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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.
Unyoking the horses
Today's blog post is on quite a niche subject. When I was writing a short biography of pianist Sophie Menter (1846-1912) for Women and the Piano, I mentioned some of the extravagant things her fans used to do to show their adoration. When she played in Copenhagen in...
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Proofreading your own words
I have been proofreading my book about Nocturnes, which has reached the stage of being typeset. This is the point at which it starts to look like a proper book. As the author, you dare to believe that it will one day really be published and start to live in heads...
‘… a mad attack upon your hands’
When I was playing in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago, I had an interesting conversation with a student there. (Birmingham University is rightly protective of its students' identities, so I won't name her.) She was studying aspects of the history of women playing...
Women composers on the A-level syllabus
17-year-old Jessy McCabe's petition for more women composers to be on the A-level music syllabus has been in the news today. It has generated quite a lot of interest and discussion, too. Good for her. The Independent asked if I had any comments to add, and some of my...
The changing status of reviews
The news that Alex Ross is now the only full-time classical music critic on an American magazine has got me thinking about the changing status of reviews. Gone are the days when an 'important' concert would routinely be reviewed by all the major papers. When I was a...
Pitch rolling
I went to a concert recently (I won't say where or when). In the group was an older musician playing quite a prominent role on a string instrument. Unfortunately his control of pitch had become unreliable. He was smiling and concentrating, trying to play the right...
25 years of the Cerne Abbas Festival
Just back from the 25th anniversary festival run by the Gaudier Ensemble in the lovely old Dorset village of Cerne Abbas (in the photo I'm rehearsing a Mozart piano concerto with (from L to R) Marieke Blankestijn, Lesley Hatfield, Iris Juda, Steve Williams and...
Edward Greenfield: a word of appreciation
Sad news that Edward Greenfield has died. He was senior music critic of The Guardian for many years, and a longstanding contributor to Gramophone magazine. Although 'Ted' was a professional critic, it always seemed to me that he was determined to accentuate the...
Scottish Journal of Performance: book review
'Sleeping in Temples is the fourth book by the pianist and author Susan Tomes. The book is drawn from the author’s memories, experiences and thoughts about the music she has been intensely and sincerely committed to as a pianist performing at the highest international...
Australian radio interview coming up
I recently did an interview with Andrew Ford of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's 'The Music Show'. We talked mainly about my book 'Sleeping in Temples', but strayed onto other topics such as why it is that, in the last movement of Beethoven's E major piano...
Herald review of Aurea Quartet and me
On Friday I played Mozart's K414 concerto with the Aurea Quartet in the Cottier Festival in Glasgow. Today's Herald carries a delightful review by senior critic Michael Tumelty; as the Herald Online is sometimes tricky for non-subscribers to access, here is the...
Herald review of Friday’s Cottier Chamber concert
Today's Herald carries a review, by senior critic Michael Tumelty, of Friday's Cottier Chamber Project opening night. As the review is only accessible online to subscribers, I'll post it here. Susan Tomes/Daniel's Beard, Cottier's Theatre, Glasgow 'THERE was a...
Peter Cropper
Sad news about the death of Peter Cropper, inspirational first violinist of the Lindsay Quartet. I didn't know Peter so well myself, but always felt connected to the Lindsays because the original viola player of my group Domus, Robin Ireland, moved to become the viola...
Should we promote our own concerts?
There's been quite a lot written lately about the need for musicians to 'be their own promoters' and organise their own concerts. In the face of declining opportunities for classical music, many musicians have embraced the idea of putting on their own concerts and...
Competitions and boringness
Letter from a reader who mentions that he rarely goes to concerts these days because many performers are there as a result of winning competitions, and he finds that competition winners are usually, like Monty Python's celebrated accountant, 'too boring to be of...