对不起，真的不好意思啊，我这么久没上网了。。。才刚刚看到阿TOT
多谢阿多谢！！！原来是james wong上来的哦，老牌yoko fansite了~
我来贴出来吧^^b
The Importance of Being Inglis
- An interview with Anthony Inglis, by Oliver Barder
The scores for Japanese animation (or "animé") are often overlooked by Western film music magazines. Mainly because it is considered to be too obscure, too niche and not worth the coverage. Hence the reason why many film music fans often dismiss it. Due to all this very little is known about animé music. Obviously more information is needed to fill this chasm in our our collective knowledge, but where do you start. Getting interviews with Western film composers is hard enough let alone trying a Japanese animé composer. What is more there is the obvious language barrier between the interviewer and the interviewee. So we are unfortunately left in a bit of dilemma, well almost...
About a year ago I was leafing through a few animé CD inserts only to see an English name, Anthony Inglis, popping up in conjunction with a lot of the orchestral conducting. Understandably I was curious as to how this person had got to where he was. So I thought about trying to get an interview, and ask him myself. An English speaking insider in on the inner workings of the animé music industry is a very rare thing to come by. An interview would be a wonderful thing indeed. For the obvious reason that the information would be first hand and in English, thus increasing the accessibility to this grey area of film music.
Anthony Inglis has a pretty impressive list of Japanese composers and productions that he has worked with and on. His Japanese connections started with the famous Japanese composer Akira Senju in 1989 when he recorded the score to a Japanese film called "226" . He then went on to conduct (and play the piano) in the 1992 re-orchestrated score for a 1986 computer game called "Walküre no Densetsu" (released as "Walküre Story - for Orchestra"), again working with Akira Senju. Shortly after this Inglis conducted the score for the last animated instalment of the Gundam saga, "V Gundam", in 1993 (again with Senju). As if this wasn't enough in 1994 he conducted the score to the seminal classic "Macross Plus", composed by the immensely talented Yoko Kanno. Following that in 1995 he again worked with Akira Senju and conducted the score to the animé film "Silent Service". In 1996 he conducted probably the finest animé score of recent years,"Tenku no Escaflowne", composed by Yoko Kanno.
I met up with Anthony Inglis late in 1998 at his home in a leafy suburb of London. I was rather surprised (and extremely glad) that he had kept the handwritten scores that he had used while conducting the recording sessions. It was also apparent in our correspondence up and till the interview that he hadn't seen any of the music he had conducted in its intended context (that of the actual animé itself). Ironically I seemed to know more about what he had done than he did.
An Interview with Anthony Inglis by Oliver Barder (...continued)
OB: Where did you study Music?
AI: I got a music scholarship to Marlborough College and then went onto the Royal College of Music, however I always knew I wanted to be a conductor even from the age of six. The first time I ever conducted was at my pre-prepschool. It was for a concert in which I had to conduct a choir and a percussion section entirely made up of six year olds, we also had our teacher on the piano. The piece was two in a bar and they delegated me as the conductor, and I remember that halfway through that it was the first time I made an audience laugh because on the upbeat the baton flew out of my hand and into the audience. So ever since then I always wanted to be a
conductor.
OB: What was your first conducting job?
AI: I landed a job as a pianist and assistant conductor on a tour of "Rose Marie" with John Hanson. I ended touring for six months and conducting three times a week, from that I got given more shows in the West End. To which I conducted the likes of "My Fair Lady", "Oliver", "Irene" and the "Two Ronnies", I actually went on tour to Australia with the "Two Ronnies". So I learnt the business of conducting that way, through actually doing it and conducting jaded and hardbitten West End musicians. I am also supervisor at "Phantom of the Opera".
OB: How did you get into classical conducting?
AI: I made a conscious decision to stop doing shows, I had conducted in the London Palladium with the "Two Ronnies", I mean, how much better than that can you get? I was getting a bit bored and jaded towards the West End anyway. So I put myself out of work and turned down (West End) jobs, and then put myself on the market to conduct classical based music. Which turned out to be a bit of a disaster because no-one had heard of me.
Luckily I was quite popular with business trade shows and events. In that they hired me to conduct bands and small orchestra music. On the third or fourth year of doing a trade show for Allied Dunbar the leader of the orchestra mentioned that Allied Dunbar were sponsors for the Philharmonia. So I went to Allied Dunbar and asked them whether their sales people should hear what the put all their money into? They said yes, so I ended up conducting the Philharmonia at the trade show. From that point on the Philharmonia liked me and gave me more work. I ended up getting more and more work until I ended up only doing classical music.
OB: ...what about your anim?score conducting then?
AI: Well, I consider that to be classical music!
OB: Why is that?
AI: Well, it is recorded and performed as concert music. Meaning that I don't have a click track or a screen to synchronise the music to.
OB: So what was your first Japanese score you had to conduct?
AI: "226". The reason I got it was because Ibsen-Tillit, who are a very big concert agency, got a request from Japan from a Mr. Hiroshi Isaka. Who happens to be a big Japanese record producer. So, he rang Ibsen-Tillit saying that he needed a conductor for a film score. Ibsen-Tillit jumped to the conclusion that the music would need synching with the film. Due to my West End based backround and my rising into the classical arena they suggested me. So up and till the recording sessions I thought I had to synch the music to film which I had never really done before.
So I turned up and the composer, and now great friend Akira Senju, told me that the score wasn't being synched to film and the tempi and other such creative input were being left to me. This gave me a huge amount of creative latitude in which to work in. To be perfectly honest I have never had a composer tell me that my tempi are wrong either, which I have always thought to be pretty amazing.
OB: So what did you do after "226"?
AI: I cannot remember to be honest, however it appears to be quite a few
to which I have all forgotten their names. Mainly because I have never seen the fruits of my labours.
OB: Well I know you did "V Gundam"...
AI: ...ah yes, that was with Akira Senju again. If I remember correctly the orchestra we had was pretty awful. Which was very frustrating, at one point I had to tell Akira that no matter how much we practiced it wouldn't get any better because the orchestra was so bad and the recording hall's acoustics were appalling.
OB: Looking at the pictures you showed me you even met Yoshiyuki Tomino
(the creator of Gundam).
AI: It seems that way doesn't it. However I didn't know at the time who he was. All the Japanese people at the recording sessions were in awe of him. Now you mention it I also couldn't understand why in the photoshoot with myself and Akira he was placed in front of us
To be honest, after that I didn't think that I would be hired to do any more Japanese based work.
OB: So what did you do after that?
AI: Well I then went on to record with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for Macross Plus. Which my agent and I were very surprised with, mainly because after "V Gundam" we didn't think that I wouldn't do any more Japanese scores.
However that being said, we had such a good time recording the music. The orchestra loved the music and had a ball doing it. Everybody liked the music, it was inspiring stuff. The Israel Philharmonic were in awe of the music. Make no mistake, the Israel Philharmonic are a world class orchestra so it takes a lot to impress them.
It also made a change from the usual "squeaky gate" music that I have had to conduct, which is music written by a composer for a select group of his friends. Music like that annoys me, because I want the listeners to enjoy the music and go through motions while listening to it.
Which is where this type of music, where you have challenging rhythms and harmonies, is exciting and it plays on your emotions. I would love to conduct more music like this.
OB: So Macross Plus was the first time you worked with Yoko Kanno?
AI: Yes it was, it was also apparently the first time she had ever orchestrated for an orchestra. Which if it is true, I have no reason to doubt it, she is a genius. I should know, I have done orchestration and it is incredibly hard and requires a lot of practice. Anyway, she is a remarkably talented musician.
OB: So when do you get the music?
AI: Most of the time not until the recording sessions, however I occasionally have it sent to me before I get there which allows me to plan our rehearsals a lot better.
OB: So what did you do after Macross Plus?
AI: Escaflowne, which was another score composed by Yoko Kanno. I remember that I had to record a lot of Escaflowne. I had to make three or four trips out to Warsaw to do all the recording that we needed with the Warsaw Philharmonic. Warsaw in January is cold!
OB: What did you think of the score?
AI: Yet again, the orchestra and chorus loved the music. There is no doubt that Yoko Kanno is an extremely talented composer. However, I get no musical guidance from Kanno or any of the Japanese composers I have worked with . It is entirely left up to me, which is fortunate considering that most of their English isn't very good. Of course I have musical annotation but I am still given a lot of freedom.
OB: Do you enjoy working on this type of music?
AI: Yes, I love it. I wish that it got the international coverage it deserves. Recently "Classic FM" had an international film music week, and I wanted to send off some of my CD's that I have done. Unfortunately other commitments prevented me from doing so.
OB: ...so you think this music has international potential?
AI: Most certainly. Music is a universal language is it not?
OB: Thank you very much for your time.
AI: You're welcome, however I think you know more about what I have done than I do
Since the interview Mr. Inglis informed me that he will be working on a score for a new "Gundam" series (so as to commemorate Gundam's 20th Anniversary). He has also been recording another Yoko Kanno score for a series called "Brain Powerd".
