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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.
Look, no hands
I've been remembering a little conversation which happened years ago when a fellow musician was giving me a lift to the Tube station in London. I was on my way to play a concert. As I was getting out of the car, he said to me: 'Have you got your music?' 'Yes.' 'Have...
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Different audiences, different reactions
I have been going to events at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival. There seems to be a lot of overlap between the audiences, because I keep seeing the same faces. It's interesting to observe the effects that different performers have on the audiences. Some performers banter...
Wimbledon fortnight improves my playing
Wimbledon Championship Fortnight is halfway through and I have spent quite a lot of time watching tennis, with occasional breaks for some piano practice. Whenever I watch a lot of tennis, or more particularly when I listen to a lot of expert commentary, I feel that my...
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...
‘Ongaku no tomo’ book review
The Japanese music magazine 'Ongaku no tomo' (Friends of Music) has published this review of my book 'Out of Silence', translated by Noriko Ogawa. The delightful translation of the review is by a friend in Japan: 'Susan Tomes sets a high values on encounters with...
My first Japanese reviews
Noriko Ogawa, who translated my book 'Out of Silence' into Japanese, reports that the first reviews have started appearing in Japan. To our great delight the book is one of three chosen this week by the Nikkei Shinbun (Financial Times of Japan) as "Connoisseurs'...
The Olympics Closing Ceremony
Last night we watched the Olympics closing ceremony, basically a long pop concert with eccentric dance interludes. I assume that the singers couldn't really hear their support groups or backing tracks in the enormous stadium - at least, I'm giving them the benefit of...
National Anthems
The Olympic medal ceremonies have proved a parade ground for the national anthems of lots of different countries. And what a lamentable bunch these anthems are, from a musical point of view. I've been struck by how most of them fail to give the slightest flavour of...
Music at the Olympics
I'm having trouble getting used to the loud music which is played at the Olympics between events and even during pauses and breaks in the action. Last night we watched (on TV) a women's basketball match with pop music carefully choreographed to plug any moments of...