0:00:05 > 0:00:09Nigel Kennedy is Britain's most famous violin virtuoso,
0:00:09 > 0:00:10with a global fanbase.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Beyond his idiosyncratic performance style and brilliant technique,
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Kennedy is pure musician.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27His never ending quest to immerse himself in new genres,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29to discover a fresh voice for the violin,
0:00:29 > 0:00:31has taken him from WOMAD...
0:00:35 > 0:00:37..to the Royal Albert Hall.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Kennedy's career from child prodigy...
0:00:46 > 0:00:50to superstardom has made him a household name,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52the cameras never far behind.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02In this programme of highlights from the BBC Archive,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05we track Nigel Kennedy's musical journey...
0:01:05 > 0:01:06and varying hairstyles...
0:01:06 > 0:01:08over 50 years.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12From Mendelssohn to jazzing with Grappelli.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19His enduring love of Vivaldi...
0:01:25 > 0:01:26..to folk.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33From the surreal...
0:01:36 > 0:01:37..to the spiritual...
0:01:47 > 0:01:50..Kennedy plays every gig as if it were his last.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54He is a true original.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11SONG: The Sonata for Violin and Piano by Cesar Franck
0:02:11 > 0:02:16As a child of seven in 1964, Nigel Kennedy's natural musicality
0:02:16 > 0:02:20was captured in this rarely seen BBC footage of him playing the piano.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Well, Nigel, that was simply terrific.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Come up to my height now and let me have a word with you.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Whoops!
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Well now, for a seven-year-old, that was pretty good playing, I think.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50How long have you been playing the piano?
0:02:50 > 0:02:53- Two years.- You also play the violin, don't you?- Yes.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57- And how long have you been playing that?- Eight months.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59- Which one do you prefer?- Violin.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22His status as a child prodigy was established in the programme
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Coming Along Nicely, which followed him at a specialist music school
0:03:25 > 0:03:28set up by the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33MUSIC CONTINUES
0:03:55 > 0:03:59When he came, from the very first time with his mother,
0:03:59 > 0:04:04he played a composition of his own and he played with intelligence.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06- This was on the piano? - It was on the piano, yes.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11When he did play on the violin, he played perfectly in tune.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Then, by the clarity and rhythm of his violin playing,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32which was still in an embryonic stage,
0:04:32 > 0:04:38but already had the mark of strong rhythmic personality
0:04:38 > 0:04:44and the impeccable ear that demanded perfect intonation...
0:04:47 > 0:04:52..I knew that I was dealing with one who would inevitably become
0:04:52 > 0:04:55the musician he was destined to be.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04APPLAUSE
0:05:04 > 0:05:09In fact, I found myself playing piano easier than I could the violin.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12But when it came to a time when I had to make up my mind
0:05:12 > 0:05:15which I was going to play, I wanted to play the violin.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Looking ahead to five years' time,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21when you'll be 21, what do you hope to be doing then?
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Well, it's difficult to say. Just enjoying my music.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27I hope I'll be able to...
0:09:27 > 0:09:32still be playing jazz and classical music and more things quite freely,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35hoping that they won't be getting in the way of each other.
0:09:35 > 0:09:41I'd like to become a solo concert violinist, if possible.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Also a solo jazz violinist.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45MUSIC: Lady Be Good by Gershwin
0:09:55 > 0:09:57It was the violinist Stephane Grappelli
0:09:57 > 0:09:59who galvanised his love of jazz.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03They first played together when Nigel Kennedy was still a schoolboy,
0:10:03 > 0:10:04aged just 13.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09This is them working together in 1974,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11jamming at London's Ronnie Scott's.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25APPLAUSE
0:10:56 > 0:10:58APPLAUSE
0:11:12 > 0:11:14Would you rather be the best violinist in the world,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17play the best jazz or be the best centre-half?
0:11:17 > 0:11:21Well, I'm interested in football, but I'd rather play the best jazz.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25As a 17-year-old,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Kennedy crossed the Atlantic to go to the Juilliard School of Music
0:11:28 > 0:11:31in New York, one of the world's most prestigious conservatoires.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34HORNS BEEP
0:11:34 > 0:11:36I chose the Juilliard School to study at
0:11:36 > 0:11:39because I thought that it would be good for my development
0:11:39 > 0:11:41to be surrounded by so many really good musicians.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46And then, at the time, I was quite attracted by the jazz scene
0:11:46 > 0:11:50over here, which is very big. There are lots of jazz clubs,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52lots of really good jazz players
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and all the good musicians seem to live in this city
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and there is some way of meeting them if you put your mind to it.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00HE PLAYS A CLASSICAL PIECE
0:12:07 > 0:12:10At Juilliard, in the diploma course,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12which is what I'm taking,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15you have to do orchestra for six hours a week,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18two three-hour sessions,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21you have to do literature and material of music,
0:12:21 > 0:12:25and history of music you do for something like three hours a week.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32And you have your lesson with your major teacher,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Miss DeLay in my case.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38Dorothy DeLay is one of the best violin teachers in the world.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Could you begin our first movement once more?
0:12:40 > 0:12:43HE CONTINUES PLAYING
0:12:48 > 0:12:52There are some things that I don't like and some which I do like.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55I like all the entertainment and all the action which goes on,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58but the kind of environment I don't think is good.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02I don't think people were meant to live in polluted air
0:13:02 > 0:13:04and in concrete enclosures
0:13:04 > 0:13:06when there could be grass or something.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14And there's quite a lot of violence
0:13:14 > 0:13:16and lots of unhappy people in New York,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18so it can't be all terrific, you know.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21CLASSICAL PIECE CONTINUES
0:13:55 > 0:13:57APPLAUSE
0:13:59 > 0:14:02Students all over the world are generally hard up
0:14:02 > 0:14:04at some time or other,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06but music students are luckier than most
0:14:06 > 0:14:09in so far as they have an easy way of attracting funds.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13MUSIC: Double Violin Concerto by Bach
0:14:55 > 0:14:58After his first year at the Juilliard School,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Nigel returns to England on holiday
0:15:00 > 0:15:04and appears at King's Lynn for the 1975 Music Festival,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08invited to share the platform with his mentor, Yehudi Menuhin,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11to play Bach's Double Violin Concerto.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43I reckon England is the most pleasant place to live.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46Well, you've got cricket matches here,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49and that's quite important, really.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53I mean, not just cricket in itself, but a sense of tradition
0:17:53 > 0:17:56and a sense of something which is
0:17:56 > 0:17:58artistic and has value,
0:17:58 > 0:18:00although it's not easy to see in the first place.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03I think there's more of that kind of frame of mind
0:18:03 > 0:18:06in England than in a country like America,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08which isn't very old.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14With his experience of the Juilliard Music School now behind him,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17the testing moment for Nigel arrives.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22He auditions for the distinguished Italian conductor Riccardo Muti.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25The audition is a success
0:18:25 > 0:18:28and he is invited to play Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto
0:18:28 > 0:18:30here in the Royal Festival Hall.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38This concert in 1977 marked the beginning of extraordinary decade
0:18:38 > 0:18:40for the 20-year-old violinist,
0:18:40 > 0:18:42which brought award-winning recordings
0:18:42 > 0:18:46and performances with the world's greatest orchestras.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Kennedy had become one of the hottest young talents
0:18:48 > 0:18:50in classical music.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Well, I don't want to do anything until I have mastered it,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23and I've learnt that from classical music,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26that there's no point in going out and trying to play something
0:22:26 > 0:22:28if you haven't actually mastered
0:22:28 > 0:22:30and feel that you are totally at one with it.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Unless it was something which I felt was totally myself,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34I'd never dream of doing it.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39But I think having been born in this kind of musical age,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42you hear many more different kinds of music
0:22:42 > 0:22:44than one used to, maybe even 50 years ago.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46So it's going to be necessary for musicians,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49if they want to call themselves complete musicians,
0:22:49 > 0:22:53to be involved in more than one kind of music.
0:22:53 > 0:22:54JAZZY MUSIC BEGINS
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Good evening.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Well, Lark Ascending was written for violin and string orchestra,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32and we're going to play a bit of a violin and piano adaption
0:23:32 > 0:23:35by Vaughan Williams that we've hacked about rather!
0:23:35 > 0:23:38I've asked a violin star that I wanted to meet for some time.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40He's a man after my own heart,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42who plays all kinds of music with all kinds of musicians,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46including Yehudi Menuhin, Stephane Grappelli and Stan Getz.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Ladies and gentlemen, Nigel Kennedy.
0:23:48 > 0:23:49APPLAUSE
0:27:19 > 0:27:23APPLAUSE
0:27:23 > 0:27:27- What's your age now? - Well, I am getting on, maestro - 27.
0:27:27 > 0:27:2927. There's not scarce a mark on you, Nigel.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31But you seem to have fairly Catholic tastes,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34cos you're into pop, you play the old electric fiddle.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Well, yeah. I mean, I figure there are so many people in classical music
0:27:37 > 0:27:40who say, "Oh, isn't it easy for pop musicians
0:27:40 > 0:27:43"just to write a simple song and just do it?"
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Well, it's not that simple
0:27:45 > 0:27:48and, I think, as far as what playing music is for is to communicate
0:27:48 > 0:27:50and what I want to be able to do is...
0:27:50 > 0:27:54We have kind of got a group together which is kind of the Art of Noise,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Trevor Horn type stuff. Except it's played live, you know...
0:27:57 > 0:27:59- So, you've no snobbery about music? - Not at all.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01I think it's quite fun to make a violin
0:28:01 > 0:28:03sound like a little baby having its throat cut.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05LAUGHTER
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Having conquered the classical music world,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Kennedy craved experimentation.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Not only did he electrify the violin,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16but we got the first glimpses of his famously supercharged hairstyle.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Something different about playing electric fiddle
0:28:22 > 0:28:26is the fact that the sound's not really coming out of the violin,
0:28:26 > 0:28:31so you're not having your left ear deafened by a Stradivari anymore,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33you're having both your ears deafened by an amp.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Also, the sounds you're making
0:28:35 > 0:28:37are not being totally controlled by your hands,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39it's obviously by the pedals and
0:28:39 > 0:28:42other things that you're using to achieve the sounds.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44So basically you've got all the possibilities of, like,
0:28:44 > 0:28:46a good electric guitar player
0:28:46 > 0:28:50and if you want to get them in line, you can make some good damage.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53HE PLAYS ELECTRIC VIOLIN
0:29:55 > 0:29:57MUSIC: The Four Seasons by Vivaldi
0:30:02 > 0:30:03Yeah, Vivaldi
0:30:03 > 0:30:07is a man who I think is quite a vandal.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10He was working for the church
0:30:10 > 0:30:14and I think he got rid of all his aggression by writing music.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16And he wrote The Four Seasons.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18MUSIC: The Four Seasons
0:30:22 > 0:30:26It was Kennedy's landmark recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons
0:30:26 > 0:30:30in 1989 that really established him as an musician of mass appeal.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34Selling in excess of two million copies,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37the album sat at the top of the classical charts for two years
0:30:37 > 0:30:41and ensured Kennedy's place in the record books.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49What I'm trying to do is bring the music into the 20th century,
0:30:49 > 0:30:53by doing a bit of improvisation and playing in an idiom
0:30:53 > 0:30:56which is associated with the 20th century,
0:30:56 > 0:31:00ie jazz or, you know, basically making some noise on the fiddle.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04I think I'm helping to bring Vivaldi to life again.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49I was in the supermarket the other day and I looked round,
0:33:49 > 0:33:53I was buying, you know, a pack of pork sausages,
0:33:53 > 0:33:55which wasn't much good, cos I'm a vegetarian,
0:33:55 > 0:34:00and this bloke said to me, he was standing next to me, he said,
0:34:00 > 0:34:02"It's my hundredth birthday this year,
0:34:02 > 0:34:04"do you want to come to the party?"
0:34:04 > 0:34:07And I looked round and it was Harpo Marx.
0:34:07 > 0:34:08He's a pretty cool cat, so
0:34:08 > 0:34:11I'm not sure if it was a figment of my imagination,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14but, like, if he was alive today, he would be 100.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21This curious mashup with Harpo Marx is one good example of Kennedy's
0:34:21 > 0:34:25insatiable appetite to explore new ways of presenting his music,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28making full use of the magic and power of television.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:36:42 > 0:36:45This certainly is a programme of contrast, ladies and gentlemen,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47because we now have a great classical musician
0:36:47 > 0:36:49who has written his own LP entitled Kafka.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52The track he's going to play is called Melody In The Wind.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54He's accompanied by Mr John Etheridge.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56Please welcome, it is Britain's greatest violinist,
0:36:56 > 0:36:57Mr Nigel Kennedy.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Nigel Kennedy's association with the great jazz guitarist
0:37:04 > 0:37:07John Etheridge stretches back almost 30 years.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10They met when Etheridge was touring with Kennedy's childhood mentor,
0:37:10 > 0:37:12Stephane Grappelli.
0:40:38 > 0:40:39CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:40:39 > 0:40:43Kennedy is an ever colourful figure, his individuality
0:40:43 > 0:40:47and eccentricity extending to most areas of his life.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50What about all these sort of bits of shavings round...
0:40:50 > 0:40:52- Yeah, I've done that, as well.- Yeah?
0:40:52 > 0:40:55But that's not just cos you don't want to pay to get your hair done?
0:40:55 > 0:40:57Well, I could pay someone to do it, but I can do it just as good.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00- But isn't that because you want to look like that?- Yeah.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02But I don't want to pay and spend time
0:41:02 > 0:41:04for someone else to make me look like that.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07I prefer to look like that myself, you know.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09So that's the look. That's the Nigel Kennedy...
0:41:09 > 0:41:12- Yeah, it's what I like. - Cos you're called Nigel, I think,
0:41:12 > 0:41:15- and you're trying to get away from it.- Well, it's a dreadful name!
0:41:15 > 0:41:17And you've got to do anything to try to get rid of that name.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20- I did try to get rid of it.- Did you? - Yeah, I dropped it for a bit,
0:41:20 > 0:41:24but then I started missing it.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29LIVELY MUSIC PLAYS
0:41:32 > 0:41:35Hello, baby. How are you?
0:41:36 > 0:41:40I feel, like, kind of spaced out. I got in from Germany this afternoon.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42You know how musicians are, they're always travelling,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45but when you meet some friends, like what Kroke are,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48then you feel at home straightaway.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50These guys are such amazing musicians and I've learnt
0:41:50 > 0:41:54so much about the traditions of music from these guys,
0:41:54 > 0:41:56not by them telling me stuff,
0:41:56 > 0:42:00but from their soul and the way that they play with open spirit.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05Kennedy's 2004 appearance at WOMAD,
0:42:05 > 0:42:07the great world music fest,
0:42:07 > 0:42:09saw him bring together his electric violin
0:42:09 > 0:42:12with the eclectic sounds of Polish folk band Kroke.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Do you have one day a week where you put your violin down and say,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45"OK, now I'm going to let myself be open to other things"?
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Absolutely. You know, like, I think
0:45:47 > 0:45:50I've worked very hard, but I think it's very important...
0:45:50 > 0:45:53In a way, the violin IS my religion,
0:45:53 > 0:45:55you know, because doing this work,
0:45:55 > 0:45:59which is really, like, could be seen as just some guy, like,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03going through his coordination exercises and stuff.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06This is the physical manifestation of, like,
0:46:06 > 0:46:10some spiritual development which is going on, as far as I see it,
0:46:10 > 0:46:12from within myself, you know.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26AUDIENCE CHATTER
0:48:28 > 0:48:31We end with Kennedy in front of a packed Royal Albert Hall
0:48:31 > 0:48:36aged 56 at the Last Night Of The 2013 BBC Proms.
0:48:36 > 0:48:37APPLAUSE BUILDS
0:48:38 > 0:48:41Dressed down and informal, he's on blistering form,
0:48:41 > 0:48:44every inch the virtuoso and showman.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47It's music-making that sums up everything we've come to expect
0:48:47 > 0:48:49from this undoubtedly influential artist.
0:49:12 > 0:49:13NOTE WAVERS
0:49:13 > 0:49:14LAUGHTER
0:49:23 > 0:49:24LAUGHTER
0:49:24 > 0:49:26CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:50:15 > 0:50:16VIOLIN SCREECHES
0:50:16 > 0:50:18LAUGHTER
0:50:29 > 0:50:30TRILL CONTINUES PLAYFULLY
0:50:30 > 0:50:32LAUGHTER
0:51:08 > 0:51:09Yeah!
0:51:09 > 0:51:10LAUGHTER
0:51:20 > 0:51:23TEMPO INCREASES
0:51:23 > 0:51:25AUDIENCE CLAPS IN TIME
0:51:26 > 0:51:27LAUGHTER
0:51:43 > 0:51:45VIOLIN MIMICS WOLF WHISTLE
0:51:45 > 0:51:46LAUGHTER
0:53:18 > 0:53:19Yeah!
0:53:39 > 0:53:40SILENCE
0:53:40 > 0:53:41LAUGHTER
0:53:43 > 0:53:45PLAYING VERY QUIETLY
0:54:09 > 0:54:10LAUGHTER
0:54:30 > 0:54:32VIOLIN SQUEAKS
0:54:32 > 0:54:34LAUGHTER
0:54:37 > 0:54:38HE PLAYS SCRATCHILY
0:54:38 > 0:54:40LAUGHTER
0:54:49 > 0:54:51FOLK INTERPRETATION OF THE FOUR SEASONS
0:54:51 > 0:54:53LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:55:09 > 0:55:10JAUNTY FOLK TUNE
0:56:15 > 0:56:18PLAYS 'BONANZA' THEME TUNE
0:56:18 > 0:56:20LAUGHTER
0:57:25 > 0:57:27LAUGHTER
0:57:41 > 0:57:42Yeah!
0:57:54 > 0:57:56Yeah!
0:58:10 > 0:58:14CHEERING AND APPLAUSE