IT’LL be a family celebration for John Harle when he visits Chester this month. A celebration since he’s artist in residence at Chester Summer Music Festival, where he’ll be hard at work performing, giving masterclasses, lecturing and hearing performances of his own music – “an intense engagement,” he says.
And a family affair since his son, a 22-year-old London University student, was librettist for Harle’s latest large-scale work, Earthlight.
So is Harle primarily performer or composer?
“A bit of both,” he suggests. “Performance and composition are related. As a performer, you look at all things in the music and deconstruct them to find an effective means of communication.”
Being a saxophonist also helps. “The main bulk of the repertoire is 20th century, so it’s impossible to avoid contemporary music. I’ve always composed, though I didn’t regard it as my ‘main thing’ until I was in my mid-30s.
“Certainly, the various genres you play as a saxophonist influence your compositional style and I’d say there’s no such thing as a ‘classical saxophonist’. Clearly, I’ve been influenced by jazz, fusion, contemporary classical and late Romantic works.”
Earthlight demands a full orchestra, chorus and soloist. “The libretto tells the story of the Leviathan,” he explains. “That was the sea monster which signalled destruction.
“Here, my son has constructed a modern myth where Leviathan represents renaissance and rebirth as we enter the 21st century.”
Harle’s work Miles and Miles, written for brass, was performed at Chester some years ago. Since then, the festival has been dogged by major financial uncertainty.
“Let’s hope Earthlight, a work about rebirth, signals the start of a new future,” Harle adds.
* EARTHLIGHT will be performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Chester Festival Chorus and soloist Garry Magee at Chester Cathedral on 25 July. Chester Summer Music begins on Sunday with a performance by singer Alfie Boe.
