Despite considerable opposition form the “classical” worlds’s house of cards, after a period of time being a classical the world’s best selling “classical” violinist Nigel Kennedy came to the conclusion that writing one’s own compositions was at least as important as re-interpreting the compositions of composers of the past (or present).
Kennedy’s compositions prioritise a heartfelt communication and combined musical craft. After being the world’s first renowned violinist to write his own cadenzas for the Great Romantic Central European Violin Concertos since Fritz Kreisler (Kennedy’s influence being significant enough that this practice was then taken up by many of his contemporaries) Mr Kennedy launched into a series of completely original works which have been played by musicians of broad diversity ranging from Stephan Grappelli, Jean Luc Ponty, Jeff Beck, Ron Carter, Jack de Johnette, Manu Katche, Pino Paladino, Donovan to the Berlin Philharmonic and other world leading orchestras.
Kennedy’s music represents an organic and spiritual fusion of all the musical cultures he has been lucky enough to engage with but most important is the positive humanity embraced by Kennedy’s melodic writing.
Kennedy: “Music is a tireless meeting place for our souls and without Melody and Rhythm there is no infrastructure within which to share our feelings. The heart rules but without a skeleton there is no way for the heart to achieve circulation. For me the skeleton is the musical structure involving rhythm, harmony and a balance of discipline and freedom. The aspirations, feelings and paths of musical entities are represented by melody”.
