Thursday, August 25, 2005
The Real 'Piano Man'
The identity of the real 'piano man' is revealed. And he was a ceaseless champion, and composer, of contemporary music.
 John Ogdon (right) was best known as a peerless interpreter of the Russian romantic repertoire. But he also championed, and played, the work of contemporary composers. These ranged from Kaikhosru Sorabji ( whose four hour epic, Opus Clavicembalisticum, he performed and recorded) to Ronald Stevenson, Christopher Headington, David Blake, Malcolm Williamson, Richard Yardumian, and his long-time friend and supporter Gerard Schurmann. He was the dedicatee of Peter Maxwell Davies' first two published works. He was also a prolific composer, and wrote his Theme and Variations for Vladimir Ashkenazy, and recorded his own Piano Concerto for EMI.
And in an eerie resonance with the recent 'Piano Man' story Ogdon was a lifelong sufferer from mental illness, and attempted to take his own life three times. But he died, aged 52, in August 1989 of natural causes.
The real 'piano man' is the portrait both of an extraordinary musician, and of an extraordinary life. His work deserves wider recognition, On An Overgrown Path has the full story.
posted by Pliable
8/25/2005
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