It's all about the classical music composers and their works from the last 400 years and much more about music. Hier erfahren Sie alles über die klassischen Komponisten und ihre Meisterwerke der letzten vierhundert Jahre und vieles mehr über Klassische Musik.
André Rieu donates £360k to provide music lessons for children. Picture: Getty
By Maddy Shaw Roberts
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The Dutch violinist made the generous donation to a youth foundation, which provides music lessons for children whose families can’t afford them
André Rieu has donated €425,000 (£360,000) to provide music lessons for 1,000 children living in his hometown in the Netherlands.
The Dutch violinist and conductor donated the money to Jeugdfonds Cultuur Limburg, a culture and youth foundation in the province of Limburg.
With music increasingly disappearing from schools, Rieu says, children today are learning to make music far less than before.
“I would like to give these children the pleasure of making music,” said the maestro. “My orchestra members and I know how much fun it is to make music every day, and to make millions of people happy with music night after night.”
André Rieu playing a full-size violin as a child. Picture: Beeld Privéarchief Rieu
“We were all given the chance to have music lessons since our childhood and were fortunate to learn how to play an instrument,” he continued.
“So, we may understand better than anyone else what it means if you do not get that chance to be involved with music as a child.”
According to Jeugdfonds Cultuur Limburg, it costs €425 (£365) to provide one child with music lessons for a year. The foundation plans to use its recent generous donation to open an ‘André Rieu Fund’, which they hope to use to draw more sponsors.
Earlier this year, Rieu offered to replace €20,000 worth of stolen instruments, which were taken from an orchestra for the mentally disabled. He said: “My heart broke when I read [the news]. I want them to be able to perform again very soon.”
We met Sir Elton at his old alma mater to talk music education, his ‘mystical’ song-writing process and how the Royal Academy of Music has changed since 1958...
“It was so intimidating then,” Sir Elton tells Classic FM’s Tim Lihoreau, as they meet in a room behind reception at London’s Royal Academy of Music. “It smelt of fear.”
The great pianist and singer has just hosted a Q&A with students of the Academy, which he attended as a Junior Exhibitioner from the tender age of 11.
But by 16, the young Reggie Dwight had decided to quit his classical roots to pursue a career in rock ‘n roll. And, rather hearteningly, he still puts his enormous success down to those early years spent playing scales in a practice room.
“In those days, the Academy meant classical music and nothing else – certainly no rock ‘n roll. That was the devil’s music. But without my training, I never would’ve been able to write the songs I’ve written.
“I’m so grateful for my classical training. I played Chopin and Mozart and Debussy, and to be part of the choir was incredibly fulfilling. Singing in a choir is such a moving, life-affirming experience.”
Sir Elton John speaks to Classic FM’s Tim Lihoreau at the Royal Academy of Music. Picture: Classic FM
Today, eight Royal Academy students a year are on the Elton John Scholarship – a fund reserved for exceptional young musicians who would otherwise be unable to afford the fees.
There was a rather lovely moment during the Q&A when four of those students stood up and spoke about what they had achieved thanks to their star sponsor. This of course begged the question: what does Elton make of the dwindling presence of music in today’s schools?
“Music was one of the few O Levels I managed to get,” Sir Elton tells Tim.
“A lot of schools [now] have taken music out of the curriculum and I find that really appalling, because music is so inspiring and for kids that have the ability or want to play music, there’s no outlet for this in schools anymore. It’s tragic.”
Watch Taron Egerton and Elton John’s magical duet at 'Rocketman' Cannes premiere
Credit: Getty Images
Sir Elton has famously enjoyed a long-lasting relationship with the keyboard. The story goes that as a teenager at the Royal Academy of Music, he played a note-perfect rendition of a four-page Handel composition, completely by ear (for any Rocketman fans out there, the moment is replicated in the movie but replaced with Mozart’s better-known Rondo alla turca).
But that isn’t the only great musical relationship Elton has enjoyed throughout his professional life. His arrangement with songwriter Bernie Taupin is, Tim suggests, a somewhat mystical one.
“It’s very mystical. There’s no rhyme or reason. It exists, I don’t question it,” Elton replies. “It sounds very cliché but it’s like a gift from God.
“I look at his lyrics, as I’m looking at them a film appears, I finish the lyrics, I puts my hands on the keys and then I go from there. Usually, the first four or five chords I play determine what the song’s going to do. And I have no idea where it comes from.”
Sir Elton John singing 'Candle In The Wind' at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. Picture: Getty
After around 60 years of playing for other people, it would be easy to assume that Sir Elton got over any feelings of stage fright decades ago.
But there was one instance of it that he still remembers very clearly – and it was when he famously played ‘Candle in the Wind’ at the funeral of Diana, the Princess of Wales, in 1997.
“It was the only time I really got stage fright,” he tells Tim.
“It was an enormous responsibility, and I’d been singing that song for so many years as ‘Goodbye Norma Jean’, and I had to call on all my professionalism of all my years of playing in clubs and being Elton John to pull that off.
“And I was doing it for all the people outside, all around the world, so I had a teleprompter. I just didn’t want to sing ‘Goodbye Norma Jean’ – I would’ve been garrotted on the spot. And I pulled it off because I had to. You have to man up in situations like that.”
