September 2009

Talking to David Lee

Peter Barley talking to David Lee

P.B. David, can I begin by asking you about your early musical influences?

D.L. I came from a musical family — my father played the piano and my mother sang. My own piano teacher was a pupil of Alfred Cortot. Whilst a pupil at St Columba's I was taught by Joseph Groocock, and also came under the influence of John Beckett, who stood in for Groocock for a couple of spells. Beckett was a towering musical figure in Dublin at the time. He strongly disliked Bruckner and Handel, and it's interesting to reflect that when one comes up against such a dominant personality at the age of fifteen the effect can be profound. To this day, I almost feel guilty if I enjoy a piece of Handel !

You then won an organ scholarship to Peterhouse, Cambridge. Thurston Dart must have been a leading light at the university at that time?

Yes, and in fact he kindly lent me his spare clavichord for three years, after which he asked for it back, as George Guest needed it! I asked Dart if he might give me some lessons. He said that he hadn't time to teach me, but that if I offered him tea occasionally then he'd be happy to talk to me informally. After Cambridge, I spent a year in Freiburg, studying the harpsichord with Stanislav Heller.

How did your own studies influence your subsequent long career as a teacher? Did you focus on any particular area of repertoire?

I feel that a good grounding in piano technique is crucial, and where necessary I have prescribed similar exercises to those I used as a student. I'm happy to teach the full organ repertoire, including Liszt, Reger, Messiaen etc. but I do feel most naturally drawn towards the baroque repertory. Equally, I always favoured the more serious and methodical student, and of all my pupils Malcolm Proud really stands out. I taught him for eleven years, and he's now a world figure.

Apart from your profile as a teacher, when you returned to Dublin from your own studies abroad, you also held a number of distinguished church positions, beginning with St Bartholomew's, Clyde Road.

In fact, I took up the post of Organist at St Bart's in 1956 before I had even left Cambridge. My family worshipped there, and the vicar had allowed me to practise on the organ. There had been a momentary hiccup when the then organist refused me permission to play, and that episode made me vow at the age of thirteen never to stand in the way of a budding beginner organist. I never have refused anyone such permission.

Yes, encouragement at that stage is so important. How has the organ music 'scene' in Dublin changed between those days and now?

There are now many more good players. When I came back from Cambridge I suppose I brought back some fresh ideas and a concept of a standard of playing, but the organ scene here had barely taken off. Gerard Gillen was away studying in Belgium at the time, and I remember inviting him to make use of the Bart's organ for his personal practice, which at that period in many ways really had the best organ.

Concurrently with your post at St Bart's, you were also Assistant at St Patrick's — how did this work?

The job was very different in those days; it was mainly to act as a deputy for the Organist when he was away. It was thus possible to hold both jobs concurrently. Almost nobody conducted choirs in those days. George Hewson was of course a very gifted and fluent player, and my own boss Sydney Greig was very correct.

You then moved to St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, where you founded a festival?

In fact it was originally called Kilkenny Arts Week (everything else was a festival in those days!) When I arrived in the cathedral in 1970 I thought it would be a great place for concerts — the building, the acoustic. The festival is bigger now, though there is less concentration on the musical side. I think it worked better when there was a voluntary committee running it, with subgroups responsible for programme, fund-raising and publicity. Top musicians came, such as Peter Frankl and Ivo Pogorelich. People used to ask how we got such great names. I just made a few phone calls to agents and everything was agreed. Our first festival (if I remember correctly) had a budget of £10,000 and we made a £1000 profit. I left Kilkenny after ten years, as I was finding it more difficult to commute between there and my teaching in Dublin.

You were by now well established at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and subsequently became full time there. Did you find time for any other activities?

In 1980 I co-founded (with Deirdre Doyle) Dublin Masterclasses. Once again, we had many international names as teachers, notably on the conducting course (Janos Furst, Bryden Thomson, Gerhard Markson); students included Christopher Bell and David Robertson, who has recently conducted the Last Night of the Proms. We also run courses for piano, harpsichord and organ. We have had some very successful open workshops, filmed by the RTE.

What sort of balance were you seeking to strike between an international clientele and the native talent?

We definitely wanted a strong emphasis on the international element, whilst respecting the homegrown talent. For instance, our first piano masterclasses were taken by Pascal Rogé, Peter Katin and John O'Conor. Native students thus had a chance to hear what was going on abroad. The Young Artists Series is particularly good for this dimension. Ireland's link with Europe has been invaluable, and very beneficial for musical contacts, notably German, Dutch and Russian.

Would you have any advice to pass on to students participating in masterclasses?

Well, I do remember the then seventeen year old Barry Douglas having an argument with the person leading the masterclass! Really it's much better to just take the suggestions at the time — they can always be discarded later. Having said that, Barry has of course been a good influence for music here, both North and South of the border.

Are there any trends in church music currently that worry you?

I find myself appalled by some of the new hymns that are appearing, that are much more suited to the piano than the organ. This really makes the case for organ maintenance and refurbishment much harder to argue.

Do you have any advice for young up and coming organists in Ireland today?

Go and hear organs somewhere else around the world. Recordings are not the same. I think my favourite organ anywhere is the Schnitger organ in Groningen.

How are you spending your retirement?

Musicians don't really retire! I continue to play at Dún Laoghaire Presbyterian Church, where I have been for many years. I am also still teaching and giving classes.

David, thank you for talking to Soundboard, and we wish you a fulfilling retirement.

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