Robert Saxton

Summary

‘It's heartening to have one's work recognised, but seeking acclaim mustn't be on the agenda.’

Because Robert Saxton is the composer I knew best before compiling this book, the prospect of interviewing him for it was entirely pleasurable. There was no anxiety about meeting yet another composer for the first time and wondering what he or she would be like in person, only anticipation of chatting to a friend, albeit in more depth than usual.

The encounter took place in December 2011 at his home, a spacious Edwardian house in south-east London. The living room is an Aladdin's cave of books, magazines, scores, framed posters and other items to stimulate and distract, and after squeezing into a space at the end of the sofa for a preliminary cup of tea I was led upstairs to his study for the interview.

As always, he was concerned and needlessly apologetic, particularly about having had to postpone our meeting more than once because of the pressure of his work at the University of Oxford, where he's Professor of Composition and Tutorial Fellow in Music at Worcester College. Now that the interview was about to take place, was my chair comfortable? Was I warm enough? Was it too dark, and should he perhaps turn a light on? And later, during our conversation, did what he was saying make any sense? It did, of course, but it was only when I was transcribing our conversation that I understood the full relevance of some of his comments, which had come thick and fast while we were talking. And at that point I was faced with difficult decisions about what to omit from the published version.

Not long afterwards I re-read his interview in Paul Griffiths's New Sounds, New Personalities and began to worry. It was full of references to his music, including a description of how he conceives and develops a piece, and it made my conversation with him seem almost undisciplined. I’d found it fascinating, but perhaps I hadn't kept a sufficiently firm grip on its direction and hadn't asked enough of the right questions. Had we been strangers, would I have allowed myself to take my hands off the steering wheel in the way that I seemed to have done?

That question was partly answered by his subsequent request to make substantial changes to the edited interview.