Amy’s Last Dive

Guest-blogger Cheryl Frances-Hoad – on composing a new opera about fearless aviator Amy Johnson and being inspired by Tinie Tempah, Benjamin Britten, Lady Gaga, David Hockney…and her fridge.

When Adam Strickson asked me to compose a new opera to celebrate the Cultural Olympiad I was over the moon. When he told me it was inspired by flight, and specifically by the story of 1930’s pilot Amy Johnson, I was immediately intrigued by the subject. I knew very little about
Amy’s life before this, but in the last eight months, have come to know her story through biographers, music, news articles and Adam’s knowledge on the subject. In retrospect it seems totally fitting that this remarkable woman, far ahead of her time, should be celebrated; talent and determination being two characteristics she shares with sports-people.

Born in Hull on 1 July 1903, she graduated with a BA Hons in Economics from Sheffield University, and was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930. She was adored by the press and the public, though her public fame was resented by Jim Mollison, a gifted pilot who proposed marriage to Amy eight hours after meeting her, and with whom she had a passionate and tempestuous marriage. They flew together often – sometimes with him drinking in the cockpit while Amy took charge and always, both, dressing for the occasion. Their style – fast, confident and sartorially ambitious – was envied. They were rock stars of their time. They wrote the rules and set records.

Getting to know Amy’s style as well as the facts of her life was important. My music tastes are wide-ranging: to me, good music is good music, whether it be the latest chart hit, a piece of classical music, or a great rendition of a jazz standard. In getting ready to compose a contemporary opera inspired by Amy’s life, I spent a lot of time listening to music she might have heard, or might have enjoyed – both then and now. Essentially what I wanted to do in my opera is express the feelings, desires, emotions and motivations of the characters through the music. One of the wonderful things about opera is that the music can tell you just as much as the words, sometimes more (think of all those times when you’ve said “I’m fine thanks” when you are anything but): in opera, the music can often put across more of the characters’ real emotions than what they are directly saying. Amy was such a passionate woman, and in my music I wanted to convey that passion for flight, for love, for adventure, for life.

Amy’s Last Dive is a contemporary opera, but please don’t let those words put you off. For me, one of the most important things is to create something which is dramatically and emotionally absorbing. I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve been told “I didn’t think I liked contemporary music, but I loved that!”: I’ve heard this from seven year olds, 70 year olds, and every age in between. The influences in this opera range from Benjamin Britten (one of my favourite 20th
Century composers, to Tinie Tempah, Lady Gaga, and a gaggle of Jazz greats. This is music that can appeal to lots of people, sung in English (it’s true, it’s not essential that opera is in a language you don’t understand!) reflective of the moment we are living in now, but also in this case, inspired by a story that began in the 1930s.

Western music of the 1930s era was typically free-spirited – like Amy. In finding her character, I wanted to absorb as much of the popular music she would have been exposed to as possible; get to know it intimately and then to try to forget it again, so that I composed music that was still distinctly my own, even though the influences would be obvious. As a result I’ve listened to music ranging from 1930’s Big Band (Jack Hyton’s song ‘Amy, wonderful Amy’ was a bit hit of the time and features in the opera) to Lily Allen, because it struck me that Lily was similar in many ways to Amy. Lily invented her own sound and style, and I like to think that if their time-lines collided, Amy would be out on the town with a younger Lily and her mates; raising eyebrows, having fun, being unapologetic.

When I’m in the middle of composing a new piece, the influences and ideas come from all angles, and sometimes the least likely sources. When you’ve been composing a lot, anything becomes inspiring. I was improvising one day, thinking of how to introduce the opera, and it was only when my particularly noisy fridge started droning that I realised all my improvisation was missing was a low, aeroplane-like drone!. A few weeks later a visit to see David Hockney’s show stopped me in my tracks. Hockney lives in East Yorkshire and his landscapes are some of those that Amy would have flown over. One particular view of the fields from above, painted in Hockney’s trademark vibrant colours, gave me an idea for the harmonic structure of the last
section of the opera, which could be said to be a hymn to the glory of flying.

I also listened intensely to folk music while writing a section in which the famous Flamborough Sword Dance is drawn into the story. One day I found myself in traffic, singing folk songs along to the beat of the car indicator: I realised then that that music was completely under my skin! It’s really exciting, when the music you have been listening to is completely subsumed into your psyche but that’s also the time to stop thinking analytically and just write and write. Which is what I’ve been doing for the last 8 months: often living in (mostly blissful) isolation, in a room with only me and the piano, but also sometimes orchestrating the work on trains or in cafes. It’s been a nerve-wracking, exhausting, fascinating, exhilarating experience and I’ve veered between absolute joy and utter panic many times, which only just stops when you hand over your score to the Musical Director, who in this case is the amazingly talented Jonathan Lo.

Now that the composition is complete, the rehearsals are in full swing, the set is built, the community cast ready and we hope that in Leeds and Bridlington, audiences will experience flight without leaving their seats. I hope people will come away from seeing the show excited and moved, having had a night in which the combination of words and music bring them much closer to another person’s soul.

Cheryl Frances-Hoad is the composer of Amy’s Last Dive, which opens in Leeds 28/29 June and is at Bridlington Spa on 6 July 2012. Produced by Wingbeat, Amy’s Last Dive is part of imove, a Cultural Olympiad programme in Yorkshire & the Humber. She tweets @CherylHoad

Culture Vulture readers are invited to enjoy a special Buy One Get One Free ticket offer on full priced tickets priced £8.50 for performances of Amy’s Last Dive in Leeds, 28 and 29 June at 7.30pm. To reserve tickets and claim this offer*, call Stage @ Leeds Box Office on (FG add number) quoting the offer code ‘Amy Johnson’.
Full performance and venue details can be found here: imove site
*Tickets are on a first come first served basis and limited by numbers.

Special Culture Vulture Reader Offer: Buy One Get One Free ticket offer on full priced tickets priced £8.50 for performances of Amy’s Last Dive in Leeds, 28 and 29 June at 7.30pm. To reserve tickets and claim this offer*, call Stage @ Leeds Box Office on 0113 243 8730 quoting the offer code ‘Amy Johnson’.

Full performance and venue details can be found here.

*Tickets are on a first come first served basis and limited by numbers. So hurry up folks!