/
1
2
·
·
CAROLINE DALE
Caroline Dale has a unique distinction: currently, her fingers are more famous than her face. It’s something which Caroline celebrates and recounts with pride, because it’s only the latest instalment in an inspirational story which began many years ago.
At the age of five, Caroline heard a radio recording of Jacqueline du Pre playing Elgar’s cello concerto. It inspired her, and after a year of pestering her parents, she had her own way and was given a quarter size cello. If this were to be a Hollywood movie script, there would follow a series of dissolving shots marking the passage of time, portraying a girl enjoying her childhood in a Middlesborough comprehensive, and showing scenes of intense application to the study of her chosen instrument.
Then, so the plot runs, at the age of 13, the girl wins a national music competition. The woman who so inspired her, now beginning to suffer the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis, happens to watch the televised competition, and writes her a note of congratulation and invites her to tea. Caroline moves on to study at the Royal Academy, and when she plays her debut concert in London, Jacqueline is there, prominent amongst an audience impressed by the dynamism and energy of one of the country’s most exciting young talents.
Years later, when the directors of a controversial film about the life of the du Pre sisters are seeking a cellist who can provide both the soundtrack and close-up shots required, they turn to Caroline.
It does sound like a movie script, and in the hands of Hollywood it would be corny as hell. But interesting and inspiring though the link with Jacqueline du Pre is, it’s just a small part of a remarkable story of a very original artist.
Caroline Dale is quite simply “a masterly exponent of the cello” (Daily Mail). She’s staged recitals at the Purcell Rooms, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and The Wigmore Hall; she’s toured Canada, the States and Sweden to huge acclaim; she’s performed as concerto soloist with the London Metropolitan, the Royal Philharmonic, the Calgary Philharmonic, the Halle, the English Chamber Orchestra, the London Philharmonic and the London Chamber Orchestra.
That’s the orthodox bit of Caroline’s continuing career. But a large part of her work journeys into areas which have long been considered ring-fenced against classically trained musicians and musicianship. She worked with a small trio creating a soundtrack for London Contemporary Dance, under the directorship of Barrington Pheloung; she performed with Led Zeppelin at Wembley Arena, appeared with Oasis on Top of the Pops, and with George Michael on MTV; then she joined forces with Nigel Kennedy touring Europe for a series of marathon three hour concerts featuring arrangements of an explosively diverse range of musical masters, including Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane and classical quartets.
Inspired by Nigel Kennedy’s simple dictum that there could and should be no barriers to the application of her musical skills, she moved on to create string arrangements for Joan Armatrading, Squeeze and Simply Red. She played with David Gilmour during his 2002 solo tour dates, and on his album On an Island. She appears on the David Gilmour in Concert DVD which was recorded at Robert Wyatt's Meltdown concert and the Royal Festival Hall concert, both in 2002. Also in 2002, Dale released Such Sweet Thunder, an album of classical music with performances of Handel's Sarabande from the D-minor harpsichord suite, and the Largo from Vivaldi's E minor Cello Sonata.[8]
In 2008, she appeared, playing solo cello, at Ron Geesin's two performances of the "Atom Heart Mother Suite", with Pink Floyd Italian tribute band Mun Floyd, the Royal College Brass Ensemble, and the choral group Canticum. David Gilmour made a guest appearance on the second night.[9][10]
She performed with David Gray during the "Live in Slow Motion" tour and again in 2014, and she contributed and played on his album Skellig, released in February 2021.[11] Since the mid-1990s and up until as recently as 2007, she was Sinéad O'Connor's touring cellist. She often sang with O'Connor and her band on the song "In This Heart", from the 1994 album Universal Mother. Dale plays cello on a number of tracks on U2's 2009 album No Line on the Horizon.