A little Spirit, and a lot of perspiration
Catholic pianist Christopher Langdown tells Ed West that St Peter's failings inspired him to compose - but the rest was hard graft

19 February 2010

Christopher Langdown: 'We've all got our faults and failings... but God wants us to bring those areas to Him too'

When one thinks of pianists one normally imagines hugely talented but hugely deranged individuals, such as Geoffrey Rush as David Helfgott in Shine. So in that sense Catholic pianist Christopher Langdown might seem rather a disappointment, being such a level-headed chap.

He is certainly talented. The 38-year-old concert pianist and composer is nonetheless on to big things, after years of hard work, living proof that religious music really is on an upward course in Britain.

Langdown's recital at Wigmore Hall last summer of his piece of sacred music, Deo Omnis Gloria, received such good reviews that it is to be released on CD in the spring by Divine Art Records. Before that he will perform Shostakovich with the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, who played for the composer himself.

Any success on his part, he says, is purely down to "hard graft".

"I think talent can almost be an illusion," he says. "Often people will come up to you after a concert and ask how you manage to memorise 90 minutes of piano music, but I don't have a photographic memory, it's just a skill you develop over time. I have a friend who has perfect pitch, but that's very rare. I happen to think it is 99 per cent perspiration and one per cent inspiration. " A loving family and strong faith also help, of course.

Raised in Sutton Coldfield, a suburb of Birmingham, he grew up the youngest of four in a strongly Catholic family. It's something that has never left him.

"My faith is very important to me, central to my life. My dad is a convert and my mum was a cradle Catholic. Her father was half-Irish."

It was a music-loving, though not a music-playing, household, and his love of music first developed because "my mother tells me it was the only thing that would stop me crying".

Christopher followed his brother and two sisters in learning the piano, although not until he was almost 10 (a later age).

"I was lucky to have a great teacher," he says, and also a mother who encouraged him to practise when he did not want to. "I'm grateful now although not at the time, because I was a typical teenage boy who thought computers were more interesting."

After attending the local comprehensive, Bishop Walsh School, he went to the Royal College in London for six years, an experience he calls "fantastic educationally, culturally and socially". In London he also taught piano at two highly exclusive schools, Godolphin & Latymer in Hammersmith, and Ibstock Place in Roehampton, where he taught, among others, the children of Adrian Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders, and the son of The Who's Pete Townshend.

He has since moved back to Sutton Coldfield and is now head of piano at The Kingsley School in Leamington Spa, and is teaching perhaps his most important pupil of all - his five-year-old daughter, Emily. He and wife Jo also have a one-year-old son, Joseph.

The next generation will almost certainly grow up in a more musical Catholic culture, as Britain reacts against decades of decline in the area both of musical instrument learning and sacred music in particular. Langdown's piece is one more sign of a turnaround.

"I've been really surprised by the reaction to my religious piece," he says, "because most piano music is secular. And as we live in a predominantly secular society, sacred music doesn't feature that much on the mainstream channels. Given the right marketing, popularised forms of sacred music can do really well - take the recent bestselling albums of The Priests."

Deo Omnis Gloria was actually written in 2001 and premiered that same year in Spain. The piece comes in three parts; "Hymn", which represents the Mass; "Lake of Gennesaret", inspired by the miraculous draft of fishes and "Resurrection".

"Normally a composer will say that the creation of a piece of music usually begins with a concept or idea; in other words the composer knows what the music is going to be about even before they put pen to paper. But in this case the titles only came to me near the end after all the ideas had been formulated."

So after finishing the the first piece, representing the Mass, he went back and added the sung Alleluia from the Mass.

"The mood of the piece is reverent and joyful, and it also hints at the sounds of organ, choir and church bells. Most of it was written subconsciously but hopefully the music catches something of it."

Part two starts off quiet and rises in intensity; it signifies a glistening lake, a boat and net, and a sense of elation, to signify Luke 5: 11. Why did that inspire him?

"It's one of my favourite Gospel passages as it reminds me of the importance of trusting in God, even when things look bleak. As a youngster, I understood the part about Peter putting his faith in Jesus and being rewarded with a huge catch of fish, but I didn't really get the ending - I always thought it was a bit strange when Peter asked Jesus to leave him, especially after hitting the jackpot. When you're an adult it becomes easier to empathise with Peter's sense of unworthiness and you also appreciate the fact that Jesus totally accepts him, warts and all. I think that's a very important message because I get the impression that a lot of people misunderstand the Church and think of it as being a place for saints rather than sinners. Lots of my friends think you have to be really holy to go to church. We've all got our faults and failings, but perhaps people don't always realise that God wants us to bring those areas to Him too, not just the good bits."

The final piece is based on the Resurrection. "Obviously that's quite ambitious and lots of people have tried it before," he laughs. "That's an impossible task but because of the nature and spirit of art, you still want to try.

"I'm not really a composer at all and I remember feeling quite surprised to have the urge to sit down and compose something. I'm sure the Holy Spirit played an important role in the creation of these pieces and that's also reflected in the title: All Glory to God."

For more information on his CD or upcoming performances go to www.christopherlangdown.com