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A mother’s inspiration

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While the object of Arcana is to share music and thoughts, it is also to acknowledge some influential people in the world of music. For many people the most influential people in this field are their parents or grandparents – so I hope you will forgive me for sharing a personal inspiration on all of my work here.

Very sadly my mother Coralie passed away two weeks ago (May 2015). Mum was many things for me, but what I want to praise here is her encouragement of my musical exploits, because without that I would not be writing this piece.

I am fortunate to have grown up in a happy household with brothers Nick and Jonathan and sister Clare, all of us at close quarters in a terraced house in Thetford, Norfolk. Gradually, at the age of four, I was drawn to Mum’s record collection, enjoying the delights of Dvořák’s New World Symphony, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and Romeo and Juliet and especially Holst’s The Planets. To her credit, though nerves were tested with the frequent repetition of these pieces, Mum encouraged me to keep on listening to them with a patient smile.

Then, at the age of eleven, I started to learn the cello. As anyone that age knows, one of the least attractive things about learning a musical instrument is the practice. Mum nagged me to do scales, arpeggios, proper warm ups, sight-reading and the interminable repetition of the exam pieces themselves, though they must have been driving her crazy. At the time I wasn’t grateful – but I certainly am now!

My cello playing helped get me on to the Music ‘A’ Level course at Norwich City College, where I made it my mission to discover classical music in all its forms – and where Mum and Dad generously invested in a restored cello for me. Then I went on to the University of Surrey at Guildford, where I furthered that education but also discovered a love of dance and electronic music. Then I was fortunate to move on to the jobs I have had since, leading to PPL where I have been for thirteen years – and of course to start with writing about music, which is what I love to do here.

At all these points Mum has been a constant source of encouragement, and we had many long chats about classical music she had heard on Radio 3. If I was reviewing a lunchtime concert at the Wigmore Hall I knew she would be there, on the other end of the radio – which, in a sense, she always will be.

When in Finland recently I was lucky enough to visit the house of Jean Sibelius at Ainola, 20km from Helsinki. Sibelius was Mum’s favourite composer – and is one of mine too. Into this year I hope to start listening to all his works – and at every turn Mum’s smiling face will be there, enjoying the music with me.

So thanks, Mum, from the bottom of my heart. I owe you so much for all you have done for me, and I just hope I can provide similar inspiration for others. I leave below the music played at her funeral service, Farewell to Stromness by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. It sums up her gentle nature beautifully, and also the sparkle that never left her eyes.

Welcome to Team Arcana!

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Welcome to Arcana.fm! It’s great to see you here.

Arcana has been set up to give you the chance to step into classical music with no fear or pressure – just the chance to enjoy and read about good music!

The name Arcana comes from a forward-looking orchestral piece written by the French composer Edgard Varèse in the 1920s. Varèse was a visionary, an early sign of the direction electronic music was to take some fifty years later – and I want to capture something of that sense of discovery and originality in a number of ways through the site.

To do this I am treating all musical styles as equals, enjoying what they take from each other – pop drawing from classical, as in The Borrowers series that will begin with Manfred Mann‘s Joybringer, and vice versa – an example for starters being Philip Glass and his symphonies from the work of David Bowie. If Taylor Swift or Muse suddenly go classical, you’ll be the first to read about it!

There will be an extended look at classical music as used for TV and film in Screen Grab, beginning with the score for the Russell Crowe-led seafaring epic, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and looking at TV adds and promos, too. What’s the music Channel 4 are using to promote The Jump? You’ll find out here (it’s the Polovtsian Dances from Borodin‘s opera Prince Igor!)

There will be a series of guides for online concerts, which in the case of the BBC iPlayer will then be available for 30 days’ enjoyment. There will be interviews – a couple of whom are tenatively lined up for the next week or two in the shape of Emika and John Tejada. There will be reviews of new relevant recordings, both pop and classical. We will go on a Richard Strauss Odyssey, inspired by the composer’s centenary last year – and fellow centurion Sibelius will follow! Later, in a more ambitious series, we will take music year-by-year from 1700, so we can start with the very best the Baroque period had to offer. There is also Under the Surface, a look at underappreciated composers or works.

What matters most at this or any stage is your feedback and suggestions. Arcana is not just for my enjoyment – I want everyone to get as much as possible out of it. So tell me what you would like to see more / less of on this site, what music you like and dislike, or anything else – through Twitter, Facebook or e-mail.

Let’s enjoy the music!

-Ben Hogwood