Oliver Knussen

Summary

‘The worst imaginable narcissism would be to try to write what you think your music ought to be like.’

If any readers who previously knew nothing about contemporary British music are working their way alphabetically through the encounters in this book, they’ll already be aware of the high regard in which Oliver Knussen is held by his fellow composers. But I wanted my interview with him to focus on his own music rather than the support, both personal and professional, that he has given to colleagues over the last thirty years. First I had to make contact with him, and this took longer than I’d expected. Even allowing for the fact that he spends a lot of his time away from home, conducting, I began to wonder whether he’d become slightly reclusive.

But one evening in November 2013 he telephoned me from his home in Suffolk. Sounding informal and relaxed, he said that he’d received from his manager the list of questions I wanted to ask him and was pleased to see that they addressed important issues. In fact, he wanted to respond to them straight away, so he had a proposal to make: that he answer the questions by e-mail (this would enable him to respond while he was away conducting) and that we meet at some point in the future if this was still necessary.

My heart sank a little because I feared that an e-mail exchange would have none of the personal immediacy of a face-to-face conversation. But he went on to explain that he communicates more naturally and spontaneously in writing than he does in person because he doesn't feel under pressure to give an immediate and perhaps insufficiently considered response. Had I read his recent question-and-answer piece for the Guardian (described by the paper as a rare interview with him) in which he talked about his first meeting and ongoing friendship with Britten? Indeed I had. Well, he told me, it had been submitted to the paper by e-mail. I wouldn't have guessed, and so I agreed readily to his proposal and looked forward to his first e-mail. It arrived a few days later, and my subsequent questions and queries were answered similarly promptly, often with a greeting such as, ‘Here's some more, as requested. Hope it hits the spot.’