Music that Changed Me
Violinist
One of Britain’s leading violinists,
Pike first came to public attention in 2002 when she won BBC Young Musician at the age of 12. A student at Chetham’s School of Music, she went on to make her Proms debut at 15, and became a BBC New Generation Artist. Her recordings for Chandos, as both a soloist and chamber musician, include discs of French and Czech works, the Mendelssohn and Sibelius Violin Concertos and, most recently, an exploration of Polish violin music with pianist Petr Limonov, reviewed on p93.
My earliest memories of music are of Mozart. My first CD, when I was four or five, had piano concertos on it, and I was enchanted by MOZART’S Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat major. I remember just putting it on and dancing round the room. This was before I had picked up an instrument. I played the piano first, and then something about the violin really drew me in – it was so vocal. This particular concerto is very grand and Beethovenian, full of drama and excitement, and is strikingly original.
The SIBELIUS Violin Concerto is another piece that has changed my life in a huge way. The first concertos I learned were by Bruch, Mendelssohn and Viotti. Beethoven when I was 13 was an epic challenge, and then immediately after the BBC Young Musician Competition, I learned Prokofiev One. I was about 15 when I started the Sibelius. It was the first really big concerto that I had learned, and I performed it with the BBC Symphony Orchestra a year later. I’ve been on a long journey with this piece, and I recorded it for Chandos a couple of years ago. That recording in Bergen has opened up so much in Scandinavia, and seeing the world with Sibelius has altered my whole view of music. The mood he captures is magical.
It was probably when I was in my teens that I first heard BRUCKNER’S Symphony No. 8, and I was completely overwhelmed by the intensity of it. I can’t find enough adjectives for this huge symphony, but the effect it had one me was life-altering. I was in absolute floods of tears but in a positive way – it was such a cathartic thing to listen to. I’m very open-minded when it comes to different interpretations generally, but funnily enough with Bruckner I’m very particular. It depends on a really trusting approach, one that trusts the music to do its thing and to know that there are these long build ups. I like an interpretation to take more of a bird’s-eye view. Bruckner has sublime moments but for me it’s more of an overall journey.
I discovered EUGENIUSZ KNAPIK’S Partita for violin and piano when I was in this lovely little music shop in Kraków. I knew I had three concerts of Polish music to put together for Wigmore Hall, so I took back a suitcase of music I wanted to play through. This 40-minute Partita, from 1981, is reminiscent of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time – Knapic studied with both him and Górecki. But in terms of sheer physicality and emotional intensity, I’ve never performed a work like it. It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Also, I’m half Polish, so it was special to discover this music. My dad was also taught by Górecki, and he met my mum when he was studying in Katowice, where Knapik now teaches. I played in the city recently and Knapik was at the concert. I couldn’t believe it. It was really wonderful to meet him.
LILI BOULANGER’S D’un soir triste really struck me when I first heard it, last year. The way the melodies are spun and the real brutal intensity of the piece is extraordinary. It’s a beautiful tone poem, one of her last pieces. She was only 24 when she died, but she composed so much in a short time. She knew was dying when she wrote this and it’s also set against the backdrop of World War One. The very end is fascinating to me as she manages to keep mysterious whether it’s positive or not. The music until then is very minor, very dark, and then there’s this moment where it’s like the window has been opened. Just as we’re lulled into sunny optimism, she subtly and beautifully leaves the chord without the third – so we can’t tell whether it’s major or minor.