I’ve been in Scotland, giving a talk and masterclass at the Edinburgh Society of Musicians, founded in 1887. Their meetings take place in an fascinating house now shared by several of the city’s musical societies. The house was built in the late 19th century, and its recital room is hung with portraits of 19th- and 20th-century musicians, including the Scottish pianist Frederic Lamond who was one of Liszt’s last pupils, and who studied Brahms’s piano works with the composer himself. The room commands a fabulous view over a steep gorge with the Dean Village lying below. In the corner is a charming little turret room painted ochre and with a portrait of Brahms, who was in his eminent final decade when the Society was founded.