Harmonious

The question whether he felt more like a performing musician or as a composer, Lee answered with stating that he holds both in the same regard and that he wanted to be both at the same time. This is the reason he never accepted a job as a teacher, although he has had many offers. He felt that the dedication needed to teach could not co-exist with the time he wanted to spend composing, preparing for and giving concerts. Noël Lee didn’t call himself a ‘paper composer’; he didn’t just write at his desk. He played his newly written pieces on the piano, even when they were meant for other instruments, recorded everything on a simple tape recorder just to listen to it the next day and continue his work. His work was never truly finished and he could keep polishing it for ages. All his piano works are technically very complicated. Noël told that he had only written for amateurs on three occasions. A friend once asked him to compose a piece for his three children, for piano, trumpet and clarinet. The children have even been able to perform it.

Playlist:

1. 1. Claude Debussy – Caprices en blanc et noir. Werner Haas and Noël Lee, piano

1. 1. Noël Lee – Caprices on the name Schönberg (1975). Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique conducted by Jean-Pierre Marty, Noël Lee, piano (CRI 798)

1. 1. Noël Lee – La nuit a mes chants (Victor Hugo) and Nachtgedanken (Heinrich Heine). Evert Jan Nagtegaal, baritone and Noël Lee, piano (HS0926 en LCD 002)
      

      Lee en Nagtegaal

1. 1. Noël Lee – Dialoques (1958). Ole Bøhn, violin and Noël Lee, piano (CRI 798)
      

      Ole Bøhn

1. 1. Noël Lee – Nova (Catharina Pozzi). Marie-Thérèse Keller, mezzo-soprano and Noël Lee, piano (REM 311310)

1. Noël Lee – Chroniques (1977). Noël Lee, piano (Mandala MAN 5052)
   

   Episode 4 of this 5-part series on Noël Lee will be broadcast on Sunday 18 December 2016 at 18.00 hours.