Q&A: Ludovico Einaudi
Who inspired you/why did you choose to start playing the piano?
When I was growing up my mother played piano at home and she gave me the love for the sound of the piano. I think it all started there. She played a lot of Bach and Chopin. My sisters then were playing records by the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones all of which I also loved. Then I studied with Luciano Berio and he did some interesting work with African music as well as arrangements of Beatles songs. He taught me to be open about music and to take influences from many different places.
Did you imagine that you would be as big a success as you are?
Not really, I needed to be close to music like I need air to breath, that's where I wanted to be. All the rest I just did not predict.
Where do you get your inspiration for pieces you compose?
From different sources, but it's always a connection with my inner feelings and something that I find outside that mirrors it, books, places, paintings, stories and music. Recently I have been reading a book by Henry Thoreau called 'Walden'. He was an American writer in the 19th century and he spent two years in the wilds making notes about the habitat and his feelings. He was the first hippy! He had a little wooden house by a lake in a forest. The book is full of wise reflections about life. I find this kind of work inspiring.
You compose a lot of scores for films etc, are there any directors you would love to work with
It depends on the script really, there are many directors that I love. He isn't in the film industry but I would love to work with the architect Olafur Eliasson, his works around light are very inspiring.
What inspired you to steer away from pure classical playing and to incorporate rock, pop aspects to your music?
I started to listen to rock music when my older sisters were playing at home the great albums from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. From then on I kept listening to all different kinds of music, and incorporated it into my own.
Where is your favourite place to perform and why?
I like to change places, every space has its specific character and atmosphere. I love to play in great concert halls as well as in the open air for example in roman amphitheatres. I also enjoy playing in rock venues, which have their own different character. I played at Fabric the last time I was in London – they tell me this is a big club for dance music - and it was great. Something different from a hushed traditional classical concert hall, but still great.
What is your favourite of the films you have composed scores for and why?
'This is England' - Shane Meadows its a great director and very nice man, and the film is incredibly powerful.
Lots of your music is about nature/landscapes. How do you turn what you see into music?
Nature for me is a great metaphor for the emotions of life. Also the great philosophers from Heraclitus to Empedocles were constantly relating to Nature.
What are your plans for the future?
Don't know exactly, I will see when I will finish this huge tour, how I will feel. I want to spend some time with my family.
Ludovico Einaudi is on tour across the UK from April 13th starting in Bristol at Colston Hall. For more information and other dates visit www.ticketmaster.co.uk
When I was growing up my mother played piano at home and she gave me the love for the sound of the piano. I think it all started there. She played a lot of Bach and Chopin. My sisters then were playing records by the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones all of which I also loved. Then I studied with Luciano Berio and he did some interesting work with African music as well as arrangements of Beatles songs. He taught me to be open about music and to take influences from many different places.
Did you imagine that you would be as big a success as you are?
Not really, I needed to be close to music like I need air to breath, that's where I wanted to be. All the rest I just did not predict.
Where do you get your inspiration for pieces you compose?
From different sources, but it's always a connection with my inner feelings and something that I find outside that mirrors it, books, places, paintings, stories and music. Recently I have been reading a book by Henry Thoreau called 'Walden'. He was an American writer in the 19th century and he spent two years in the wilds making notes about the habitat and his feelings. He was the first hippy! He had a little wooden house by a lake in a forest. The book is full of wise reflections about life. I find this kind of work inspiring.
You compose a lot of scores for films etc, are there any directors you would love to work with
It depends on the script really, there are many directors that I love. He isn't in the film industry but I would love to work with the architect Olafur Eliasson, his works around light are very inspiring.
What inspired you to steer away from pure classical playing and to incorporate rock, pop aspects to your music?
I started to listen to rock music when my older sisters were playing at home the great albums from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. From then on I kept listening to all different kinds of music, and incorporated it into my own.
Where is your favourite place to perform and why?
I like to change places, every space has its specific character and atmosphere. I love to play in great concert halls as well as in the open air for example in roman amphitheatres. I also enjoy playing in rock venues, which have their own different character. I played at Fabric the last time I was in London – they tell me this is a big club for dance music - and it was great. Something different from a hushed traditional classical concert hall, but still great.
What is your favourite of the films you have composed scores for and why?
'This is England' - Shane Meadows its a great director and very nice man, and the film is incredibly powerful.
Lots of your music is about nature/landscapes. How do you turn what you see into music?
Nature for me is a great metaphor for the emotions of life. Also the great philosophers from Heraclitus to Empedocles were constantly relating to Nature.
What are your plans for the future?
Don't know exactly, I will see when I will finish this huge tour, how I will feel. I want to spend some time with my family.
Ludovico Einaudi is on tour across the UK from April 13th starting in Bristol at Colston Hall. For more information and other dates visit www.ticketmaster.co.uk