Are we on the right track?

What does music mean to you in your daily life?
Corien: ‘Music brings me challenge, relaxation, excitement, and joy. Listening to and playing music give all aspects of my life more depth and brilliance. Being able to play music together with others is a great gift.’

Ed: ‘Music has accompanied me all my life as a kind of guide in the beauty of the arts and has played an important role in my emotional development. From my earliest childhood, music has captivated me through the limitless possibilities to let the imagination run wild and still teach you structure.’

Had you performed any of Benjamin Britten's work previously, or is this your first introduction to his music?
Corien: ‘I had already previously accompanied the liedhonors of the British, including a few Cabaret Songs. Furthermore, I know a number of choral and orchestral works.’

Ed: ‘The liedhonors of the British are new to me. At a young age, I did get acquainted with his music by listening to the Saint Nicholas Cantata, where the figurative and tonal elements clash with the abstraction of sound, rhythm, and changes in meter.’

Why does Benjamin Britten's lied appeal to you as a duo?
‘We have specifically liedchosen liedworks that are lyrical and based on beautiful poems with a deeper meaning. As with many classical composers, the music has become one with the text. You understand the text better that way. Where Britten’s more modern arrangement sometimes makes the whole thing even more poignant or even poignant. With the works by Britten, it seems as if you are in conversation with the composer. The depth of the text and the lyricism of the music seem to convey Britten lied’s personality directly to the listener and the performers.’

How does singing or playing music by Benjamin Britten differ from singing or playing music by other composers? 
Corien: ‘By listening to the deeply personal commentary by pianist Graham Johnson in the documentary’ Britten: the sorcerer’s apprentice-accompanist I think the great personal challenge in the life of Britons – which is expressed in the sometimes exorbitant sense of happiness, sadness, and serenity – is something that is better recognizable and can be felt. With other composers, that is sometimes also the case. However, I do think that the more modern orchestration of Britten appeals more directly to such basic emotions. Think of certain dissonances and rhythms, without, however, evoking the distance of, for example, atonality. In my case, then.’
Ed adds: ‘Both the accompanist and the singer are fully able to excel. And this with often completely different parts that complement each other. Both parties are completely subservient to each other. The liedharmonies are like duets in which the one voice cannot exist without the other. From the accompanist side, you can get the feeling that it’s ‘real accompanist music’ and from the singing side that it’s ‘real singer music’. And it’s both!’

What is harder: singing or playing the right notes, or conveying the right emotion? 
‘In our opinion, there is no difference; we are talking about the same thing: a note is not sung correctly without the meaning resonating within it. And an expression quickly becomes a caricature if the tones are not correct. This is, at least, how we feel it. In practice – as advanced amateurs – it is of course very challenging. Both aspects remain major challenges. The pursuit of synthesis provides a sense of direction!’

Why do you think the music of Benjamin Britten still appeals to people today? 
Corien: ‘Because of the specific and unique sound structure, the rhythms, and perhaps also because of the added meaning that his life story gives to his music: even today, people still experience difficulties about who they are.’. 
Ed adds: ‘The music of Britten is addictive. Its tonal, figurative sound world likes to clash with abstraction, but never really becomes atonal. Because of this, you remain curious and always want more.’

If someone is not yet familiar with Benjamin Britten, why should he or she come and listen to this open stage?
‘Sturm und Drang” is not something from bygone eras and is also recognized by the contemporary human soul. Britten serves the colors of the mind in a more contemporary guise and compels you to pause and reflect. You must listen to and perform it to be captivated and carried away into his world of text and music that creates an unprecedented splendor of colors.”

If you could receive just one instruction from Benjamin Britten himself during a rehearsal, what would you hope he gave you?
‘At any rate, one of the things that matters is timing in relation to the rhythms, the jazz… And, since we’re both here, we’re allowed a second thing: we’d like to hear from him what images he had in mind for the lyrics and how he came to the very sounds that are there now. This so that you, as a player and singer, know and feel which path you should follow and what is to be experienced along that path.’

What if Benjamin Britten were to be sitting in the audience himself on October 18th? What would you like to tell him about your performance as a duo afterwards?
‘You have inspired us. In our innermost being, your work touches a sensitive nerve. Whether we were able to convey that remains a question for us, and for you a matter of knowing. In any case, we have tried to recreate your liedveneration based on what we felt; thought about what your suggestion was. Are we a little on the right track with our interpretation?’