An Interview with John Kinsella
JK: That's right. Well, it came about because they performed this string piece of mine, Hommage à Clarence, which was dedicated to an English violinist[Clarence Myerscough], who I knew very well and who died in 2001. His wife asked me to write this piece for a memorial concert a year later, and it was only intended for one performance. Then I got a call from John Kelly of the ICO to say they were taking it on board, and they have toured it a lot since. That led to the commission. The commission idea was, I think, roughly a concerto-style piece for string orchestra. They left me a complete blank page to do what I liked but there was just a hint that it could be virtuosic in ways. I think the symphony is quite virtuosic in many ways. What it turned out to be was a three-movement work, and each of the movements is preceded by a recitative-like section. Also entwined throughout the whole work is the Jesu meine Freude chorale melody [by Bach].
JG: And how long did the work take you to write? Was this something that was with you for a number of years, prior to this actual commission?
JK: I hadn't anything specific [before the commission]. The chorale melody had certainly been floating around for years, like lots of other ideas -- it's like having a sketchbook. It's funny because I swore I would never write another orchestral work because my eighth symphony actually damaged my health; I was in quite a low way after that. Things seemed to have improved and this whole thing came just at the right time. And having heard the way the orchestra and Nick McGegan [conductor] played the Hommage á Clarencepiece, I couldn't believe the way they had done it. They had done things -- ways of phrasing and turning corners and that -- that were most imaginative and really caught my fancy. So it was great to do a piece specifically for them, knowing the way they went about[performing] it.
JG: And did you feel, if I can put it this way, 'the hand of history on your shoulder' when writing the piece?
JK: Well it is a phrase that everybody is aware of: if you do have the temerity to do a ninth symphony, the next thing you do is end up in a box. But I have my insurance policy because I had already written my Symphony No. 0! So I've survived that. But so many composers have written just nine symphonies, more than any other number -- it is funny.
JG: It is, but I think in the last century that fewer composers have written nine. They've either stopped short of that number or gone beyond it. For instance, I was interested to know if any other Irish composer has written more than nine symphonies and I had a feeling that Robert Simpson did.
JK: He's gone way beyond that.
JG: He wrote eleven.
JK: The only other one I know of was Stanford and he wrote seven. Maybe I should stop now and enshrine it.
JG: And when you're writing a work of this size, do you work exclusively on it?
JK: Yes, I've always been like that, regardless of whether it's a big piece or a small piece. I cannot work on two things at the same time, and I very much admire people who can. It's either a plus point in my favour or a failing -- I'm not quite sure which. I simply have to just concentrate and finish it. I had put aside a piece, which I was doing in another context, to write this symphony because there was a deadline on it. I'm finding it very hard now to get back in on that; I'll get there but it's taking a long time.
JG: Looking back on over fifty years of composing, are there any works that stand out particularly for you and that you'd like to have performed again?
JK: One would always like things to get other performances. With the lack of publishing here it's almost impossible to have an orchestral work done abroad because people simply don't know they are there. I'd certainly love to hear some of the symphonies done again. I think No. 6 was quite a success in the National Concert Hall because it was written for that particular hall. I'd like to hear No. 7 done again. You were asking about how composers are situated nowadays. With large works, you simply just get your commission, it's performed, and then that's it. There seems to be no mechanism for revisiting that work, it's extraordinary.
JG: It's a problem. Even looking back at works that historically stand out, they're often neglected too.
JK: It was something I myself was conscious of when I was Head of Music [at RTÉ]. I used to make a point of having works by people like Archie Potter, John F. Larchet, Seán O Riada in concerts; I think that should be done nowadays. It's a pity.
JG: And of course, in contrast to this, you mentioned the Irish Chamber Orchestra performing your work Hommage á Clarence. It must be very satisfying for you when a work you write almost enters into an ensemble's standard repertoire.
JK: It is obviously very gratifying indeed. You find that the work takes on a life of its own and you're not connected with it necessarily any more.
JG: And what are you currently working on at the moment?
JK: As I said, I'm trying to get back into this set of variations for orchestra I've been working on. My next project, although I've no commission for it, will be a string quartet.
JG: And, dare I ask the question, can we expect any more symphonies? Is Shostakovich now your role model?
JK: No. I really thought when I'd written No. 6 that that was the end of it. They [the other symphonies] all came from impulses I couldn't have foreseen, so maybe there's another one out there.
JG: Who knows? That's all I wanted to ask you so thank you very much, John.
JK: Thank you.
John Kinsella was interviewed on video by Jonathan Grimes in the Contemporary Music Centre, Dublin, on 13 October 2004.
The views expressed in this interview are those of the persons concerned and are not necessarily those of the Contemporary Music Centre.