Knowing that I can’t dance, sing, play an instrument and am just about able to manage an iPhone, it’s hard for me to believe that I’ve been able to complete 30 documentary films. Having no background in filmmaking and little experience in movie-going, I’m a most unlikely candidate to do what I do. So, what motivates me to do it?

Music first came into my life through that unique worldwide institution, the BBC. These were the years of World War Two, so public music performances were scarce, and music programs in schools barely existed. As a result, listening to the “wireless” at home was often the best venue for encountering music, and a frequent background to my world.

Two notable regular programs were “Music While You Work” (originally intended to be heard by UK weapons factory workers) and “Desert Island Discs”, a fantasy program of music a stranded person would have with them after being marooned on a remote island. “Music While You Work” is where I first heard the “sing-along” pop music of the time.   “Desert Island Discs” often featured the British composers Elgar and Delius, who have given me continuous pleasure throughout my life. 

There were a few key moments that stand out in my memory as being crucial in establishing my love of music as a young person. The first was being given a gift record of the Beethoven 6th Symphony (the Pastoral), which to me, vividly evoked my life on a farm during the war. Another occasion was at a party, watching a group of music students listening to “The Poem of Ecstasy” by Scriabin; I’d never heard anything so beautifully abstract before. Seeing and hearing Mozart’s opera “Cosi fan Tutte” was another revelatory event, as it introduced me to the exciting relationship between music and theatre.

As a teenager, an important part of socializing with my friends was listening to jazz, swing, and especially the big band music of Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. Much of our spending money was used to buy and share records, which had the side benefit of creating an excuse to invite girls to parties in our homes.

My filmmaking began after many years as a book publisher. It occurred to me then that while the most satisfying part of publishing had been finding and encouraging potential authors, I had given no thought to the unrealized expressions of my own interests and passions. After retiring, I found myself the owner of a simple digital video camera, and with the help of a friend, made my first film. 

The subject was a historic site in London, “Speakers’ Corner”, and a famous evangelical preacher. This film took many months to complete because of my near-nonexistent camera and editing skills, but it felt successful enough in the end that I began a series called “Eye & Hand”. The intent was to capture examples of the skills that would likely disappear in the 21st Century, such as traditional noodle-making in Chinatown, wig-making in Manhattan for Hollywood films, building handmade structures from found rocks in Pennsylvania, and then the most challenging, creating very large pipe organs. 

It was while making the pipe organ film that I interviewed renowned organ builder John Mander. When the interview was completed, it occurred to me that I had spent hours on the art of organ design and building, but I had ignored the wonderful music that these massive instruments ultimately produced. John reacted to my rather simple questions by giving me the titles of music that he thought I would enjoy, then handed me a CD of the wonderful emotional music and voices composed by Hildegard of Bingen during the 10th century.

This immediately whetted my interest in early music, and eventually led to filming young students playing on period instruments, then later, experienced professional musicians performing music composed from the earliest times up to the present. From these beginnings, “Music is My Passion” evolved. 

During the early stages of the project, I was excited to find that the high school and college-age students that I met welcomed music from other eras and cultures, and I was heartened to hear them speak about how music helped them build their social confidence. For most, the sheer joy of bonding and playing with others was sufficient to keep them actively involved in discovering the joys of music, whether or not they would eventually pursue it as a full-time career.

Over the two years that it has taken to create “Music is My Passion”, the filming and editing have opened a new and exciting period in my life. I owe a debt of gratitude to the many people who have supported my often-fumbling enthusiasm to discover new music for my ears and my spirits. Much that has been accomplished would not have been possible without the friendship and support of the exceptionally talented Loïc de Lame. Loïc has now become a valued professional talent to documentary and feature filmmakers, and I am honored that he has been able to find some time to keep an eye on my simple filmmaking. 

I sincerely hope that you find the experience of watching my films as enjoyable and enriching as the process of making them has been for me.