Know the score? I don't read music, but that's no hindrance to reimagining great classical works

"I'm a harmonica and accordion player and one half of folk-classical duo Stevens & Pound. As a multi-instrumentalist I am rooted in a folk tradition that is oral, aural and communal. Music and song are passed down by ear, either through recordings or more fun traditional music sessions. Here, players and singers get together to share, swap and play tunes, drawing from a repertoire that is always evolving."

"Delia Stevens and I are about to head out on tour, performing with the Britten Sinfonia and Robert Macfarlane in a new work called The Silent Planet, a recomposition of Holst's Planets suite. It's the culmination of 18 months of rehearsals and revisions, and the score for this 60-minute work, orchestrated by Ian Gardiner, totals 165 pages and includes Earth, an entirely new composition."

"I have co-written this piece, but have never read the score; in fact, I do not read music. I am hardly alone in this. The non-reader tradition boasts a star-studded cast, including Paul McCartney, Hans Zimmer, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Taylor Swift. No one could claim these musicians have been held back by their inability to read music. Aural mastery can be just as potent a force as visual literacy."

A harmonica and accordion player and one half of Stevens & Pound is rooted in an oral, aural, and communal folk tradition where music and song are passed down by ear through recordings and sessions. Notated collections offer a skeleton of pitch and rhythm but seldom prescribe performance. The musician co-wrote a 60-minute recomposition of Holst's The Planets called The Silent Planet, performing with the Britten Sinfonia and Robert Macfarlane. The 165-page score, orchestrated by Ian Gardiner, includes a new movement called Earth with new words by Robert Macfarlane. The musician does not read music, cites dyslexia, and contends aural mastery can match visual literacy.

Read at www.theguardian.com