VIDEOS

In 2021, John was the subject of a documentary by Dutch directer Frank Scheffer, focussing on his work with Orchestra for the Earth tracing the deep connections between Mahler's music and nature. Filmed during one of the orchestra's European tours to Mahler's composing huts, the documentary explores how his music expresses the profound but fragile relationship between humankind and nature, not least in the great song-symphony Das Lied von der Erde, and how these works are taking on an urgent new meaning in the context of the current climate and environmental crises. 

 

Scheffer is one of the world's leading directors of films about music and musicians, with perceptive portraits of Western composers such as Carter, Boulez, Cage, Stockhausen and Stravinsky alongside probing documentaries about Asian music traditions ranging from Iran to India to China. His films have won numerous awards, including at the Netherlands Film Festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Silk Road International Film Festival in China. One of his most celebrated films is Conducting Mahler (1996), about the 1995 Mahler Festival in Amsterdam featuring Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti and Sir Simon Rattle.