NOCTURNES: THE LATER PIANO WORKS OF MALCOLM LIPKIN
A FILM BY JESSE LAWRENCE
“It’s basically a musical expression of the subconscious that comes out at night, either in dreams or when you’re free from the ties of the day...Emotionally, it’s unsettling. The music on the surface is perhaps very calm. But there’s an unease and a darkness underneath it.”
Directed by international award-winning film maker Jesse Lawrence, this outstanding documentary focuses on Malcolm’s Nocturne cycle of eight pieces written both for the piano and about the piano. The Nocturnes feature dedications to pianists Eileen Joyce, Philip Fowke, Kathryn Stott, Stephen Coombs and Stephen Hough, and multiple references to works by other composers can be heard throughout.
““Though the overriding impression may be one of substance and wisdom, a lifetime’s creativity distilled into five-minute statements, perhaps the most striking aspect of these highly individual late pieces is their appetite for experimentation and their freshness of approach” ”
The documentary is filmed on location in Wyastone during the recording of the album, as well as in Southwold, Suffolk and in Sheffield. Drawing on interviews with pianist Nathan Williamson, producer Adrian Farmer, musicologist Paul Conay and Malcolm’s son Jonathan, it offers significant insight into both the music and the rapidly changing world of recording as streaming replaces the traditional album.
““This is exactly the moment where we can justify rediscovering and spending time and energy on composers who didn’t make it in their own lifetimes. ”
