Theo Browne, pianist

Who or what inspired you to take up the piano, and pursue a career in music?

My mother played the piano. Schubert, Chopin and Liszt seemed to fill the house when I was a child, and although my earliest memories of those years are complicated, the music remained. Once I met my teacher, Mr Hines, there was never any real question of doing anything else. Music gradually became less an accomplishment and more a necessity.

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life?

Unquestionably, my teacher. He taught me not merely how to play the piano but how to listen, and I owe almost everything to him. He has never allowed me to be satisfied merely because I can play something. Beyond that, Beethoven has been my lifelong companion. His music seems to contain every human emotion in its truest form.

Jonathan [Lane-Fox, violinist] has been important too – we have played together since we were schoolboys. Chamber music demands a different sort of discipline from solo playing – it’s a conversation rather than an accompaniment, and you cannot simply please yourself when another musician is depending upon you. Jonathan hears possibilities in music that would never occur to me. We challenge one another constantly, and I think we both play better because of it.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

Performing in public. I have never found the work itself particularly arduous. I am quite content to spend most of the day at the piano, if necessary. But the transition from the practice room to the concert platform has not always been easy for me. I suffer from performance anxiety, yet I enjoy performing and the cultural gift of sharing the music with others.

Which composers occupy your piano at the moment?

Rachmaninoff has monopolised it rather completely – I’m working on the Third Piano Concerto, which has become something of an obsession. Alongside that, there is always Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and increasingly Debussy, whose soundworld is endlessly fascinating.

Which particular works or composers do you think you perform best?

Beethoven, without question. I have played his music for many years and feel a particular affinity with it. The Waldstein sonata is a work I particularly admire: its energy, its scale, the extraordinary range of colour Beethoven demands from the instrument. That said, the Opus 110 is my favourite of the 32 sonatas. It never seems to be trying to impress, but rather draws you in much more quietly. There is something about the journey of that final movement that I find irresistible: it doesn’t offer easy consolation. The ending feels earned.

Which performances are you most proud of?

I hope my best performances are still ahead of me.

There have been occasions when Jonathan and I have played particularly well together, and those are satisfying because one knows immediately when the understanding between two players is complete.

I’m rarely satisfied with a performance once it’s finished. There are always things one wishes one had done differently. That is probably why musicians continue practising…!

What do you enjoy most about performing?

Those rare moments when one ceases to think about the mechanics of playing altogether. If everything is prepared properly, the music seems almost to perform itself. Those moments are very fleeting, but they are worth all the hours of practice.

What is your most memorable concert experience, as an audience member?

Hearing Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto for the first time. I remember feeling that I had discovered an entirely new way of speaking. Later, I had the great pleasure of performing it with the university orchestra. It remains my favourite concerto by Beethoven – or indeed anyone.

What do you consider to be the most important qualities in a musician?

Honesty, curiosity and patience.

Do you have a favourite concert venue?

Anywhere with a decent piano and an attentive audience.

What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?

I read a great deal, and I enjoy walking. Jonathan’s family live in Dorset, near the coast, and I spend as much time there as I can. There is something deeply restorative about being out of doors and away from London.

What advice would you give to young or aspiring musicians?

Listen more than you play. Read books, go to galleries, walk. Live a little. The music only becomes meaningful if there is a life behind it.

But take the music seriously. A pianist’s first responsibility is not to himself, but to the composer.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

To be worthy of the music I have chosen to play.

What is your most treasured possession?

My mind, if that can be called a possession. That sounds rather conceited, doesn’t it? A pianist can manage without a great many things, but I don’t think one can manage without memory, imagination and the ability to listen.

My hands are important, obviously, but people attach rather too much significance to a pianist’s fingers because they’re the part they can see. Most of the work happens elsewhere.

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Theo Browne is a fictional pianist and one of the principal characters in Facing the Music, the debut novel by F M Wilson (AKA The Cross-Eyed Pianist). A gifted and ambitious young musician with a promising career ahead of him, Theo is about to discover that life does not always follow the score...

(Artist image generated by AI; header image of F M Wilson’s C. Bechstein piano by J Eppy).