October 2006
Talking to David Adams	Show Menu

David Adams, Professor of Organ, RIAM, and Organist, Taney Parish Church

Interviewed by Peter Barley

David, perhaps I could start by asking you what prompted you to start out in music and take up the organ?

I began my musical training as a chorister at St Patrick's Cathedral. My uncle Billy Boucher and my cousins Eric and Peter Sweeney had all been choristers at St Patrick's, and subsequently all became organists.

So I suppose it was in some ways inevitable that you found yourself in the environs of the cathedral?

Yes, my choice was made for me almost! I was programmed as an organist!

You clearly come from a very musical family, so I'm sure they encouraged you during your time as a chorister, too. What would be your strongest memories of those times?

Mr Sydney Greig was the Organist in those days, and Eric Sweeney was his Assistant. I remember freezing cold winter days, with those robes that were very ineffective. The cathedral wasn't heated during the week at that time. We had a lot more to do in those days -the boys still sang on Saturdays, so it was a full programme. I was about ten years old when I started to have organ lessons, and immediately Mr Greig made me play for Matins on a Saturday morning which was horrendous, because I didn't have a clue what I was doing! He didn't let me practise in advance on the organ—that was forbidden. I don't know why he was so strict about this, but it meant that I made a bit of a mess of things until I began to get the hang of it all. I remember sitting there sweating my way through it, although there was hardly anyone in the congregation except perhaps one of my parents, and Mr Greig sitting at the back.

So he was just listening, he was not conducting?

He hardly ever conducted the choir. Just in his last couple of years he started conducting some unaccompanied pieces.

What did your chorister peers think of you playing for these services? Did you get any comments?

No, I don't think they cared. I do remember one embarrassing time when I was playing for the school prizegiving service: it was during the blessing and I had a hymn book ready, and whatever way I put up the voluntary caused the hymn book to fall down across all four manuals, with the full registration already drawn for my voluntary!

In what ways do you think the whole business of being a chorister influenced your later development? You must have decided at some stage that you wanted to make a go of music?

Because of the St Patrick's training I was ahead of my contemporaries in some ways, so music was a subject at which I particularly excelled. The other thing that I gained from being a chorister was the ability to sight read, and I was handy enough to be asked to accompany other people, singers and instrumentalists. In 1978 I went to Trinity College as Organ Scholar. There was a Director of Chapel Music, but he only lasted for my first term, and then I was on my own, although I later had some assistance.

So I suppose it was a question of picking up things as you went along in much the same way as you had as a young boy playing the organ at St Patrick's?

Yes, there weren't the courses and opportunities to learn then that there are now.

That's interesting, we'll return to that later. So after Trinity, were you exploring various different options, or was it fairly clear cut what you were going to do?

At one stage, I thought I might go into piano accompanying, but it became obvious that I should concentrate on the organ more, and I won a scholarship to study in Freiburg with Ludwig Doerr. He had just been a juror in the Dublin Organ Competition. He had a system that you couldn't bring the same piece two weeks running, so it had to be a new piece every week! He made out a repertoire list for the year—his main interests were Reger, Cesar Franck and J.S. Bach.

At what stage did you begin to develop your interests in early and contemporary music? You are well known as a champion of both.

Before I left Dublin I had taken lessons with John Beckett, who was an amazing person and an amazing musician, so I pursued harpsichord as a second study in Freiburg and later also in Amsterdam.

The contemporary music came later—it gradually developed from being asked to do things because I could sight read. I worked with Ensemble Recherché in Freiburg, and a few composers wrote pieces for me. When I came back to Dublin, in 1997 I had the idea that I would start up a cross-over ensemble, that would specialize in early and contemporary music, but at that very time Crash Ensemble was starting up, so they approached me to be their main keyboard player. I have now been with them for almost ten years.

How did your experience in Amsterdam compare to that in Freiburg?

It was mixed. Piet Kee, with whom I was supposed to be studying was frustratingly elusive, although a great player. When he broke his leg in my second year Ewald Koimann was appointed as his substitute, and he is an excellent teacher.

I suppose it's the case that it isn't always the greatest performers that make the best teachers, and I'm sure you bear these experiences in mind now with your own teaching.

The most important thing is that a teacher has an open mind, and is not afraid to give his or her own opinion. It's also important that the lessons are regular and that you set your students goals.

You have recently moved from DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama to the RIAM. Tell me about your experiences of music education in Dublin, and how things have changed.

When I was a music student, there were very few places where you could study music full time at tertiary level and very few people took it as an option. There is a huge choice now and a big intake. When I was a student, you could be fairly sure that you were going to be making music your career, and that the people around you were very keen to do that—we fed off one another. Now things are less certain for some people, it's a very different dynamic. Not all students will necessarily pursue it professionally.

Thinking of music students hoping to enter the profession, you would presumably encourage them.

Yes, there are actually many more opportunities—it's the norm now, but even during their undergraduate years they are much more mobile with cheaper flights for master-classes, especially the singers.

Turning now to those of us who play in churches and cathedrals, what do you think are the challenges for us now?

I think of the problem and pressure of time commitment, not just for the choir but for the congregation. You look around and see a lot of older people—will they be replaced? There is also the difficulty of making our cathedrals and churches into spiritual centres, to try to focus on the worship.

How about your own time commitments? How does your week unfold?

I was playing a lot in ensembles and orchestras and touring a lot, but now that I have the post in the Academy, I am able to focus much more on teaching. I am also making plans for another organ recording. Solo engagements or accompanying just one soloist in a concert can be much more easily fitted round my teaching commitments.

What do you get out of teaching yourself?

I am constantly surprised how different people are. You have to take each student separately. One may have a technical problem, one a musical one, one a problem with rhythm and so on. You can't generalise or have a system that fits all.

Aside from your many musical activities do you have time for relaxation?

I had some good time off over the summer, when I was able to go swimming a lot, and walking and catch up on reading.

Do you have any tips?

Always use the same fingering, and write it in! You can become lazy about this, particularly if you are a good sight reader. I used not to write things in, but it's a big mistake. I discovered this when I was entering international competitions—correct fingering gives you much greater accuracy when under pressure. You don't of course need to finger every note, but you can train your muscle memory with consistent fingering and thus eliminate mistakes. You confuse the memory if you don't use the same fingering all the time. Furthermore, you can go back to pieces some years later and if they are properly fingered you can pick them up again with relative ease.

There is an artistic as well as a technical side to this. For instance, in the music of Bach, it is very important, the fingering gives you the shape and the articulation of the music.

You won the Dublin International Organ Competition in 1986. How significant was that for you and how important do you think competitions are as a whole?

It gave me something to work towards. It was a really good experience—I met lots of people and heard lots of people play. The winning is not necessarily so critical, it's more the experience of being through the mill. It brings you to another stage, and it requires you to develop a reliable technique to maximize accuracy. In the end, not playing wrong notes is a trick of the mind. If you aim to play without mistakes, it's almost impossible. You have to aim much higher. If you aim to be expressive and create magic, then the notes will take care of themselves. It's your ears and your imagination that raise the standard.

That's an inspiring goal, David and makes a good place to sign off and say thank you for talking to SOUNDBOARD. Good luck and every good wish as you build on your many successes and further your distinguished career as teacher and performer.

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