MALCOLM JOHN POINTON

Born in 1940 in Stoke-on-Trent, Malcolm Pointon began composing at the age of twelve, encouraged by his teacher of piano and organ. Among those very early pieces are found a Fantasia for Organ and a Piano Concerto, no less! As a teenager, he earned his pocket money as an accompanist, several evenings a week, for a local singing teacher’s lessons, and it was this experience that laid the foundations of three of his consummate skills — sensitive accompanist, faultless sight-reader and song-composer in several languages.

At Hanley High School, he was fortunate in having a music teacher who whetted his appetite for contemporary music; it was also here that he formed his own modern jazz trio and became percussionist to the North Staffs Symphony Orchestra. He went on to gain a First at Birmingham University, was awarded a Barber Scholarship in 1961 and stayed on to research British music between the wars. As a fluent improviser in any style imaginable and a deft continuo harpsichordist he was much in demand to write or perform incidental music for plays presented by the University’s Guild Theatre Group.

There followed a period of teaching in Cannock — he particularly enjoyed working with Primary School children and wrote or arranged music for them. He married his wife, Barbara Moore, in 1964 and in 1965 was appointed to the BBC to write programme notes for presenters on the BBC Music Programme (now Radio 3). During the 60s, he composed mainly songs, piano and chamber music, thus consolidating this phase of his style — perhaps best exemplified in the Song Cycle Common Chords.

In 1969 he was appointed to the music department of Homerton College, Cambridge, then renowned for its teacher training, where he remained until his early retirement in 1992. As an engaging lecturer, he taught modern music, non-Western musics, composition and all kinds of improvisation; students appreciated his phenomenal knowledge of music from all periods, his enthusiasm for making music and his side-splitting wit, as well as his kindness as a tutor and teaching practice supervisor. In the community he was greatly in demand as pianist, organist and accompanist for local drama groups.

During the 1970s, he became increasingly interested in minimalism, aleatoric music and electronically generated sound and built from scratch the equipment in the Homerton Electronic Music Studio (the first of its kind in an educational setting) and his own studio at home. Collaborating with Doug Shaw in the construction and use of the Minisonic synthesiser, he wrote about composing with it for the November 1973 edition of Practical Electronics, and demonstrated it on an accompanying tape. Composing with electronic sounds was incorporated into the College’s music curriculum and he ran courses for Secondary music teachers in East Anglia. As a highly skillful keyboardist, he composed, performed, multi-tracked and recorded the electronic music track for two commissioned commercial films — Icelandic Bridge and The Company of Stevenage (BAe).

A naturally modest man, he preferred to go on steadily composing (using both traditional and electronic media) rather than using energy to promote his music through wider performances or publication, thereby leaving a legacy of over 500 pieces. Once, when his brother was admiring his striking paintings, Malcolm said, “I paint because I want to. l compose because I have to”.

But at the age of 51 he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He tried to carry on composing, but notation defeated him. Nor could he remember any pieces he used to play. So instead, he improvised extensively on the piano and continued to do so for seven years, even when all speech had gone and he was judged to be ‘severely demented’. These recorded improvisations, each one newly created (and several are 20 minutes long) make complete musical sense in melody, harmony, rhythmic impetus and balanced form. Their changing moods gave his wife an insight into his feelings at any given time and became a precious form of communication when all other channels were blocked. Extracts from his music were used in the two lTV documentaries* made of him and the family as they struggled to come to terms with the decline not only of a much loved husband and father, but the waste of such a gifted musician who died too young, aged 66.

The first one, filmed over several years at home was the first time the realities of Alzheimer’s Disease were shown on television and helped to kick-start better care for people with dementia and more support for their family and friends.

The second one, filmed over four years, concentrated on the end stages and for the first time established in the public an acknowledgement that dementia can be a killer.

As Malcolm’s wife and carer, Barbara used cheerful recorded music to lift his spirits if he was feeling down, or gentle music to calm down aggression or agitation; and sometimes played recordings of his compositions, evoking an unusual animation and glint in the eye.

*Malcolm and Barbara. A Love Story (1999); Malcolm and Barbara … Love’s Farewell (2007)