He also took a deep interest in matters of a more relaxing nature (to him) such as cricket, golf and snooker.
He nearly chose to study English Literature at Cambridge, rather than music in Manchester and he was very widely read. While seldom teaching, he was deeply interested in furthering the careers of young composers and instrumentalists, and gave first-rate master-classes, not insisting on his own viewpoint, but encouraging young musicians to pursue – or defend – theirs. I’ve known him, at a meeting intended to promote his own music, to spend much of the time enthusing about the work of a fellow-composer. He was more interested in the next piece. Once satisfied with the work he had written he seldom listened to it again. In all cases he tried to be totally faithful to the vision of the composers, rather than his own.Īs a composer he was modest and self-deprecating. Never possessed of a massive sound, he could nevertheless make a note float across a smaller recital hall as if it had scarcely emanated from the instrument, but existed of itself. His pianistic technique was first-rate, particularly in his 30s and 40s, and he was also a brilliant sight-reader. His knowledge of music was encyclopaedic, and his enthusiasms spread widely, from Byrd to Bruckner, from Haydn to Satie, Rawsthorne and Tippett, via Vaughan Williams, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Ravel, Debussy – the list is endless, though artistic quality was the basis of his admiration.įrom an early age he loved to explore little-known works, and champion composers he considered unjustly neglected – thus he came to record the entire piano sonatas of Haydn (which have been continually on sale since the 1970s), the solo piano repertoire of Nielsen, and the magnificent Ludus Tonalis of Hindemith, which he considered a masterwork, along with the Suite Op. He showed no jealousy or malice at the good fortunes of colleagues and peers, delighting in the success of their musicianship, and if possible furthering their interests by performing their works, in some cases by arranging concerts, and in others performing or recording their keyboard works himself. He was devoted to the art of music, which ranked higher with him than any personal success. John McCabe, my husband of more than 40 years, was a man of absolute integrity and honour.
JOHN McCABE: 21st APRIL 1939 - 13th FEBRUARY 2015 JOHN McCABE: 21st APRIL 1939 - 13th FEBRUARY 2015 JOHN McCABE: 21st APRIL 1939 - 13th FEBRUARY 2015
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