Brothers Matthew and Edward Cooke combine for a summer afternoon of piano and organ duets for the Festival of Chichester.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers and also
00:06Chairman of the Festival of Chichester, and it's wonderful to speak to one of our key
00:10supporters, one of our key sponsors at the Festival of Chichester, Edward Cook, and we're
00:15always grateful for the support you give us. But the lovely thing is, Edward, you are from
00:20time to time a performer at the Festival and you are again this year, intriguingly, interestingly
00:26this year, performing with your brother, Matthew. Matthew and Edward Cook playing piano
00:31and organ duets for a summer afternoon, St Paul's Church, Chichester, Sunday, June 30th
00:36at 3pm. Now, you're saying you haven't played with Matthew, given a concert with Matthew,
00:42for 15 years, something like that, so that makes this all the more special, doesn't it?
00:47It does make it really special, Phil, and I'm really excited about it. My brother is
00:50a professional musician. I'm a jobbing organist who enjoys music as a bit of a hobby alongside
00:56my career as a family lawyer and mediator, and I'm really excited to be playing with him. I'm
01:02thrilled to be back at the Festival this year and really excited about the 30th of June.
01:07And when you're sitting playing together, are you thinking, oh, that's my brother,
01:10or are you just lost in the music?
01:12Well, I think we started playing together when we were about seven and ten. I'm the younger
01:17brother, and I think in those days, our mum sort of forced us to play the piano together,
01:22and we have memories. One of the pieces we're playing, which is the Dolly Suite by
01:28Fauré, was actually the first duet we ever did when we were very little. We were about
01:32seven or eight years old. We didn't play it very well at that stage, obviously, but we're
01:35playing that as our introduction. And yes, I think now we really, really enjoy playing
01:40together. It brings back a lot of memories from our childhoods and from beyond, and it's
01:45just great to get together and spend time together, actually.
01:48And the point is, you have different approaches. Obviously, Matthew's a professional, this
01:52isn't what you do for a living, but just naturally, in terms of personality, you have a different
01:56approach to the music.
01:58Absolutely. No, we do. I think Matthew's very, very much focused on the technique and
02:03the technical aspects of performance. Perhaps I come in from the outside not being a professional
02:06musician and have my own ideas, and that's part of the fun about playing in a duet. You
02:12both bring different things to the table, and hopefully that will come across in our
02:15performance.
02:16Yeah. So how do you decide the programme, then?
02:19So we've got a lovely programme this year. So we start off with the Fauré Dolly Suite,
02:22which I think is for old times' sake. We wanted to do something this year not just
02:26on the piano, so we're actually doing a duet as well on the organ. So we're performing
02:31at St Paul's Church in Chichester, which is the church where I play the organ, and we're
02:34going to be playing on the Hunter organ, which is from the 19th century. It's a beautiful,
02:39historic pipe organ, and we will be playing a piece by John Marsh, who people may know
02:45is probably Chichester's most famous son in terms of composers. He's an 18th century
02:50composer who lived in the city for a long time, composed a lot of symphonies. You may
02:55hear him sometimes on Classic FM, but his organ works are not well known, and we're
02:59performing one of his organ duets on the Hunter organ, so that should be a real treat, I think.
03:05Fantastic. And as I was saying, you are a key supporter of the festival in Chichester
03:09through your business, through your law firm. Why do you support us at the festival? And
03:14we're so pleased that you do. We think it's just really important as a local business
03:19to be embedded in the community and to really provide support. We support lots of different
03:23organisations, from sports teams to music festivals to all sorts of things, but for
03:28us being in Chichester, just outside actually in Chillgrove, it's really important for us
03:32to support the festival. I remember as a child growing up in Chichester, the old festival
03:37was so important to the city, and when it collapsed, that was a real tragedy, and it's
03:41wonderful to see the last 10 years or so how it's grown again. And we just think it's
03:45really important for the community, for performers, for young people. The Fringe Festival as well
03:51now, which is up and running and established in such a strong way, we just think it's
03:55really important for everyone that as a business we get involved.
03:59Fantastic. Well, Harfeld, thanks for your support for the festival in Chichester. It
04:03really, really does matter to us. Thank you. And lovely to say that you and Matthew on
04:09Sunday the 30th of June will be in concert together, piano and organ duets in St Paul's
04:15Church, Chichester.
04:16Paul, just a quick plug. It's still Chestnut Tree House. We're supporting Chestnut Tree
04:21House on the day. So we have free admission, tea and cake included, but also any donations
04:29will go to the fantastic Chestnut Tree House, which everyone will know is Sussex's only
04:33children's hospice.
04:34Fantastic. So people don't need to get a free ticket in advance, they just turn up
04:38on the day, do they?
04:39No, absolutely.
04:41Just turn up. Brilliant. We're having a great day. Lovely to speak to you.
04:45Thanks so much, John.
04:46Thank you.
04:46Lovely to see you. Thank you. Bye.