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I’ve been writing this blog since 2009, but there still seem to be plenty of interesting topics to mull over. You can subscribe (it’s free) to follow the blog by email – each new post will pop into your inbox.
Review of my book in the US Journal ‘First Things’
There's a lovely review of my Nocturne book in the US journal First Things, 'America's leading journal of religious and public life'. In case you don't come across it, here's an excerpt: 'Tomes is the author of eight books on classical music, and the elegant,...
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The ‘New Yorker’ office in Thurber’s time
I've been re-reading the great James Thurber's The Years with Ross, an account of the time he spent working for the New Yorker magazine in the 1920s, 30s and 40s under its founder and chief editor, Harold Ross. It's a joyously detailed and entertaining account of the...
Keeping the score
There was an article in the paper the other day about the sale of a valuable private collection of art works, some of which hadn't come onto the art market for a long time. It got me thinking about art and how a collector can buy a painting and keep it somewhere...
‘She taught me that every step has meaning’
The other day I was listening to a ballet dancer reminiscing on radio about the time when, as a girl, she took part in a ballet masterclass given by Dame Margot Fonteyn. Dame Margot, it seems, was more terrifying in person than the students had expected. 'She hardly...
‘Zonal Attachment’ for Musicians
I was half-listening to the radio this morning when they were talking about fishing rights. The concept of 'zonal attachment' was being explained. I learned that this was a new and scientific way of approaching the issue of fishing rights. Fish move around; from year...
Otters
One positive aspect of this year's lockdowns has been seeing more wildlife in the city's green spaces. Earlier in the year, when there was very little traffic, animals seemed to pluck up courage to venture on to the quiet golf courses, parks and hillsides. We saw lots...
Edvard Grieg and Shakespeare’s Macbeth
It's been a turbulent week, and I have found some distraction in playing through a volume of Grieg's Lyric Pieces. I've always liked them, though I admit I knew only the more famous pieces, and only recently discovered that there are many more - all worth getting to...
Musicians fighting for their jobs in an age of recorded music
At last there is more commentary about the challenges facing freelance artists. Yesterday there was a strongly-worded cry for help in The Observer from several leading musicians, warning that if the UK's musicians are not supported, we could lose them for ever. I have...
Fatima, and an excerpt from ‘J is for Job (not a proper)’
In response to yesterday's outrage about an HM Government ad showing 'Fatima', a young ballet dancer as an example of someone who might switch to 'working in cyber', I'm posting an excerpt from 'J is for Job (not a proper)', from my book A Musician's Alphabet (Faber,...
‘Adapting to the new reality’
So the UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has suggested that musicians and other creative artists may need to re-train and look for other opportunities as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. “I can’t pretend that everyone can do exactly the same job that they were doing at...
Re-classifying music as ‘hospitality’
Like many other musicians and freelancers in the arts world I have been shocked this week by further evidence that we are being treated less well than employees on furlough. Our workplaces remain closed by government order. Many freelance musicians have earned nothing...
The appeal of the Green Room
On Monday, cellist Philip Higham and I played one of the first post-lockdown concerts for a socially distanced live audience at Wigmore Hall (see photo). At first, we had been told that only 56 people would be allowed in the audience, but the rules changed and we were...
Playing at Wigmore Hall on 14 September
On Monday, 14 September at 7.30pm, cellist Philip Higham and I will be stepping in at short notice to play a duo recital at Wigmore Hall in London. We're replacing two artists caught up in quarantine rules. With countries hopping on and off the quarantine list, the...
Doing a performance under Covid restrictions …
Since lockdown, I've only had the chance to do one concert. It was a special one, though! - the Edinburgh Festival's Chamber Soundscapes online series. Although there was no audience, the performance took place under concert conditions. In five months of lockdown, I...
Edinburgh Festival recording + YouTube broadcast
Yesterday Philip Higham and I recorded our programme for the Edinburgh International Festival's Chamber Soundscapes series. Music by Nadia Boulanger, Martinu, Suk, Debussy and Beethoven. Our performance was relayed through speakers in Princes St Gardens at lunchtime...