Catherine Martin | Violin (Leader)
Gabrieli leader, Catherine Martin, talks about her career and the Gabrieli approach to period performance practice.
How did you get your start in music?
I've been playing the violin since I was 4, having already started playing the piano at the age of 3. My mum is a piano teacher, so there was always music going on in the house, and both my parents are keen concert-goers. When I left school, I went to Oxford and did a music degree, followed by a post-graduate Advanced Solo Studies course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Until then, I had intended to make my career on the modern violin, as I was particularly interested in 20th century music. However, someone dragged me along to a concert of Locatelli, and as soon as I saw the baroque violin in action, I decided I had to play it. I borrowed an instrument and had some lessons with Micaela Comberti. Still unsure of the path I wanted my career to take, I auditioned for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and got offered a full time position. It was only then that I realised I didn't want the security of a salary, or a job where I saw the same people each day. So I turned the job down and started freelancing, on both modern and baroque violin. Gradually, the baroque work took over, and I realised that was where my heart lay.
When did you start working with Gabrieli Consort & Players and what is your favourite aspect of the work that you do with the ensemble?
I started working for Gabrielis in 1994, and became the leader about 5 years ago. The best thing about Gabrielis, and in fact the early music profession generally, is the variety. In the last 6 months, I've played with Gabrielis with just 4 people, and in the Proms this summer, with an orchestra and choir of over 200. We cover a huge range of repertoire, and each piece brings a new challenge, whether it is an instrumentation issue, style or interpretation. The thing I love about the orchestra is the players' enthusiasm to embrace new ideas. It's so important for an orchestra to work as a team, but of course everyone brings something different to the group, and personal contributions play an essential part in the final performance.
What is different about Paul McCreesh's and the ensemble's approach towards music?
An important part of what we do is bound up in the issue of 'period performance'. We can never totally recreate the past, but we can strive to understand the instruments that the players of the time played on. That means not only playing on instruments, or copies, of the period, but researching string making techniques, bows, temperaments and aspects of technique which would have been second nature hundreds of years ago. Even then, the difference between countries - even regions - and players themselves would have varied. The importance of keeping an open mind in the field of early music has never been more vital!
What do you do when you're not leading Gabrieli?
When I'm not playing with Gabrielis, I play with, and guest lead, other orchestras here and on the continent. This year I was the on-stage solo violin at Glyndebourne playing in Giulio Cesare with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. I have a passion for Norwegian traditional music, and play the hardanger fiddle in a London-based group which learns by ear and performs tunes from all different regions of Norway.