Raising the Roof by Jack Pepper

Raising The Roof

Author Jack Pepper – one of the UK’s youngest commissioned composers and youngest-ever national radio presenter – takes us inside his debut book…

One of the joys of writing a book about the lives of the people who make and made classical music is… they tell a great story! Think of Joseph Bologne, the champion fencer who channelled the spirit of a swordfight into the concertos he wrote, where a violin ‘duels’ with an orchestra; think of Hildegard of Bingen, the medieval nun who had religious visions and then responded with music and words; think of Shirley J Thompson, whose symphony helped shape the Olympic Games… These are all exciting and entertaining stories, but also: they are all true. The joy of classical music is that it says something about who we are as people.

That’s why I wanted to write Raising The Roof. I discovered classical music largely for myself, as a teenager, writing my own music. The first time I entered an opera house was as a composer, writing for the Royal Opera House when I was 15. I imagined needing to wear a suit and feared everyone would sense an ‘outsider’; yet as soon as I walked through the stage door, my preconceptions were challenged. It sounds odd, but one of the first things I noticed was not the grandeur of the space (a theatre is like a miniature city), but the fact the staff wore jeans and trainers. They were like me after all.

Perhaps the misunderstanding is thanks to the portrayal of classical music in mainstream media (how often do we see a night at the opera in a blockbuster movie, where everyone wears a dinner jacket?!). Maybe it’s the unhelpful connotations of the word ‘classical’ itself, which immediately implies old, dusty and irrelevant. But it’s time to separate fact from fiction. As I found my feet as a composer and broadcaster in my teens, I quickly realised few of the stereotypes rang true. I was privileged to be writing for great orchestras around the country, writing songs in LA, developing shows for the BBC, helping build a new national classical radio station in Scala Radio / Magic Classical, interviewing people like Gary Barlow and Lang Lang, judging the BRIT Awards, all whilst at school or having just left… I was learning so much and loving every second, but I wanted that to be for everyone.

Raising The Roof as an idea formed in my mind aged 18, and it was written over the next couple of years. I wanted to unpack some of the intimidating words and concepts we encounter in classical music and tackle what I myself struggled with when I was ‘new’. Then, most importantly, I wanted to humanise the people behind it. That’s why at the heart of the book are twenty ‘characters’, composers from the medieval period to the present. Each musician provides a different definition of what ‘classical’ can mean. Just as ‘pop’ could suggest Taylor Swift or The Beatles, Spandau Ballet or Olivia Rodrigo, ‘classical’ is an umbrella term for music made by people from all around the world, representing over a thousand years, each offering a different but equally valid voice and quality. Classical music is a treasure trove of discovery – whether you’ve known it all your life or are trying it for the first time – and this book aims to be a handy one-stop-shop.

Michele Bruttomesso has provided vibrant illustrations that give things a comic-book feel; the life and energy of the music itself overflows from the page, courtesy of his playful drawings. Equally, in my words, I wanted to give a sense of life, not just dry technicals.

This month, as we celebrate National Non-Fiction November, why not put classical music on your reading list? When you know the truth of the people behind the sounds, the sounds make so much more sense. In classical music you have the best of both worlds: the drama of fiction and the inspiration of truth. Some composers have shown the strength of a comic book superhero; more than a few carried a whiff of scandal and intrigue, the kind you’d find in a racy young adult novel; others had action-packed lives that could just as easily fill the pages of a pacy thriller. Yet despite every hilarious, shocking, alarming or heart-warming twist in their own lives, it’s not fiction. These are real people writing music to express real and timeless feelings, responding to the world around them. I hope, with Raising The Roof, classical music can become more a part of your world too.

 

Raising The Roof: A Dazzling History of Classical Music and its Colourful Characters is out now in hardback, published by Templar

Find out more about Jack on: www.jackpeppermusician.com

 

Many thanks to Jack for taking part in this year’s NNFN and to Courtney Jefferies and Bonnier for all their help and support.