Tal Walker on balancing academia and passion
Florence Lockheart
Monday, November 7, 2022
Pianist Tal Walker compares the merits of education and passion and explains the creative processes behind his latest album
Throughout my studies, I have specialised in French repertoire and this love of French music has led me to Paris, where I have studied at the École Normale de Musique de Paris with Madam Françoise Thinat. I also studied at the Académie de musique française pour piano, where I performed for French pianists including Philippe Entremont, Michel Béroff, Pascal Rogé and Jean Philippe Collard. I also had the chance to perform in Salle Cortot, the Église Saint-Merri (where Saint-Saëns was the organist) and in venues and music salons across France. These experiences, together with my doctoral research at the Royal College of Music in London, all feed into my interpretation of the French repertoire.
While researching the history of my chosen repertoire I found that miniatures (such as Préludes, Nocturnes, Suite movements and Impromptus) became very popular among French piano composers in the early twentieth century. Perhaps they tried to step away from the large-scale Sonata influenced by the Germans, to explore the poetic small-scale genres that recall the traditions of the French clavecinistes and Chopin. Miniatures are little gems, perfect and polished, fragments of ideas, and sometimes bearing a descriptive title. I was so excited to discover these lesser-known cycles written by three of the most important French composers of the previous century: Fauré, Poulenc, Messiaen and decided that these would be the focus of my album, Fauré, Poulenc, Messiaen: Préludes & Nocturnes.
It was a fascinating process to find the right balance between my own artistic vision and the effort to preserve the great tradition of the past.
Although these three composers are completely different in style, the similarities between their Prélude cycles (and Poulenc’s Nocturnes) are remarkable. Each cycle contains eight or nine pieces, very different in atmosphere, mostly short, and almost improvisatory in their freedom and creativity. There is unity in each cycle – motifs that come back, themes from earlier pieces (Fauré’s Requiem, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and Aubade), and typical musical techniques (such as Messiaen’s modes of limited transposition and Fauré’s plainchant accompaniment technique).
Studying the context of these works, I discovered that each piece is telling a story. All three composers accomplished great achievements prior to these works, which were overshadowed by struggles in their personal life. Fauré was appointed the director of the Paris Conservatoire, became an internationally famous composer, and was selected to the Institut de France. At the same time, he was suffering from the distortion of his hearing and was struggling with the illness of his father-in-law. He composed his Preludes in solitude during his trips to Switzerland, as his obligations to the Conservatoire meant he had limited time to compose in Paris.
Before writing his Nocturnes Poulenc had gained fame and enjoyed a triumph with his ballet Les biches in Monte Carlo, but soon after he lost his intimate friend Raymonde Linossier and plunged into a depression. It was around that time that he also discovered his sexual orientation, with which he struggled to come to terms. Lastly, Messiaen, who entered the Conservatoire in a very young age was awarded many prizes for his accomplishments as a young talented musician. He wrote his Préludes while still a student, shortly after the tragic passing of his beloved mother. His early Préludes, clearly inspired by Debussy, combine this grief with ecstasy and Mysticism.
On this album I worked closely with my former teacher, Madame Thinat, in the role of artistic director for the project. Her musical ideas, handed down to her from her own teachers and influences including Marguerite Long, Yvonne Lefébure, Yvonne Loriod and Alfred Cortot, had a direct influence on me at the recording studio in Paris. It was a fascinating process to find the right balance between my own artistic vision and the effort to preserve the great tradition of the past. These three magnificent composers took me (literally and figuratively) on a musical journey, which I hope the listener will follow.
Tapping into a long tradition of French piano playing to uncover the story behind the pieces interests me both as a pianist and as a scholar. My academic research at the Royal College of Music combines with interpretational ideas from pianists in Paris to enable me to bring into practice the ideas behind the pieces. I work to add an extra layer of depth to my interpretation through the exploration of the biographical, musicological, aesthetical, stylistic, and technical aspects of each piece.
Tal Walker’s newly recorded album Fauré, Poulenc, Messiaen: Préludes & Nocturnes is out now. Walker will also be performing at Conway Hall on 13 November and at Burgh House on 18 November.