The Hermes Experiment: 6 things… I love about contemporary classical music

He is also a co-founder and one quarter of The Hermes Experiment, along with double bass Mariann Schofield, harpist Anne Denholm and soprano and composer Héloïse Werner. This quartet have risen to prominence in recent years, winning the Royal Over-Seas League Mixed Ensemble Competition in 2019 and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award in 2021. In between these awards they released their highly acclaimed debut album Here We Are in 2020.

They have also appeared at the Southbank Centre and will return once again in September as part of our Autumn/Winter 2023/24 opening weekend with a concert featuring works by Philip Venables, Meredith Monk as well as their own compositions. Ahead of this return to our Purcell Room, Pashley shared with us six things he loves about contemporary classical music. 

The lack of blueprint

One of the things that excites me the most about contemporary music, especially with my friends and colleagues in The Hermes Experiment, is that there is no formula for how to do things. We had no pre-existing repertoire for our group, and so we had to find a new way of making music completely from scratch. Of course, not having a framework to follow can be nerve-wracking and intense, but it is also one of the most thrilling things about working with contemporary classical music; nobody knows where it’s going next. And we’re by far not the only ones at it, the whole contemporary classical music scene thrives on the unknown and unexpected.

The variety of music

The term ‘contemporary classical’ is an enormous umbrella that captures so many different strands of the modern musical world. Ask any two people what contemporary classical means to them and you will get wildly different answers. For some, it’s the boundary-pushing, hardcore free improvisation pioneered by radical performers of the 1960s and 1970s. For others, it is chillout piano, too classical for the pop world yet not ‘serious’ enough for the traditional market. And of course, there are whole other worlds between and beyond these two examples. For example, the music at our September 2023 Purcell Room concert contains elements of improvisation, sound installation, music theatre and minimalism – all ‘contemporary classical’, yet all incredibly unique. For me ‘contemporary classical’ defies definition, and that’s one of the things that draws me to it so strongly. 

The venues

From concert halls to car parks, from nightclubs to museums, there aren’t many places where you won’t find contemporary classical music performed. I love the variety of locationsI find myself in, both with Hermes and with other projects, and while it’s true (and necessary) that older classical music is finding its way into less traditional venues, contemporary classical music, by its nature volatile and exciting, lends itself incredibly well to alternative spaces. It is music for our time, and the places it is performed should reflect that.

‘Even if you’re throwing the idea of a classical phrase or romantic melody out the window, you have to know exactly what you’re chucking.’

Oliver Pashley on contemporary classical music

The people

I count myself very lucky to be able to make music with dear friends in The Hermes Experiment. But throughout the contemporary classical world you’ll find some of the most innovative, daring, exciting people working in music today. I think the lack of blueprint (see above) attracts people who don’t perhaps fit as neatly into the boxes one sometimes encounters in other parts of the industry, people for whom taking risks and challenging the boundaries of music is a rule rather than the exception. One such person is the legendary composer and improviser Elaine Mitchener, whose new commission for us we’ll be premiering in the Purcell Room, something I’m very excited about.

The collaborations

The incredible diversity of styles within contemporary classical music creates a wonderful array of opportunities to collaborate with other artists. Our work in The Hermes Experiment relies on collaboration at its core. With no pre-existing repertoire, it’s up to us to approach people and work together to bring new music into our world. We’ve worked with poets, visual artists, photographers, sound designers, actors, dancers, and animators, not to mention 60-plus composers who we’ve commissioned to date, a number which is ever-increasing.

The relevance

An attitude which, thankfully, I feel is changing is the idea that contemporary classical music is not relevant, that it is high-brow, snooty, inaccessible. Whilst I’m not going to pretend that some of the music we play might at times be more challenging than other styles, I believe that contemporary classical music is some of the most colourful, magical music out there. It is expressive, beautiful, aggressive, tender; always unexpected and surprising.

Let’s not forget also that this music doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is not separate from music of the 1800s, nor mediaeval plainchant, nor Beyoncé. I take things I learn from my work in The Hermes Experiment that greatly help me with playing Mozart, for example. And vice versa. Even if, for example, hardcore free improvisation is a reaction against traditional classical music, we have to know what we’re reacting against. Even if you’re throwing the idea of a classical phrase or romantic melody out the window, you have to know exactly what you’re chucking.

One of the biggest mistakes we can make with contemporary classical music is seeing it in its own little biome, isolated from the rest of the musical ecosystem. If we understand that this music inspires and is inspired by the rest of our culture as a whole, it starts to make much more sense. Fewer styles are more varied, adaptable, unpredictable and exciting than contemporary classical music, and I consider myself very lucky to be able to include so much of this music in my work as a musician.