Tickets have just gone on sale for my lunchtime recital at Wigmore Hall in London on Friday April 17. Click here for booking information. As you'll read on the Wigmore Hall website, the concert marks the publication of my book on the history of the nocturne. To give a...
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They were talking on the radio about the good things that reading can do for your brain. Reading a book, that is, as opposed to scrolling through social media. When you read, you read one word at a time. Your brain tries to guess the next word. the interaction between...
I've finished reading several novels I received as Christmas presents. All were enjoyable, but at least two of them seemed to run out of steam before the end. I won't say which they were, because it doesn't seem fair to books which were very well written overall, but...
Richard Osborne devotes a large part of his Music column in 'The Oldie' magazine (Summer 2010) to my new book. As I don't have a picture of the magazine I've chosen instead an illustration of an real oldie, one of the 700-year-old oaks in Richmond Park. Richard...
Out of Silence has been reviewed by Julian Haylock in the July/August issue of International Piano magazine. The review is not online, so here's a glimpse: 'It is remarkable just how much Tomes manages to find illumination in things that may initially appear musically...
Our much-used copy of Claudia Roden’s ‘Book of Middle Eastern Food’ has finally fallen apart, and we’ve bought a new, updated copy. In its honour, Bob made some lovely pastries filled with spinach, aubergine and onion with various cheeses, and a tabouli bursting with...
My new book is mentioned in this week's New Yorker magazine by the leading writer on music, Alex Ross. Alex's column in the magazine this week is about ballet and its sometimes vexed relationship with the musical score. Read the article in the New Yorker. Order 'Out...
Two more reviews of my book 'Out of Silence' have appeared. As neither is online, here's a glimpse of what they said: ‘In my experience, highly gifted musicians often find it extremely difficult to articulate their ideas about music and reveal the secrets of their...
I did an interview yesterday with Australian Radio's 'The Music Show', hosted by composer Andrew Ford for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was broadcast in Australia a few hours ago and is now available via their website for downloading or to listen online....
An exciting moment this afternoon: a friend called to say that he'd just read a review – the first one, in fact - of my new book in the Times Literary Supplement. I couldn’t find it online, so I ran down the road to the newsagent’s to buy a hard copy. Here’s a snippet...
Yesterday a friend was visiting Oxford and sent me this photo of my new book on the 'welcome table' in Blackwell's bookshop. It's the one with the black cover in the centre of the picture. As I haven't yet seen any copies of the book in a store near me, I was...
If you would like to read the excerpts from 'Out of Silence' in today's Guardian, click here.
The Guardian is publishing excerpts from Out of Silence in the Review section on Saturday 20 March. I’ll post the link on Saturday when I know it. In the meantime, many thanks to everyone who silently toasted my book from several different countries and three...
Thursday's the day when Out of Silence is officially published. As I haven't managed to organise a book launch party, how about a virtual book launch that day? At 18:00 hours (UK time) on Thursday 18 March, I’m going to raise a glass to toast my readers, wherever they...
My new book, Out of Silence, comes out on March 18. I haven't even seen a copy yet, though I'm hoping to see one early next week. In the meantime, the publisher, Boydell Press, has posted another excerpt from the book on its website. You can read the new excerpt by...