Cambridge composer Adam Pounds: Riding a wave of success

It was the Covid lockdowns that inspired Cambridge composer Adam Pounds to write his 3rd Symphony, which was released to great acclaim in February 2024. He is now back with his fourth, which was recently recorded by the Sinfonia of London.

Adam, 70, a composer, conductor and classical guitarist, conducted the first Cambridge performance of his 3rd Symphony in September 2024 at the Alumni Weekend concert.

His 4th Symphony was completed in April 2023 and he started rehearsing it with the Academy of Great St Mary’s, Cambridge, in September that year.

It was recorded by the Sinfonia of London a couple of weeks ago and should be released as a CD “within the year” on classical record label, Chandos.

Adam, who was also head of performing arts at Long Road Sixth Form College for nine years, tells the Cambridge Independent: “In 2022, the Sinfonia of London recorded my 3rd Symphony for Chandos, and that was with [British conductor] John Wilson.

“That went out and it’s had very good reviews – and he [John Wilson] always wanted to record another one.

“So within that space, I had composed my 4th Symphony, so I sent him that and he wanted to do that as well.”

Recalling how his 3rd Symphony came about, Adam says: “It was composed during the lockdown period, and what it is, it reflects on your feelings during that period.

“So the whole piece opens with a sort of uneasy dawn, if you like; if you can imagine the sun rising as normal, but then everything is not as it should be.

“Then it goes into an allegro, a faster section, and this idea of this uneasy dawn returns several times throughout the work.

“There’s a sort of mad waltz in it, which is the second movement, which gained a lot of traction – it got broadcast on Radio 3 a few times, but it’s also been broadcast all over Europe, Asia and America.”

Buoyed on by the success of his 3rd Symphony, Adam immediately started work on his fourth “which really was just a stream of consciousness, I suppose”.

He continues: “Again, it was quite emotional and reflects feelings, so there’s no mad waltz in this one… It’s very cognitive, rather than being completely programmatic.

“The reason I’m saying that is that a lot of the stuff I’ve written has been pretty pictorial, descriptive, so it’s the reverse from writing film music, if you like. I’ve tried to create images through music.”

He adds: “I like to reflect on things, question things, so some of it [the 4th Symphony] is a little dark…”

Adam expresses his gratitude to John Wilson, whom he calls “probably Britain’s finest conductor at the moment”, for his dedication in getting the symphonies down on tape.

Adam’s 4th Symphony was recorded at St Augustine’s Church in Kilburn – “which is where a lot of the Chandos recordings take place”.

“The musicians in that orchestra [the Sinfonia of London] are like the front desk of all the great orchestras – so it’s a ‘super orchestra’,” explains Adam, adding that he was present at the recording session.

He reveals that his next project is a violin concerto for the leader of the Sinfonia of London,

Charlie Lovell-Jones – “a real virtuoso” – who will be the soloist at an Academy of Great St Mary’s orchestral concert taking place this Saturday (27 September) at Great St Mary’s Church.

For more on that, visit tinyurl.com/54ykskt5.

Adam was born in Walthamstow, East London, and was educated at William Morris High School in Walthamstow, before earning a place at the London College of Music.

His studies there were mainly focused on classical guitar, oboe, composition and conducting, the latter with Christopher Fry.

During this period, he also studied composition privately with Sir Lennox Berkeley – a good friend of Benjamin Britten – after winning the Lillian Hunt Memorial prize for composition with an oboe quartet.

Adam subsequently attended Goldsmith’s College, part of the University of London, graduating with a BMus (Hons) degree.

He later obtained a master’s degree in music education from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where his research focus was the decline of classical music provision in state schools.

He is married to Cllr Dinah Pounds, the current mayor of Cambridge.

For more on Adam Pounds, go to adampounds.co.uk.