Piano practice
Returning to Rachmaninov
I’m relearning the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, nearly thirty years after performing it with my father’s orchestra. These films follow the practice as it happens.
Week 1 · October 2026
Learning it again
In 1998, I played Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini at Dorking Halls in Surrey, with an amateur orchestra conducted by my father. Since then, I’ve hardly played the piano.
This year I wanted to find out what remains, what I’ve lost, and whether I can get to grips with some of the things that didn’t go well in that performance.
The first film introduces the piece and puts a little of my playing now alongside the concert recording from 1998.
What I’m working on
The variations give me different problems of technique, control, accuracy and expression. I’ll share passages while they’re still giving me trouble, explain what I’m trying, and see whether it helps.
There’s also the question of whether something that works in practice still works when people are listening.
How I came to play it
I began the cello at five and piano lessons at about eight. After leaving school I did relatively little with music until 1997, when I returned to study composition for film and television.
My father suggested I learn the Rhapsody for a concert about ten months later. Early lessons, a musical family and that opportunity all shaped what I could do. I want to keep those circumstances in view when I talk about learning.
Later films will follow the passages I’m working on and what changes as I practise.