From Me To You

Four top classical musicians come together to share with us why they had to get The Beatles into their life

- Anna Clyne

The Beatles are some of the great melodists. One of the things I love about them is that perfect blend of melody and harmony, but also lyrics. I sang 'When I'm Sixty-Four' at school, so I've always had those lyrics in my head, and the first song I ever played on the piano was 'Yesterday'. It's the music of my childhood, so it has had a huge impact on my music listening and music making. I didn't grow up in a house of classical music; it was bands like The Beatles that my parents played on their record player.

I think the album that most speaks to me as a whole experience is Sgt. Pepper, which harnesses so many different styles of music and brings them together in a cohesive way. It was probably one of the first concept albums to take you on a journey from beginning to end, yet each song has its own individual character.

The Beatles were real sonic adventurers and innovators, and it's interesting because you do hear their influences, be it Indian classical music, Stockhausen, Berio, Cage, their use of electronics and tape – especially in Sgt. Pepper's final track, 'A Day in the Life', where they have this grand orchestral, improvised crescendo, and then it breaks into song, then a cheeky sort of thing at the end where they have a tape loop with the words 'never could be any other way'. That evokes, for me, Steve Reich and more contemporary uses of tape; you can see the threads to the past and future.

Sgt. Pepper was my introduction to classical music: the first time I heard a clarinet was in the trio of clarinets at the beginning of 'When I'm 64', and in the opening you have the sound of the orchestra tuning. That's a wonderful experience when you're in the concert hall, and you have that excitement of the orchestra about to play; they really harness the energy associated with that. There's also a harp and a string quartet, so I think I owe a lot to The Beatles and to that album in particular.