Blog
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.
‘Search for a way to make it natural’
The other day I was listening to a pianist playing the fearsome second movement of the César Franch Sonata for violin and piano. The piano part is highly virtuosic and, apart from anything else, a very good proof of the fact that these big piano parts are not...
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Music and longevity
I go to quite a lot of concerts given by amateur musicians - partly because there's a big amateur music scene in the city where I live, and partly because I often have friends and neighbours playing in the concerts. Of course my particular interest is piano. It dawned...
Women of older generations
By chance, two different people have spoken to me recently about their late mothers, who experienced difficulties in following their chosen career when they were young. One of those women was born in the 1920s, the other in the 1930s. One was a doctor, the other a...
Marryat Chamber Music
I have been coaching on the Marryat Chamber Music autumn course, which ended last night with a wonderful concert (see photo). I find it immensely cheering that such talented, accomplished young musicians obviously love chamber music so much and are determined to make...
Season of mists and …
In our tiny vegetable patch we (when I say 'we', I mean Bob) have managed for the first time to grow a little crop of butternut squash. There are five or six of them, plus a mysterious green marrow-like interloper growing alongside, perhaps a rogue seed from the pack....
More Japanese reviews
More reviews of my book 'Out of Silence', translated into Japanese by Noriko Ogawa, have arrived from Tokyo. I must say these Japanese reviews are absolutely my favourites so far. Their flavour suggests Noriko was right when she said that Japanese people would be on...
Astar/RSNO CD launch
Today is the launch of 'Astar', a lovely Royal Scottish National Orchestra CD (see photo) on which I play the piano. 'Astar' is the Gaelic word for 'journey'. The RSNO's brilliant idea, funded by Creative Scotland, is to give every child born in Scotland, from October...
Exploring Dorset churches
I've been exploring some of Dorset's villages and churches. Milton Abbey was a lovely surprise -set in grounds wonderfully landscaped by Capability Brown. Close by is the picturesque village of Milton Abbas, one of the first examples of English town planning in the...
Slightly foxed
The local foxes are getting cheekier (see photo). This one didn't even mind me going out to take a picture. We now have to remind ourselves not to put food directly on the garden table, now that we know the foxes use it as an observation platform. There are several...
The inspiration of a fine acoustic
Here are Erich Höbarth and me rehearsing Mozart at the Wigmore Hall yesterday for our concert last night. Having done all our rehearsals in my small piano room at home, it was thrilling to transfer to the Wigmore stage and to hear the music sail out into the gorgeous...
‘Piano’ talk on Radio 3 this Friday
Each weekday evening at 10.45pm this week, Radio 3's 'The Essay' slot is presenting a series of talks about the piano. Alastair Sooke, Stuart Isacoff, Wendy Cope and Luke Jerram are all talking about different aspects of the piano, its history, its personality and the...
Carrying on a tradition
On my last evening in Prussia Cove, I was asked to say a few words after supper about the guiding ethos of the place as envisaged by violinist Sandor Vegh, who started the International Musicians' Seminars forty years ago. I stood up in the dining room by candlelight...
At Prussia Cove
I’m down by the sea in Prussia Cove in Cornwall, at the autumn chamber music seminar of the International Musicians’ Seminar, from which I have had an unaccountably long break. I remember thinking I’d have a little rest from it for a year or two. All of a sudden it...
September ducklings
In spring of this year I noticed that there were no ducklings on our local ponds. I mentioned it to a couple of friends in other cities, and they confirmed that there were no ducklings on their ponds either. Eventually I even wrote to the Guardian letters page about...
Pianists out of luck
Today’s Guardian article about former concert pianist Anne Naysmith, who lives in a little shelter made of trees and bushes at the foot of a railway embankment in west London, got me thinking about pianists. As the article points out, her case has echoes of the...