BEAUTY OF THE HEART

An Interview with Michael Hoppe
by Serge Kozlovsky and Alexander Petrov

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There is sadness and a lot of beauty in your music. When one listens to your music, he feels that there is so much beauty that sadness goes somewhere on the background, and only the beauty remains. How do you comprehend your music and why do you write namely such a music? In general, what is important for you to express in your music and bring to the listeners?

You are right there is a considerable melancholy in my music- and it certainly is not because I am feeling sad all the time! It is just that I am ultimately moved by sadness and any music which reflects this characteristic. Rachmaninoff personifies much of what I try to write, namely expansive melody with an underlying brooding and nostalgic quality. Melody for me is everything and not just a component. As Mozart once said "melody is when all the notes kiss one another..."

Music which both reaches the unobtainable and goes to the heart is what I strive for and melody is the path... So, if the listener can feel this yearning and often nostalgic quality then my music is reflecting what I feel!

Much of what I write is a sound track to my thoughts and the beauty that arises is the wonderful interpretation such artists as Tim Wheater and MartinTillmann bring to the music.

What are your creative and personal roots? Where and how did you study music, who influenced you on your path? Of course, we can not but ask about the impression on your music of life and creative work of your grandfather, Emil Otto Hoppe. He and his works have inspired you to create some of your albums. Could you tell us about this?

As a musician, I am completely self taught. But I have a good ear and when I was growing up, the piano was never far away. Over the years I developed a compositional style which is now apparent throughout all my recordings. My background has always been in classical music and my compositions probably reflect this. As far as my grandfather, E.O. Hoppe (1878-1972) is concerned, his art form has been very important to me and a major source of inspiration. Amazingly, I came across over 5,000 images only a decade ago (they were found in London) and all this was because of a phone call from a next door neighbor here in Los Angeles. Obviously, there is no such thing as coincidence... my grandfather wanted me to find his photographs! His art has been the basis of five projects, namely The Yearning, The Dreamer, The Poet, Beloved and The Lover.

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Could you please tell us about those of your albums, which you consider most important and interesting in your creative work? How were these albums created and by whom (or by what events) they where inspired?

All albums are important at the time of completion! But perhaps my most seminal work is The Yearning and Afterglow. Both albums feature superb performances by Tim Wheater and Martin Tillmann and continue to reach ever-growing audiences with their passion and beauty. The Yearning (voted as Best Album of the year in 1994 by Stereo Review) began with the encouragement of Tim Wheater and was never originally intended as a commercial album. With the help of our producer and friend, Frosty Horton, we managed to capture that indecipherable quality called 'magic'. The same also applies to Afterglow (voted by AFIM as Best New Age CD-see www.afim.org) where Martin Tillmann plays with Tim Wheater works of enormous passion and largely improvised. I think it is fair to say that all my albums reflect to a lesser or greater degree the qualities of these two albums. A lot of HEART!

Could you please tell us about your work as a senior executive at PolyGram Records. How did you manage to invite to this company and collaborate with such talented and interesting artists as Vangelis, Kitaro, ABBA and the Who? It is very interesting for us to know, how did it happen in the process of your work.

I was at PolyGram Records as a senior executive for over 15 years and was ultimately head of A&R (artists and repertory) based in Hamburg. I consider some of the signings I was involved with a great privilege because it gave me access to extraordinary artists such as ABBA, The Who, Jean-Michel Jarre, etc. For me, the greatest of them all is Vangelis and I consider him a very major role model and an astonishing artist (who is also completely self-taught!) By the way, he often used to say I was, at heart, an artist. His prediction proved correct!

Your albums were released on several labels. Why was it so? Could you comment your collaboration with the labels on which you have recorded your albums. With what label are you collaborating at present and why? In general, on which label do you prefer to release your music?

My music is on 5 different labels largely because I have been so productive in a short time, that one label cannot accommodate all my recordings! The labels are Teldec (a classical company based in Hamburg) and owned by Warners; Hearts of Space; Real Music; American Gramophone; and Spring Hill Music. The latter is now the home of my back catalogue and my future new release called The Lover, Carl Sandburg's romantic set to music and read by Tim Wheater. This will be released in January, 2001. Basically, I have no particular favorite label. All of them have been, in one form or another, very good to work with and have individual strengths.

It is interesting and important for us to know about your meetings and collaboration with David Lanz and Suzanne Ciani. What is your impression of these artists, what can you tell us about them? In general, which musicians can be named as your friends? Who helps you in your creative work? Collaboration with what artists was most interesting and important for you, and do you plan any collaboration in the future?

I have never met David Lanz but have known Suzanne Ciani for many years. She has always been a believer in what I do (she signed me to her label in the past) and I rate her very highly. As for other musician friends they include many from Tim Wheater (I am godfather to his son!) to Vangelis. All who I have had the privilege to record with have become very important people to me. Just check the CD credits and you will know who they are!