I asked my husband if he knew Albeniz’s Suite Española. ‘Some of it’, he said. Well, exactly. Some of the pieces in this Suite are popular – in versions for guitar or orchestra as well as the piano originals – but some are much less well known, as I realised when I sat down with […]

… No, not the supermarket shelves! That’s become well-nigh impossible in the coronavirus outbreak. As we’re stuck at home, I’ve decided to explore some of the piano music I’ve had on my shelves for ages but never got around to learning. I have quite a few volumes of piano music which I bought for the […]

I have been reading an enthralling book, ‘A Hundred Years in the Highlands‘, written in 1921 by Osgood Mackenzie. He was the founder and owner of the famous gardens at Inverewe. Osgood Mackenzie was an elderly man when he wrote the book and could recall childhood incidents from the 1850s, as well as many tales […]

I haven’t written much on my blog recently, for two reasons: 1. My website was hacked (aargh), and I have been struggling to deal with the technical issues that resulted. 2. I have been working on a new book. More of that in the new year! As we come to the end of the year, […]

I did a piano workshop recently at which a number of different people played. One of our topics was tempo. How do you decide at what speeed to play something, especially if the composer gives no indication? Even written instructions such as Andante or Adagio are largely evocative, leaving plenty of room for debate. The […]