The Wellspring: Conversations with David Owen Norris

Norris, Barney and Owen Norris, David (2018) The Wellspring: Conversations with David Owen Norris , Seren Books, 240pp.

Record type: Book

Abstract

Acclaimed novelist and dramatist Barney Norris conducts a conversation with his father, the pianist and composer David Owen Norris 'quite possibly the most interest'ng pianist in the world' (Toronto Globe and Mail) and 'a famous thinker/philosopher of the keyboard (Seattle Times) about the nature of creativity, of Englishness, and of the changing world.

Divided into three parts 'Listening', 'Playing' and 'Writing' The Wellspring is the first book to explore David Owen Norris's fifty-year career and discover how his background (non-metropolitan, C of E, literary) influenced his choices and his music. The book becomes a study of the relationship between his Englishness and his work, of his inheritance and how it is projected forward into new compositions and new performance. In the process the reader encounters a fascinating world of concerts, prizes, collaborations, and inspirations, in which Norris, always open to the different, has lived. This variety includes Norris's devotion to Parry and Elgar, his musical discoveries made playing the square piano of the nineteenth century, and the opportunities resulting from the pressurized world of competitions.

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