Musical Magic
Choir & Organ
Peter BeavenJanuar
February 1999
Peter Beaven Interviews conductor and organist Stephen Layton
It's a rare opportunity to write about a new organist at The Temple Church.
Stephen Layton is but only the fourth this century and one relishes not
just the opportunity to discuss his work there, but his interests and
ambitions inside and outside the confines of the mysterious world that
is the Temple. It is, for those who don't know, an area of central London
where, for centuries, the law and lawyers have plied their worldly trade.
The atmosphere of an Oxbridge College abounds – history, traditions,
pecking orders – the whole gamut. Quaintly known as Inns of Court, there
are in fact three of these ghettos of jurisprudence in London, and as
far as music is concerned, Temple Church is the pinnacle.
Stephen Layton, or 'Sid ’to his friends and colleagues, has a gentle charm
which conceals the passionate musician within. There is a great strength,
integrity and sincerity about the man as well as the musician. His formative
years found him playing the piano in an Elim Pentecostal Church in Derby,
where his father, an amateur player, was organist. He attributes many
of his early musicianship skills to the experience of playing choruses
which began in the body of the congregation (of 500 souls!) and the organist/pianist
just had to pick it up! As a former chorister at Winchester Cathedral
he has a great admiration for Martin Neary. It was he who discovered that
the young Layton had perfect pitch, for as Stephen recalls, he went up
to Mr Neary after Evensong one evening, the responses having been transposed,
and said (rather nerdy-like), 'Were the responses in a different key tonight
sir? ’He progressed: to Eton as a music scholar and onward to be organ
scholar at King's College, Cambridge. He went to great lengths to explain
that he gained from Stephen Cleobury a sense of discipline and self-discipline
for work and practice but without dampening his personal passion for music.
This discipline was something for which he became increasingly thankful
after he'd left King's. Following Cambridge, he was assistant organist
at Southwark Cathedral for nine years prior to his transference to Temple
Church. He also stresses that he absorbed abundant knowledge and self
awareness from George Hurst, with whom he studied conducting at Canford.
He, like many others, benefited from being 'taken to bits ’and then 'rebuilt ’by someone who really knew about conducting. This was just two years after
Cambridge and interestingly, just after he had conducted for the first
time Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time. Not an easy work to conduct,
it has to be said.
So how does he feel about his new appointment at Temple Church?
Only too aware of the traditions, he is justly proud to be part of them,
though he is not afraid of changing and re-casting where necessary to
improve upon the past. He delights in the sense of timelessness in the
buildings and the treasured gems that exist in the archives, like a recently
discovered letter from the French organist Joseph Bonnet to Walford-Davies,
found tucked inside a piece of music. He acknowledges that he is chuffed
to live in such a wonderful place as the Temple precincts; a world apart
from the London outside, especially at weekends when it becomes beautifully
tranquil.
It was when he was a student at Cambridge that Layton tried his hand at
conducting and so was born Polyphony – now a successful professional group
with whom he has achieved admirable successes, both in live and recorded
performances. His interest in Slav music has been evident in his work
with Polyphony and with the august and established amateur choir, The
Holst Singers, with whom he has been with for five years. This recent
interest was born out of a discovery of some almost forgotten Russian
music (Sviridov's Vespers) whilst he was in Estonia. Coupled with a doggedly
determined streak, he set about performing and recording much of this
repertoire. Its granite-like grandeur has inspired and fired him up, as
does the immense spiritual power of the Eastern Orthodox Liturgies.
In recent years he has worked with other chamber groups including the
Netherlands Chamber Choir and the BBC Singers. He has also worked with
the Philharmonia Chorus on a few projects. He adores conducting large
amateur choirs and gets passionate not just about the repertoire but also
about the very ethos of amateur creativity – the hard-hewn grandeur of
something magically, musically special. His latest appointment is as Chief
Guest Conductor of the Danish National Choir/DR, a job he was offered
as a result of a highly acclaimed televised performance of Britten's A
Boy was born in Copenhagen, with the DNRC. He relishes the thought of
working with the group. They hit it off very quickly; the chemistry was
there right from the start.
He is acutely aware of his good fortunes and, by the same token, his responsibilities
to all he works with. He also feels, and I for one agree with him, that
because he is allowed to perform abroad, he is able to bring back to the
Temple a wealth of experience for the benefit of that institution.
Anxious not to cast himself in any one direction too early in his career
(he's just into his thirties), he doesn't hanker after a cathedral organ
loft, for as he put it, he has a superb choir and a wonderful four-manual
Harrison and Harrison to work with. Hard to top – in other words! The
fact that the choir is constantly on the up (a trip to Brazil before the
end of 1998 and the opportunity of recordings in the not-too-distant future)
endorses his feeling. Music at Temple Church is coming back onto the airwaves.
Five Tuesday lunchtime concerts (17 November – 15 December) have been
broadcast on Radio 3.
So what drives this man? Well, he really loves liturgical organ playing,
and as we spoke he was relishing accompanying Harwood's O how glorious
for All Saints Day, but it is obvious he shines as a choral conductor
? with a passion! Accepting all the limitations of amateur choirs, he
would love the opportunity at some time in the future to work with a large
choral society again. He was, for many years, conductor of the Wokingham
Choral Society in Berkshire, but sadly the pressure of other work forced
him to relinquish the baton. He truly likes what they are all about ?
he has the gift of the common touch and not all musically talented choral
conductors possess that prerequisite skill. He is obviously a thoughtful
and considerate man for he speaks with equal respect for all the small
groups he works with, regardless of their professional or amateur status.
He acknowledges that the limiting essence of working with amateur choirs,
large or small, is the rate of musical absorption. His humanity accepts
that people are sometimes less than perfect.
I was interested to discover what Stephen did on his days off. Unlike
his predecessors at Temple Church he is a self-confessed Cyberspace-kid.
In fact, the discovery of a lot of the Slav music which has occupied him
recently was down to researching on the internet. He is captivated by
gizmos and confesses to replacing his computer more often than most. His
other hobby, apart from enjoying food (don't we all?) and 'not being a
small chap', is flying kites! We mused on practising this pastime in the
Temple precincts and perhaps accidentally adorning some majestic building
with a multicoloured ftexifoil kite!
So where does Layton see himself in 30 years time? Still at the Temple?
Well, he doesn't know and to be honest, I think that's a good thing. What
I would bet money on is that wherever and whatever Layton decides to do,
it will benefit those around him, both performers and listeners. Not surprisingly,
he is popular amongst singers, for he is a naturally fluid and vocal conductor,
he understands a singer's work and makes life easy for them. So Stephen
or Sid – all power to your elbow.
Incidentally, for those who are still wondering how he came by the nickname
Sid, it's quite simple. At school, like us all, he'd written his name
on his pencil box. Somebody added an 'I ’twixt the S and D of S D Layton
in honour of the best known 'Sid of the day. Was it Sid Watson or Sid
Campbell, or even Sid Goossens? No, it was the of the anarchic rock band – The Sex Pistols – one Sid Vicious. Well heck, what's in a name anyway.
If you miss Stephen Layton's musical magic over Christmas at St John's
Smith Square, you can catch him conducting the St John Passion with Polyphony
on 2 April at the same venue. Or better still, pay a visit to the Temple
Church and sample the sound for yourself.