
(2) In September 2012, Lloyd Webber joined musicians and teachers to criticise Michael Gove's planned Ebacc qualification. (1) A satirical opera once called "Russian jazz with Bolshevik trimmings". High point: "Working with Yehudi Menuhin on Elgar's Cello Concerto and recording Britten's Cello Symphony." Footnotes Low point: "A terrible time, about three years into the profession, when I developed pains in my left hand and feared I might never play again." In shortĬareer: Has premiered more than 60 works for cello and won a Brit for his rendition of Elgar's Cello Concerto. Julian Lloyd Webber's A Tale of Two Cellos is out now. Neither of us took any notice, of course, and that was his point: you have to want it enough to ignore such advice. That's the advice my father gave to Andrew and me. What advice would you give a young musician?ĭon't do it.
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You can't just decide that you know how to play the cello. You've got to have inspiration – but if you don't do the perspiration, it's not going to work. Yes, though I'd say it's more like 10% and 90%. Is there any truth in the saying that art is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration? I didn't know anything about him, but I saw a painting of a green moon and thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. When I was 11 or 12, my aunt and uncle took me to an exhibition of works by Kandinsky in Menton, France. I have a bit of an allergy to American country music.Ī Kandinsky watercolour. Is there an art form you don't relate to? I want to be able to get up and practise in the morning. I don't spend sleepless nights thinking about it. This question seems to occupy other people's minds more than mine.

Has having a very famous brother (4 ) been a blessing or a curse? People who learn instruments as children are more likely to go to concerts as adults. A programme like Sistema England (3 ) is brilliant for introducing large numbers of children to music-making. In fact, we already have: access to music is very patchy, so a lot of children are never discovering whether they have a talent for music or not. Unless we actually sort out our music education system once and for all, we are going to lose a lot of talent. How can we secure the future of classical music? You were vocal in your opposition to the government's planned arts education shake-up (2 ). I saw the cello and thought: "Maybe I'll be allowed to give up the piano if I ask for another instrument." So this tiny little cello arrived, and I found I actually wanted to play it. Then, aged four, I was taken to a children's concert. My mother tried to teach me piano, but I hated it. It was almost the other way round: the cello discovered me. Following his final concert in 2014, Lloyd Webber now dedicates more time to his work in the field of music education.How did you discover you had a talent for cello? He was sadly forced into early retirement as a cello player, following the discovery of a problem with his bowing arm during a performance in October 2013. Julian Lloyd Webber has also had an active involvement in music education, forming the Music Education Consortium in 2004 with James Galway and Evelyn Glennie. Released in June 2006, this most recent recording features artists such as Michael Ball and John Lineman, and songs from an assortment of composers including Schubert and Nitin Sawhney. Julian’s recent recordings include Phantasia, based on his brother’s West End hit The Phantom of the Opera, featuring violinist Sarah Chang and Unexpected Songs. He has collaborated with an extraordinary array of artists including Yehudi Menuhin, Stephane Grappelli and Elton John.

Over the years he has inspired new compositions for cello from composers as diverse as Malcolm Arnold to Philip Glass. This piece became one of 50 premiere works for cello that Julian went on to record, many of which had been written for him. Returning to London, Julian made his concert debut in 1972, where he performed the Cello Concerto of Arthur Bliss. As son of composer William Lloyd Webber and brother of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, Julian went on to become a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music, before spending time in Geneva with Pierre Fournier to complete his studies. Widely regarded as one of the most creative musicians of his generation, British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber has achieved worldwide success as a performer and composer.īorn in London on April 14th 1951, Julian was surrounded by a household of musical talent.
