about music at all.
What are your top three tips on writing about music?
1. You learn more about a piece of music from someone who loves it than from someone who hates it. So don’t waste time bagging rubbish; recommend the good stuff.
2. Don’t be sloppy. Be informed and check your facts.
3. Nobody likes a show off.
See Andrew Ford present his Writing About Music lecture at the ANU School of Music, 6.30pm March 26.
Image courtesy Andrew Ford. Credit: Jim Rolon.
