Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music and who or what have been the most important influences in your musical life and career?
My grandmother’s piano was in my parents’ house since I was born, and my mother used to play it. She also sang me English lullabies whilst my father listened to Baroque and Classical music with me on his stomach on Sundays. My grandmother was a pianist and her father was a very well-known violinist, leader of the Genova Opera House and curator of Paganini’s violin Guarneri del Gesù. I do not know exactly what this entailed at the beginning of the 20th Century, but in those times it was an honorary position, whilst nowadays there is a specialised luthier who looks after it. I think he just had to periodically check that it was in good condition and play it there and then. I do not know if he ever played it in public. A violin has to be played to keep it “alive”. The Paganini “Cannone” which is on show at the Palazzo Tursi museum in Genova, is nowadays usually played once a year by the winner of the International Competition but very rarely by a famous violinist.
When I was 4 years 8 months-old I composed and kept by heart my first piece and continued to do so till I was 19 when I started studying Composition. My composition teacher told me to buy a tape recorder and play and record them all because I would have forgotten them in the future. My mother and grandmother encouraged me to study the piano, which I hated, but did not think about studying Composition. At 19 when I finished school, I decided that I wanted to study Composition and so it all began, always with great difficulty. I was slow in everything, technically not very gifted and very bad at sight-reading, but had a very particular sensibility and intuition for Harmony and Counterpoint. I found it difficult to learn the rules because I went by ear, but I had to do so when I started teaching them. I was not encouraged to compose my pieces when at the Conservatoire because they were Tonal, except for my first teacher Bruno Bettinelli who understood my gifts but could not help me other than teaching scholastically because he was also stuck in an epoch which he did not like. During all the 39 years of teaching at the same conservatoire where I had studied, I was boycotted by all the Composition teachers because I refused to compose with Avant-garde techniques. If I had not met Hans Keller who liked my music, made me understand what was behind great music, encouraged and taught me how to have faith in myself, I probably would not have continued to compose.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
Keeping on composing, notwithstanding health problems and much ostracism against my independence of musical thought in an epoch of constricted musical factions. This ostracism is now receding.
Which recordings are you most proud of?
When I recorded my 5 CDs and heard my works for the first time I was very fulfilled with spiritual gratitude, but particularly on hearing Florestan, my two Symphonies and my Requiem. The fifth Naxos CD, which has just come out, contains my two latest works: Requiem (based on the classical text used by Mozart, Verdi, Fauré, Dvorak and others) and Stabat Mater (based on the classical text used by Pergolesi and Rossini). Because of these ancient and religious texts which express spiritual and physical suffering, their composition gave me very different emotions than, for example, my two Symphonies which were composed with abstract, purely musical ideas and form. I always wanted to compose a Requiem, because it had always been a part of a classical composer’s output. What I knew was that I had to suffer and I had to wait for my parents’ death. I also have physical suffering and a partially disabled. I was spiritually influenced by the great Requiems that were composed, but I didn’t understand if I was a Believer or not. I still don’t. Being a spiritual person does not necessarily mean you are a Beliver and even less, Christian. However, suffering is Universal and belongs to all religions.
What do you do in life that provides inspiration when composing?
I believe that all the Arts are interconnected, so I look at paintings, sculpture, architecture, archeology and also Nature. I have travelled a fair amount, but it’s getting more difficult for me, so I look at books, documentaries on TV and internet. Of course, I also listen to Music masterpieces which I carefully choose, particularly when I already know what piece I shall be writing next, for example a symphony, a work of free fantasy or a symphonic poem connected to some other form of Art.
What is your most memorable concert experience?
I have had a few memorable concert experiences, but I get the most satisfaction when recording my CDs. I don’t get particularly excited when I have a concert with my music. However, a recording of a work gives me the time and concentration to follow and fully absorb the total components of the composition. I compose at the piano so I have an immediate concentrated result of the ideas and form and I can mentally imagine the sounds and colours of the instruments, but it’s only when I hear an orchestra playing my music that I feel the innermost fulfilment.
As a musician, what is your definition of success?
Success is an inward feeling that somehow one has not lived in vain and that one has done something worthwhile, even if for a brief time, to contribute to the continuity of life on Earth.
What advice would you give to young/aspiring musicians?
Love good music, believe in what you do, don’t be ambitious to become a famous star because it will not make you happy, enjoy life, try to understand and love the other Arts. However, study good quality Music and don’t waste time on rubbish. Light, Pop music willl only be a way to relax and passively pass time. It will comunicate something but it will not give you an everlasting, deep spritual experience.
I have created The Brusa Foundation Award to encourage young composers under 30 to compose tonally based symphonic music that expresses artistic thought through emotions.
What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music audiences?
Politicians and economists should realise that more classical music should played in concerts, taught in schools and be part of one’s life. It has been scientifically proven that it develops the brain and the inner spirituality.
What’s the one thing in the music industry we’re not talking about which you think we should be?
The music industry is always searching for something or someone innovative to attract the public and to make them become a “personality” whether musically good or not. It’s not a question of how one dresses, moves, is unusual in appearance, invents a new way of appearing in public, or plays as fast as possible. It’s a question of artistic quality and spirituality in music. Apart from Opera, Classical music should not be considered an entertainment or a show but a spiritual fulfilment.
What’s next? Where would you like to be in 10 years?
In one of my two homes, in London or Milan, peacefully leading the life I have always lived.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being loved and in good health without pain and being conscious of it. Realising that the Western world has been extremely lucky not to have been in War for 80 years. Unfortunately, nothing is eternal.
What is your most treasured possession?
My husband’s love.
What is your present state of mind?
Worried about the spirituality of Man and the future of the Arts.
Elisabetta Brusa’s latest choral album – Requiem and Stabat Mater – is now available on the Naxos label. She has established the Brusa Foundation Award to give opportunities to composers who recreate new, free and personal symphonic thought with a tonal basis. The deadline for entries from composers ages 18 to 30 is 31st May 2024. Find out more
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