A belated review of my book The Piano – a History in 100 Pieces has been prompted by a debate on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The debate began when comedian and actor Adrian Edmondson was the guest on Desert Island Discs and declared (half-humorously, I think) that he hated classical music after being made to listen again and again to certain records when he was a child. Afterwards, things became less amusing. Professor Alice Roberts tweeted:
‘And if, instead of choosing the playtext of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” as the one book he [Adrian Edmondson] could to take with him to his desert island, he’d gone instead for Susan Tomes’ excellent salute to her instrument, he’d surely have become aware of the immense variety in just this one specific corner of the musical firmament.
The Piano: A History in 100 Pieces (published by Yale University Press) — a book of the year in 2022 in both The Spectator and the Financial Times — is a fascinating insight into a performer’s relationship with the music she plays.
It’s a love letter to the instrument that connects her and her audiences to the genius of those who created such captivating sounds across the centuries.
The hundred pieces begin with works composed for keyboards that predate the concert grand — the harpsichord and the fortepiano. This offers a perspective on how things changed when the much more sophisticated instrument was developed offering musicians greater scope in performance.
The author doesn’t restrict herself to her own area of expertise — recitals and chamber music — but casts the net wide to include concerti, a highlight being the modern masterpiece known as ‘Rach 3’ — Sergei Rachmaninoff’s monumental Concerto No.3 that scales an Everest in Romantic music, combining achingly beautiful melody with pianistic virtuosity and sumptuous orchestration.
If he gave it a chance, I’m sure even the classical sceptic in Adrian Edmondson would enjoy it.’
Teenage pupils in intermediate string quartet session: We don’t like classical music. No-one we know likes classical music. Our school friends don’t like classical music.
I nod in sympathy and hand them a few items of music.
Teenagers: Oh I love this piece. Can we do that other one afterwards? etc…
Afterwards I tidy away the Haydn, Telemann, Mozart and Vivaldi that they love playing, week after week. (Not to mention Sibelius – yes, Sibelius!)
This was over a decade ago, and I often wonder if they ever realised what I was doing!