I've known Kim
Brewer throughout most of my life - he lived nearby and like me grew-up in the
small town of Bidefordin North Devon. It was only recently that we discovered
that Kim and I are in fact loosely related - a cousin of mine married Kim's paternal aunt. My
cousin was described by Kim and his father Alan as a "proper
character". He was an actor whose claim to fame was a singing part in
Monty Python's 'I'm a Lumberjack' and a number of other quite interesting
roles including a part as Jack Pomelroy in Rumpole of the Bailey. Kim and his dad kept referring to him as Ozzy - his real name however was Peter Whitaker who adopted the Christian name of his older brother Osborn,
hence Ozzy. It would seem that Kim's dad was constantly having to bail Ozzy out
of various scrapes - I believe money was an issue. Anyway, given this family connection Alan gave me a bundle of letters that
he had received from Ozzy when he was imprisoned in the Lebanon.
Kim's family were in
the cash n' carry business, they had a warehouse in Bideford called Dingles.
Anyway, whilst I was a mere farmers son with musical pretensions, Kim was a
rising star from the outset. I remember walking past his house and was often
treated to Chopin, Debussy etc. So in a way, Kim was an early inspiration for
me.
Kim Brewer's musical
abilities were first recognised in 1967 when he was a prize winner in the
National Junior Piano Playing Competition. As part of his prize, he made his
first appearance on stage at London's Royal Festival Hall. In 1972 he was
awarded Foundation Scholarships to both the Royal College of Music and the
Royal Academy of Music and chose to study with Angus Morrison
FRCM, and Kendal
Taylor
CBE.
Thereafter, Kim went
on to study in the United States with Gary Graffman, Principle, Curtis
Institute in Philadelphia, and in New York with the legendary virtuoso, Earl
Wild, having been introduced to the American musical scene by Broadway composer
Jerry Brock.
I recall that Kim went through a phase of liking ragtime and once appeared on
BBC Spotlight playing Scot Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag, I think? As far as I am
aware, though, there are very few recordings of Kim playing piano.
I kept saying to him that he should record something because apart from
anything else he was the lucky owner of a beautiful Steinway B grand piano.
Kim's CD (above) was
originally released in 1995 and was re-released in 2008 on the Claudio label.
The album includes six piano pieces by composer's Beethoven, Kabalevsky and
Liszt. The CD is available to buy from Presto Classical. However, you can
listen to Kim Brewer's wonderful playing right here streaming from YouTube.
Kim's repertoire of
late consisted of:
Mozart (1756 - 1791)
Rondo in A minor,
K511 (1787) and from printed material Kim gave me, in his own words
"Mozart wrote
this work for piano during the year of 1787. The special melancholy and
autumnal beauty of this piece, suggests the growing problems both domestic and
financial that Mozart was experiencing at the time, and despite being barely
thirty years of age, a growing acceptance of life and death. The music of the
Rondo is intensely personal, written by a man increasingly at odds with
society. The style of the writing hints at the baroque in its counterpoint, and
rococo in its grace, but possesses a dark romantic coda. However, the piece
throughout bears the hallmark of Mozartian ingenuity and perfection".
Beethoven (1770 - 1827)
Sonata for Piano No 29 "Hammerklavier" in B flat, OP 106 (1818)
Allegro - Scherzo - Adagio Sostenuto - Largo Allegro Risoluto, Fuga
" The German
poet, Goethe, noted that Beethoven's genius was of a daemonic nature,
threatening both the composer's destruction and those who came in close
personal contact with him. The demands made by this man's genius were pitiless.
However, the sheer intensity of Beethoven's struggles led eventually to a depth
of consciousness unparalleled in musical history, his music always life
affirming, and like all true art, founded upon a magnanimity of heart and mind.
The Hammerklavier Sonata was written at a time of cataclysmic change in the
composer's consciousness, his suffering, both mental and physical,
overwhelming.
This composition
stands alone, not truly belonging to any of Beethoven's so-called three periods
of creativity. This is Beethoven baring his soul, Beethoven's Calvary.
The Hammerklavier
has been described as one of the most terrifying pieces for piano in existence.
The implications of the music are immense, the demands on the performer, both
intellectual and emotional, quite extraordinary. The slow movement especially must
be considered one of the greatest movements of all time, meditation of the
highest order which emerges into the titanic struggle of the Fugue that
concludes this work - a fugue of infinite complexity.
The Hammerklavier is
a work of prophecy; it extends even the modern piano to its very limits, and
during one's listening, the styles of many composers yet to come (Chopin,
Brahms, Reger) and the tonalities of the twentieth century can be detected.
Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Barcarolle in F
sharp, Op 60 (1846)
The Barcarolle was
completed by the composer shortly before his death. Justifiably, it is one of
Chopin's finest works and is a glowing sensual evocation of Venice (finding its
visual equivalent in J.M.W Turner's opalescent painting "Venice from the
Steps of the Europa" - 1842). This composition finds Chopin's bel canto
style at its most mature, a pianistic depiction of light on water, and rocking
gondolas, underpinned by the genius of Chopin's unique harmonic language.
Debussy (1862 - 1918)
Three Preludes from
Book Two (1913)
- La Puerta del Vino
- La Terrasse des Audiences du
Clair de Lune
- General Lavine - eccentric
Debussy possessed a
unique ability to transform into music the reaction of his senses to sound,
smell, colour and situation. He was obsessed with the exotic and sensual
quality of harmony; for Debussy, a chord was a quivering sensation. Indeed, he
was an impressionist.
The three Preludes
being performed this evening are fine examples of his art. The first evokes an
exotic Spanish atmosphere, using a Habanera dance rhythm and guitar-like chord
clusters; the second a party of people bathed in moonlight; and the third, the
eccentric swagger of an army general in the rhythm of a cake-walk.
Schulz-Evler (1854 - 1905)
An die schonen
Blauen Donau - Concert Arabesques on five waltzes by Johann Strauss II (1904)
In contemporary
society, the Polish pianist-composer Adolf Andrey Schulz-Evler would be
described as a "one hit wonder". The Concert Arabesques on the famous
Blue Danube Waltz are spectacular musical paraphrases, their technical
resourcefulness probably being attributed to the fact that Schultz-Evler
studied with the great 19th century virtuoso pianist, Tausig.
However, this piece
is no mere technical exercise; a successful performance must be infused with
the gaiety, grace and elegance of an aristocratic ancien regime, no easy task
for modern day performers who identify more readily with their grey corporate world,
rather than the colour and freedom of aristocratic culture.
Kim Brewer
Over the years I've
had many fire-side chats with Kim, he
was always a most attentive listener and gave helpful advice. Occasionally I
would risk sitting at his piano - of course he wasn't terribly interested in my
attempts at playing Debussy, he was however interested in what I knew about
jazz and improvisation.
I saw Kim just weeks
before he died. I was walking my dog past his house, just as I had done all
those years ago as a child and Kim's dad, who is in his 90s, was gardening
outside, Kim was standing on the doorstep casually looking out into the
distance. I walked up the drive and said hello to Mr Brewer and went over to
chat with Kim. He told me that unfortunately he'd been diagnosed with an
incurable brain condition and that he was considering his options. I have to
confess; I did not immediately associate a rare incurable brain condition with
death. My own mother had Parkinson's and lived for donkeys years. After a while he began to reflect on his life and said that it's funny how things turn out, one minute your life revolves around playing the piano and the next it's about simply staying alive. Anyway, after
discussing his concerns about his own family and how his estate would be dealt
with, he turned to go inside to prepare dinner for his father. I followed and said look, please contact me
if you need anything. Kim thanked me and said that he would.
A couple of weeks
past and walking by again I met his cousin outside delivering a bag of shopping
- I asked him how Kim was, he said not good and that I should go and see him as
soon as possible, when his father goes into temporary care "don't leave
it" he said. I said that I would, and I fully intended to go. However, the
week in which Alan went into care, Kim disappeared. I assumed that he went to
London to see a specialist about his condition. However, as I understand it,
Kim went to see his father in a nursing home and was taken ill whilst visiting,
and that was it, the end.
This news came as quite a shock because I'd been phoning hospitals to try and find-out what had happened. Of course, no one knew, even his neighbours. So it is a matter of considerable regret that I didn't get to say goodbye to my old friend and fellow musician, Kim Brewer.
