George Barton

Which sound is special for you?

I like the almost-robotic calls of crows and wood pigeons, and the hum of large bumble bees. I also like the simple waves of a single oscillator – sines, squares, saws.

Is your music fundamentally different from Pop music?

‘Fundamentally’ is doing a lot of work here! … Some pieces of music in whose creation I’m involved is closer to pop music than others. I think I generally gravitate towards music that could be appreciated by people without a background in ‘classical’ music – that is to say music with entry points for different kinds of open-minded curious listeners. It’s the curiosity and open-mindedness that’s important, and it’s important to enshrine that also within the community of inveterate contemporary classical listeners and practitioners.

How do you practise listening?

I take a simple pleasure in being aware of my acoustic environment and find that practising this receptiveness is important. In a musical context I listen broadly but as my mood takes me. I am highly aware of the importance of listening for my practice but I equally fear it becoming an acquisitional trainspotting-type pursuit, a question of intellectual, cultural or professional ‘keeping up with the Joneses’, or worst of all a chore. I can tell when my creative batteries are drained because my interest in new and/or challenging music wanes and I find myself drawn only to the things I already know.