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00:03Shekhu Kanna-Mason is an international superstar cellist from a big musical family.
00:09He won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition when he was just 17.
00:15Two years later, a global audience of over a billion people watched him perform at the wedding of Harry and
00:21Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
00:32Born in Nottingham, Shekhu and his six siblings, all classical musicians, often performed together.
00:39They appeared on Britain's Got Talent in 2015.
00:46But since then, Shekhu has emerged as a solo star, receiving two classical Brit awards, an MBE for services to
00:53music, and performing at the proms every year since 2017.
01:01Still only 26, he's now written a book, The Power of Music.
01:07In this episode of This Cultural Life, the Radio 4 programme, Shekhu Kanna-Mason reveals his formative influences and experiences.
01:15Oh, yeah, yeah. Would you like to play something?
01:18And explains why Rule Britannia, a song which references slavery and Britain's colonial past, makes him deeply uncomfortable when it's
01:26sung every year at the last night of the proms.
01:29There are so many wonderful things about British music that we could easily celebrate in the place of something that
01:37I think is not necessary and actually actively harmful.
02:08Is it OK like that?
02:09Yes, yeah.
02:10Shekhu Kanna-Mason, welcome to This Cultural Life.
02:13Thank you very much.
02:14I'm delighted that you brought your cello to the studio with you today.
02:18Just first of all, tell us about this instrument.
02:20Who made it and when?
02:22It was made in 1700 by Matteo Goffrella, who was a maker in Venice, one of the great makers of
02:30particularly cellos, but violins as well.
02:33And this is a particularly special example of his work.
02:38325 years old then.
02:39Yes.
02:40It's an incredibly good make, isn't it?
02:41It is, yes.
02:42I love that patina of age that you have all the way of the varnish.
02:46How does it sound?
03:09How long have you had it?
03:10I've had it for about five years now.
03:14I've been playing it for about five years.
03:15On loan, I presume.
03:16Yes.
03:17On a long loan.
03:18On a hopefully very long loan.
03:19Yeah, it's a beautiful instrument.
03:21It sounds absolutely incredible.
03:23On This Cultural Life, Shekhu, my guests choose their most important creative influences and experiences.
03:29But I'm going to start by taking back two generations to your paternal grandfather, Arnold Mason, to whom you've dedicated
03:38your new book.
03:40Why was he such an influential figure for you?
03:42Growing up, both my Antiguan grandparents were living in London, and so we'd see them very often in school holidays.
03:49And they'd also come to stay with us in Nottingham very often as well.
03:54And I have lots of memories of practicing, and particularly my granddad, standing in the doorway or sort of lurking
04:02and humming along to the music.
04:05He had grown up in Antigua, but a big classical music fan. What, from his early years?
04:11He was, yeah, always really fascinated and in love with classical music.
04:16So what was he listening to? What did he love?
04:18Composers like Chopin and Rachmaninoff for the piano and for the cello.
04:24Vorjak, the cello concerto, who's always telling me, he wants to hear me play that.
04:29And he was a great lover of chamber music, and in particular, Schubert's Trout Quintet.
04:34There was a particular documentary made by Christopher Newpen, I believe, of...
04:41In the late 60s, 1960s, I think, was that?
04:43Yes, yeah, exactly, of the sort of preparations and a performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London
04:48of five, at the time, like, superstar soloists of their individual instruments.
04:56Itzhak Perlman, Daniel Barenboim, Jacqueline Dupre, Zubin Mehta, and Pinchas Zuckerman.
05:05Five individualists with a single aim.
05:17But it's a, yeah, wonderful collection of five characters.
05:22Young characters as well.
05:23That's the other thing, when you look at that, you realise that those people are in their mid-twenties.
05:27They're your age.
05:28Yeah, I guess, you know, in their youth, but very much at the height of their careers in many ways
05:33as well.
05:34You're one of seven siblings, all of whom play instruments.
05:38And have famously played together for many years.
05:42Did you watch that documentary?
05:44Was that something you took notes from that was an inspiration?
05:48Yeah, we definitely were thrilled by seeing the way they would rehearse and perform.
05:54At that time, we were all starting to learn our various instruments and actually wanted to learn the particular instruments
06:02that would form that quintet.
06:03But in the end, that didn't happen because double bass was a bit too big in my parents' opinion.
06:13The End
06:38Jacqueline Dupre, of course, is the cellist
06:40in that 1968 documentary.
06:43At the time, she was already a big star,
06:45having recorded the Elgar Cello Concerto four years earlier,
06:48I think when she was just 20 years old, in 1964.
06:52Was she a role model for you
06:54when you first started playing the cello?
06:56She was the role model for me when I started.
06:59I was in awe of her playing
07:01and often very transfixed by listening
07:04and watching her play the cello.
07:26I think this commitment to every note
07:32and this utter kind of conviction with which she plays
07:36was, as a child, was something that I was incredibly drawn to.
07:41Did you study her and emulate her then?
07:44I'm sure I definitely watched lots of videos
07:47and tried to get that vibrato
07:48and learnt from what she was doing.
07:51I think it's also a very individual way of playing that she has.
07:56And so whilst I learnt some specific things,
07:58I also learnt just from the approach to playing.
08:03PIANO PLAYS
08:15PIANO PLAYS
08:33In your book, the very first words on the first page are,
08:36I am a cellist.
08:38Can you remember the first time that you picked up this instrument
08:42and the effect that it had on you?
08:43PIANO PLAYS
08:43My dad played the cello in his youth
08:45and so we had a cello at home
08:47and when I said that I wanted to learn,
08:50I took out his cello, which was far too big, of course,
08:54and I have a memory of looking down at the instrument at the fingerboard
08:58and drawing the bow across the string
09:00and feeling the instrument really close to me physically
09:03and enjoying that sensation.
09:06You've been playing violin before that?
09:07PIANO PLAYS
09:07I was playing the violin because my mum was teaching me
09:12and my older sister Eyster and Bremer, my brother,
09:16were playing the violin and the piano
09:17so it was natural to also follow and do what they were doing.
09:20I don't have much memory of playing the violin, to be honest,
09:22but I don't think I got on very well.
09:24PIANO PLAYS
09:24Was it expected of you that you just learn an instrument at a young age?
09:27Yes, definitely.
09:29I don't really...
09:30PIANO PLAYS
09:31There was no choice in this passage?
09:31Yeah, I don't remember.
09:33I think at that age it could have been I just wanted to play
09:36a bigger and cooler instrument than my older siblings
09:38or maybe there was something special in the sound
09:41that I was really drawn to.
09:42PIANO PLAYS
09:42Is that it as well, that the cello is cooler than the violin or the piano?
09:45That's certainly true.
09:46I'm sure others would dispute that.
09:51I think there is a personality to the instrument that I find more suited to me.
09:58You sit down and you kind of...
10:00It kind of comes from, I don't know, from the floor or beneath often musically
10:06rather than singing from on top, which I found less natural for me.
10:11PIANO PLAYS
10:12You and all of your siblings attended the Junior Royal Academy of Music
10:16every Saturday, I think.
10:17So, I mean, was that a trip from Nottingham to London every weekend?
10:20PIANO PLAYS
10:20Yes, yeah.
10:21I remember very early Saturday mornings getting up at 5.30
10:26to get the 6.30 train to London.
10:28PIANO PLAYS
10:29Huge dedication.
10:30PIANO PLAYS
10:30Yeah, but it was the best day of my week.
10:33Was it?
10:33Because it was like, yeah, a day of being around other very enthusiastic young musicians,
10:38inspiring young musicians and great teachers.
10:41PIANO PLAYS
10:41You've got perfect pitch, obviously, and you've always known that, I think, haven't you?
10:45Yes.
10:45That sense of music within you.
10:48PIANO PLAYS
10:48Yes, I mean, I was lucky to have music all around me from a young...
10:55young age, and yeah, it felt like also something that was very much inside me from a young age as
11:02well.
11:02PIANO PLAYS
11:02I mean, obviously, you are innately talented, as are your siblings, but what accounts for that huge success that you've
11:10had as a family?
11:11The fact that everybody has this gift?
11:17PIANO PLAYS
11:18Yeah, I don't know.
11:18I think the love for it is such a big factor in it all, and has to be.
11:30PIANO PLAYS
11:31And also the ideas of, and particularly our parents taught us, the ideas of dedication and hard work are also,
11:42and will also always be very important.
11:47PIANO PLAYS
11:48Your next choice for this cultural life, Sheikyu, is another of your musical heroes.
11:51It's the Russian cellist, Mislav Rostropovich.
11:55PIANO PLAYS
11:55Do you remember the first time you heard him?
11:57PIANO PLAYS
11:57Yes, I do.
11:59It was...
11:59He has a few different recordings of Rachmaninoff's vocalese, but there's one in particular.
12:05I think it's the second earliest recording, and the sound and intensity of vibrato and range of expression is something
12:18incredibly gripping.
12:37PIANO PLAYS
12:37Often, if I listen to something like that, I sort of, it's all consuming, and I'm incredibly focused on it
12:44and following, following everything, as well as being really moved.
12:48PIANO PLAYS
13:17Rostropovich was taught by the Soviet composer Shostakovich, who wrote both of his cello concertos for Rostropovich to play.
13:26In 2016, of course, you won the BBC Young Musician of the Year, playing the Shostakovich first cello concerto.
13:36PIANO PLAYS
13:56Why that one? Why that? Such a challenging piece for a competition, isn't it?
14:01It is challenging, for sure. It was a piece I was obsessed with, and I'm obsessed with, but, like, as
14:07a teenager, I was, like, so obsessed, and I really, really, really wanted to play it.
14:13And I think that obsession is, is the, yeah, is a great driver for being able to overcome the sort
14:24of technical challenges that are, that are in the piece.
14:26Can you give, give us a sense of, of that passion, that drama?
14:30Just a quick burst of the, the Shostakovich first cello concerto.
14:35Put you on the spot here.
14:36Yeah, well, yeah, well, look, I've been playing it recently.
14:47So it has that, like, I mean, it's, it's almost, um, it's very, it's very, it's very intense. It's very
14:51percussive, and it's physically involved.
14:55In one of the heats for the Young Musician of the Year, you, you actually broke a string. Astonishingly, it
15:00was your C string, the, the, the, the thickest string.
15:03Yeah.
15:03Which gives a sense of how hard you were playing.
15:08Yes, I think I was just giving, um, everything, uh, perhaps too much in that, in that moment.
15:13But it's nice to be on the, on the, to feel on the edge of, of, um, I don't know,
15:20yeah, of possibility and tension and sound.
15:23Shostakovich was denounced by Stalin, and Rostropovich himself was exiled in the 1970s from the Soviet Union.
15:30Um, and, and both of those musicians are associated with political dissent, with resistance, with protest.
15:37How aware do you have to be of that history to understand the music, to play this music, do you
15:43think?
15:43You do have to be very aware, because this is what, what is in the music, and what the music
15:49is often very strongly about.
15:52Um, I, I, I, I remember practicing, um, before I was recording the, the second concerto of Shostakovich, and I'd
15:59have to really, you know, take moments in the middle of the day to go for a walk and, and
16:04breathe, because it was so consuming and, and so, and such a dark and terrifying place, um, to spend a
16:10lot of time.
16:11You also performed famously at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, um, and an audience of over a
16:19billion people, I think, worldwide.
16:49You became a global leader.
16:51You became a global solo star in that moment.
16:54That must have felt like a whole new level of fame for you.
16:58Yes, I guess to be recognized outside of, um, the circles of people specifically interested in, um, and closely interested
17:08in classical music was, was a new thing.
17:12Was that welcome attention or was that quite hard to deal with at first?
17:15I think it, it, it, it very much helped that I was still a full-time student then.
17:20And so I remember the morning of, of, of that performance, I was picked up from my student halls and
17:27then dropped off back at my student halls afterwards and, and was at the academy the next day for my
17:32cello lesson working on, um, repertoire.
17:36That's really interesting because I was wondering how you have to navigate that sort of level of fame, whether you
17:41seek advice from other musicians, but really it was just about going and becoming a student again.
17:46I mean, that's quite grounding, isn't it?
17:48Yeah, absolutely.
17:49Don't get too big for your boots.
17:50And yeah, and really, really important. I think, uh, that is what, yeah, there's this sense of like development and
17:56getting closer to the music and closer to being able to play this, this instrument is, um, yeah, it gives
18:02me that sense of, of purpose, um, and something to really focus on.
18:06But also that's just what I want to be doing and thinking about.
18:12You are remarkably chilled, aren't you? I mean, when you are preparing for that next big concert, do you feel
18:18the pressure and the nerves?
18:19A responsibility, yes. Not so much a pressure. It's not one that's outside of what I want to do.
18:55What's it like walking out at the proms as a solo performer?
18:59It's one of the biggest thrills that, um, that I've had. It's an amazing arena and, and, and to walk
19:06out into a space that you've really feel that the love and celebration of music is so much at the
19:11heart of, of that festival.
19:14And it's, yeah, I mean, as a spectacle, it's, it's, it's, it's quite, you're literally surrounded by it.
19:19Yeah. It's quite overwhelming and, and, and, and very special. Um, so yeah, always love when it proms for sure.
19:26You've talked about the song rule Britannia, which is sung every year at the last night of the proms.
19:31And you've said that it is something that makes a lot of people feel uncomfortable.
19:36And there was a backlash in the press and particularly online when there was some really vitriolic racist abuse directed
19:45at you.
19:45Mm-hmm. I mean, that must've been a huge shock, wasn't it?
19:50A huge shock because, um, it was very disproportionate to my comments on it.
19:57I felt I was asked my feelings and I, I gave my honest and genuine and, and I didn't think
20:02very forceful, um, opinion on it would be responded to with such, um, anger and aggression.
20:09And it's, it's, that's very telling in itself.
20:11Well, you didn't say very much about it at the time, but in your new book, you reveal that at
20:17the 2023 proms, when Royal Britannia was sung, you went backstage, it was very difficult for you to listen to.
20:25And you say that all of your family, of course, were in the auditorium, they couldn't leave.
20:28And you say that most of them were in tears by the end, all of them miserable and frightened.
20:35I mean, that's a terrible thing to read.
20:37Was it the lyrics and the tone of the song or the way that it was being sung by the
20:44people around?
20:45I mean, yeah, I wasn't in the auditorium because I, I, I didn't want to be, quite frankly.
20:51Um, but it's, yeah, it's the, it's the lyrics.
20:55I think as, as, uh, um, as British people and I, and I feel British and my family do, um,
21:02with ancestors who were, and not so distant ancestors who were enslaved, singing a song that has lyrics that says
21:08that, um, yeah, that sort of, yeah.
21:14Britain, Britons never, never will be slaves.
21:17Yeah.
21:18And sung with such, um, I don't know, determination and joy.
21:24That's really, it's really difficult to, to hear and uncomfortable to be in the, in the presence of, um, knowing
21:30where we have come from and also feeling British.
21:33And then also feeling, um, excluded and, and, and, and sort of, um, yeah, in, in, excluded in that moment
21:41is, is a shame.
21:42And I think the proms is, is, is, is a celebration of music and, and that's what I believe it,
21:48it is and, and should be.
21:50And there are so many wonderful things about music and about British music that we could, we could easily celebrate
21:57in the place of, of something that I think is not, um, necessary and, and, and actually actively harmful to,
22:05to a lot of people.
22:06I'm going to quote from your book.
22:07You say it's an embarrassing reminder of a Britishness that celebrates imperial glory and subjugation.
22:13And then you say that most musicians and those who decide the repertoire would dearly love it to be left
22:19behind.
22:21Most musicians, have you had this conversation?
22:23Yes, with, with, with, with a lot, of course, and a lot of musicians in, in, in, in, in, in
22:28the moment, um, when I was having a lot of backlash about it, were, were reaching out and, yeah, showing
22:33their support in lovely ways.
22:34I'm not attacking the, the proms and I'm not attacking the, the musicians.
22:38And actually, yeah, I've been very kindly supported by them.
23:07I'm not attacking the, the musicians.
23:11Your next choice for this program, Shake You, is the Jamaican singer, songwriter, and reggae superstar, Bob Marley.
23:18Um, when did you first hear Marley?
23:20I would have been a young child when I first heard his voice, probably at my, um, Welsh grandmother's house.
23:29I remember she had a CD.
23:31Your mum's mum?
23:31My mum's mum, yes.
23:33In Caldicott, which is a small town in South Wales.
23:37And, um, I remember she has a CD of, uh, Legend album, which is a collection.
23:43It was a posthumous mum.
23:44The best of, isn't it?
23:44Sort of, yeah, that and Kaya, also a really, really great album.
23:48And I have lots of, of, of memories of listening to his music there.
23:52I have a great love of a lot of the songs.
24:19And what is it about Marley?
24:21Is it the timbre of his voice or is it the music that appealed to you at that age?
24:27It's a combination of a lot of, of, a lot of things.
24:28I think at that age, um, yeah, the music and the variety of songs and instrumentation was something I was
24:36drawn to.
24:36The, the, the timbre of the voice.
24:38I think initially I wouldn't have known, um, well, definitely I wouldn't have known the lyrics and then definitely what
24:44it, what it, what it was about.
24:45But I would have felt the, the feelings towards that.
24:48And that's something that communicates.
24:49And then, of course, later I would, um, understand the meaning behind the songs.
24:54Marley's music, of course, can be sensual and romantic.
24:58Or it could be mystical.
25:00It can be militant.
25:02And is there any one particular aspect of his music that appeals to you?
25:07I like the sweetness in a lot of his songs.
25:12And I like the rebelliousness, um, in a lot of the songs as well.
25:36I've watched a lot of this, um, live concerts and it's, it's, it's amazing to see a performer.
25:42So, um, so committed to the music and so able to communicate and bring an audience with him on, in,
25:51in his storytelling.
25:51That's, that's really powerful.
25:53And he seems lost in the music.
25:55He seems completely, yeah, completely lost and consumed, um, by the music and by the moment.
26:01But that, that idea of being lost in music, being sort of almost transported by the music.
26:04I think that's something every time I've seen you play, that I've, I've noticed, you seem to kind of disappear
26:09into the music.
26:10Yes, well, I mean, are you aware of where you are when you're performing?
26:14I am, I am aware of, yeah, I am aware of where I am and, and, and, and, and some
26:19things.
26:19But I'm often very consumed by what's, yeah, what's happening in the music and what it's saying and what it
26:26makes me feel.
26:51What does it take to get on to the next level, to be a world-class musician as you are
26:56now?
26:57It takes, it takes so many things.
27:00It takes a constant, um, interest in exploring further.
27:07It takes, it takes luck.
27:09Um, it takes great teachers.
27:13And that innate talent we were talking about.
27:15Yes, yeah, which I, I, yeah, it's tricky to, yeah, to, to, to describe.
27:23My only understanding of that is a combination of love and, and desire for some, for something.
27:32You've achieved so much, Sheku, you're only 26 years old.
27:36So what are the ambitions?
27:38What's driving you on creatively?
27:40I love music and I love playing and I love sharing that with audiences.
27:45That's always going to be the strongest motivator for me to continue to do it.
27:51And so I just, yeah, I just want to be able to play the cello music as much as possible.
27:57It's quite as simple.
27:58Yeah.
27:58It's kind of as simple as that.
27:59And if there's not a concert coming up with rehearsals or you're not heading into the studio,
28:03do you just play every day because you love this instrument so much?
28:06I do, I do.
28:07If I want to get better and better and closer and closer to being able to communicate this
28:16music to its maximum and most vivid, then yes, I do have to play every day and practice
28:21every day.
28:22But also I, I, I really, I really want to.
28:26You just love the cello.
28:27I do.
28:28Sheku Ken and Mason, thank you very much for sharing your cultural life with us.
28:31It's a pleasure.
28:33Would you like to play us something?
28:35Sure.
28:35Well, why not?
28:36Since, since it's here.
28:38It'd be rude not to.
28:39It would, it would.
28:41What do you think?
28:42What are you going to play?
28:43Um, I play Bach every day and I haven't yet played it today.
28:49Okay.
28:50Um, now would be a good, a good, a good moment for it.
29:18Um, now would be a good, a good moment for you.
29:22For me, I have a good, a good moment for you.
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