Page 75 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

performances, the absolute privilege to be able to think about orchestral music and get
into a room with 80 of the most highly trained musicians is properly magical.”

So too is being able to connect once again with an audience in the concert hall. “I like
the idea of curating the audience’s time. They’re giving me their ears for 15 minutes or
half an hour or whatever, so how can I curate that time as wonderfully as possible? I
like that artisan-y quality; that you should be a maker of wonderful things.”

Violet inhabits darker territory than many of Coult’s works, but it still has the qualities
of mischievousness and playfulness that characterise so much of his music. “I always
think of composing as play – which doesn’t mean it’s always making jokes or anything
like that, but that you’re trying stuff out, you’re not necessarily goal-oriented all the
time. Whatever I’m writing for, whether it’s a solo piano or a big orchestra, I think of it
as a box of toys. What interesting things can I put together? Imagining the most
wonderful sounds that I possibly can – that’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.”

The world premiere of Violet, a production by Music Theatre Wales, is at Aldeburgh
festival (3 and 5 June), then tours to Cardiff (8 June), Mold (19 June), London (23
June) and Buxton festival (18 July).