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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.
Different kinds of live music
I was lying awake in the night, with music playing in my head as it usually does when I'm awake in the wee small hours. Sometimes I set the music going consciously, as for example when I'm 'practising' something I'm currently trying to learn or memorise. At other...
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News of my eighth book
The manuscript of my new book has been accepted by my publisher, Yale University Press, and I'm delighted to be able give you some news of it. (It's due to be published in March 2026.) The book is called Nocturnes and the Fascination of Night Music. It's essentially a...
Tasting notes
Bob went to the wine shop and returned with a few bottles and a page of 'tasting notes' supplied by the shop. As usual I was charmed by the poetic way that wine producers describe their products. 'Notes of ripe, dark fruit, tobacco, chocolate and spice'. 'Delicate...
Why go on having tuition when you’ve ‘finished training’?
I've been in London coaching young post-grad and professional chamber groups for ChamberStudio, a wonderful enterprise which provides mentorship and further training for instrumentalists who have 'finished studying' but still need or wish to have access to advice and...
A collection of photos on Guardian Witness
For over a year I've enjoyed contributing weather-related photos to the Guardian newspaper via their 'Witness' site, which invited readers to send in images that captured the 'feel' of the month. Several times I've been lucky enough to have one of my photos chosen by...
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s ‘Childhood Memories’
I've been reading the 'Childhood Memories' (published 1958) of Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa, the Sicilian aristocrat and author of 'The Leopard', an award-winning Italian novel published posthumously and later made into a film starring Burt Lancaster. Lampedusa's...
First customer review of my book on Amazon
One never knows whether to fear or look forward to 'customer reviews' on Amazon. Ever since a couple of high-profile rows involving well-known authors hiding behind false names in order to rubbish their rivals' work on Amazon, we've all been alerted to the possibility...
Gramophone magazine review of Speaking the Piano
A fine book from an underrated pianist ‘When my biography of Leopold Godowsky was first published some thirty years ago [writes Jeremy Nicholas in Gramophone magazine], I prefaced the narrative with a quote from Confucius: "I do not seek to be known. I seek to be...
Tackling Chopin’s F major Nocturne
One of my summer projects has been to learn all the Chopin Nocturnes. Strangely enough I have never tackled them properly, and some of them, it turns out, I hardly knew even by ear. Getting to know them has given me tremendous respect for Chopin's compositional skills...
Talking about memory on BBC Front Row
Last night I was on the BBC Radio 4 arts programme Front Row, taking part in a discussion about playing from memory. Presenter Stig Abell spoke to me and Torun Saeter Stavseng, principal cellist of the Aurora Orchestra, who are about to perform Shostakovich's 9th...
Old friends at the Cerne Abbas Music Festival
I'm just back from a week at the Gaudier Ensemble's annual Cerne Abbas Music Festival in Dorset - my 25th year at the festival, I think. Some of the core players have been doing it for 28 years! But there are always new players and guest players, and this year we had...
Blackwell’s Bookshop
Here I am signing copies of my book Speaking the Piano this morning in Blackwell's Edinburgh bookstore. Blackwell's is my favourite bookshop in Edinburgh. I'm usually there as a customer browsing the latest novels, buying a greetings card or having a coffee, so it was...
My new book is noted on ‘The Rest is Noise’ blog
My new book 'Speaking the Piano' is noted as being of interest on the Bookshelf page of New Yorker music critic Alex Ross's influential blog 'The Rest is Noise'. Let's hope this mention will bring the book to the attention of some American readers! Some of my best...
BBC Music: book review, July 2018
My book 'Speaking the Piano' was published last week, and by a happy coincidence on the same day it received a five-star review from Jessica Duchen in the July issue of BBC Music magazine. (see photo) 'Susan Tomes's insights as a performer and teacher are fully...
How would Robert Schumann design his own record cover?
I have been practising a lot of Schumann's music lately in preparation for various music festivals over the summer. It's always a pleasure to play Schumann and when you play a lot of different compositions, you get really into his way of thinking. His mindset feels...