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This blog post is part a series, in which John answers the questions he is most frequently asked.
Do you have any regrets?
While I was an undergraduate an offer came along to be the pianist in a cabaret group performing at the Edinburgh Fringe, and I was wondering whether to accept. My composition teacher Patrick Gowers passed on to me a thought that he had found helpful: ‘I never regret anything I have done, only the things I haven’t done’.
Stephen Sondheim, in Follies, summed it up in the song The road you didn’t take. There were at least two roads I didn’t take that stand out in my memory (I did accept the Edinburgh engagement): in 1975 I was offered the job of musical director for the National Theatre. If I had accepted it rather than the musical directorship of Clare College – I couldn’t do both – I would have worked with theatre directors and actors rather than choir directors. Would I have made a good theatre and perhaps film and TV composer? Who knows.
Soon after that, I was contacted by the owner of Chrysalis, a prominent pop record label. He was a devotee of musical theatre, and made me an extraordinary offer: if I wrote a musical, he would put it on in London’s West End. I never did it. I would have, if only the right book and lyrics had fallen into my lap, but a musical stands or falls mainly on its story, or perhaps just its idea, not on its music. Oliver! and A Chorus Line grab your attention from the moment the curtain rises and were bound to be successful – you care about the characters and what will happen to them. Merrily we roll along, despite some gorgeous Sondheim songs, failed because the story is told backwards: you know from the start how the hero is going to end up and you’re not very interested in how he got there. I love musical theatre, but have always had to enjoy it from an audience seat.
Other regrets? In general I don’t waste time looking back, I’m more interested in tomorrow. I have tried to learn from my mistakes, and I recall some instances where the stress of a situation led me into explosions of ill-temper (which I invariably feel sorry about later), but I hope those who were on the receiving end have forgiven me. Overwork – the lot of many musicians – leads to stress, and stress can lead to bad behaviour. My workload has sometimes seemed almost intolerable – you can’t delegate your composing or conducting to a junior partner – and there’s no way of easing it except by saying no, which I’m told I haven’t always been very good at. In the end I live with two completely incompatible professional regrets: I wish I had composed much more, and yet I wish I had been able to work less and have more time for my family.
Coming up next in the series: What advice would you give to a young composer?
Dear John
I love your music. You made the right decisions
My boys choirs at school love anything
Composed by you.
Dear John, I’ve sung so many of your compositions with various choirs, and have been lucky enough to attend several of your “singing days” as well as chatting with you. You must have given so many hundreds of people so much JOY with your music. Thank you for your generous sharing of your gifts.
Your Faith and trust in the Lord helped you over the years!
Thank you for choosing the path less chosen.
Your music has been a balm for my spirit in every conceivable circumstance. I am blessed to have found you and your music. I sing along often.
Dear John, love your music & our chorale group loves singing it! Was thrilled to be part of a group learning & singing with you in Florence back in 2018. especially got a kick out of you mentioning musical theatre here, as one of my favorite memories from that trip was sitting next to you at a directors dinner & singing numbers from several musicals. Hearing you sing ‘if I were a rich man’ was lovely fun! Musical theatre’s loss is the world’s gain with the lovely compositions you write. Thank you!
Dear Sir, Through my years as a Church choral director in the US, whenever you were leading a Choral workshop, or lecturing at a Convention, I was priviledged to attend about 10 events.
What I remember and treasure are your faith in God, and humility when accepting accolades.
In each conference, you accepted the voices you were directing, and took the time to teach us the correct phrasing and tonality needed in each Anthem, Chorale, or your larger works.
Thank you for leading us to a higher plain of musicality to glorify not ourselves, nor the choir, but to place the focus on God, through our musical offerings. May God contunue to bless you as you travel this road and share the gifts your Creator has freely bestowed upon you.
Sir John,
Congratulations on your Knighthood! So very well deserved! I am not a singer, rather my late parents we classically trained singers, contralto and operatic tenor. I grew up listening to them sing in chorales and in church choirs and those experiences opened my ears to your gloriously beautiful music! Your compositions stir in my soul as no other compositions can, and I thank you so much for your work. You are supremely gifted and I’m so glad the world and the world of music is richer because of you!