I recently recorded a 30-minute podcast for BBC History magazine – talking to interviewer Ellie Cawthorne about my new book, ‘The Piano – a History in 100 Pieces‘. The podcast is now available by clicking on this link: https://www.historyextra.com/period/21st-century/piano-musical-history-podcast-susan-tomes/ You don’t need headphones or special equipment to listen to it – if you’re sitting at […]

My new book comes out today. Perhaps there’s no real significance to the formal publication date, especially as pre-ordered copies have been landing on people’s doormats for a week or two now – but still, it feels like a day to be happy. I made a YouTube playlist to go with the book, featuring twenty […]

I haven’t said much about my new book during the past year. In the midst of such upheaval it seemed unwise to count on things going as planned. But happily it’s not long now until The Piano – a History in 100 Pieces is published by Yale University Press on July 13th. The date has […]

This week I came across the video made by cellist Felix Wurman about  Domus at the beginning of the group’s career. We were trying to publicise our concerts in our portable concert hall, a large geodesic dome which the players assembled out of aluminium tubes, putting it up and taking it down in each place […]

Last night, on Burns’ Night, my book group met on Zoom to read Robert Burns’ poem ‘Tam O’Shanter’. Several members of the group had grown up taking part in annual Burns recitations on January 25, with prizes given for the best or most dramatic performances. They recalled the sound effects and props used by winning […]