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.
‘Nocturnes’ is out now
My book Nocturnes and the Fascination of Night Music comes out today from Yale University Press. Tomorrow (Wednesday 25 March at 7pm) I'll be talking about it at Toppings Bookshop in Edinburgh. When I did a radio interview recently, the presenter asked me, before we...
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‘Human Authored’ logo for books
As a member of the Society of Authors in the UK, I was recently sent information about a new scheme - developed with the Authors' Guild in the US - which allows 'authors to register their books and download a ‘Human Authored’ logo to display on the back cover of...
Radio 3 ‘In Tune’ interview this evening
This evening I'm doing a live interview about my Nocturne book with Katie Derham, presenter of BBC Radio 3's 'drivetime' programme In Tune. Normally these interviews are done in person in the London studio, but as I live in Edinburgh I've been offered the possibility...
Smetana’s piano music and the use of ‘vibrato’
A little while ago I wrote something about a piano piece by Robert Schumann, in which he had instructed the player to play 'con accurezza' - with accuracy. It still seems an amusing little moment because of the questions it raises. I came across another such moment...
‘The right tempo for this music’
The other day I was playing through some of Schubert's 'Deutsche Tänze' or German Dances, little dances in triple time which were very popular in Schubert's day. His many 'Deutsche' were clearly designed for practical use, such as someone playing them on the piano...
London Piano Festival this weekend
On Sunday of this week I'll be playing a programme of piano music by historical women pianists at the London International Piano Festival at King's Place. Mine is the closing concert of the festival, at 3pm on 6th October. If you live in or near London, please...
Competitions then and now
I've been watching the BBC Young Musician competition on television for many years now. Slowly, the competition has slipped from the major channels and is now shown on BBC4, whose output currently seems to consist of repeats, archive material and cultural things that...
‘Con accuratezza’
Tomorrow I'm playing a solo recital at the Lammermuir Festival, a lovely festival which takes place in various locations, sacred and secular, across the beautiful county of East Lothian in Scotland. I have practised my programme to the point of feeling a keen desire...
The Pianoforte Recital – then and now
The other day I came across an article called 'The Pianoforte Recital'. It was published in The Musical Times in 1911 - over a century ago. The author, Frederick Kitchener (himself a pianist), complained that piano recitals had become far too numerous, and that...
Keyboards for smaller hands
Last night I appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, discussing my latest book with broadcaster Kate Molleson (see picture of me turning away from the piano after playing one of the pieces we were talking about). Conversation turned to the idea of...
Medals
Today I heard a sports commentator say that in the Olympics, the focus is not so much on setting a new record as on winning a medal. In every event there is a Gold Medal to be won, and winning a Gold Medal is an achievement that everyone will remember. It reminded me...
Elite athletes and what we musicians can learn from watching them
I'm enjoying the lull between major sports events - the Euros Football Tournament and the Wimbledon Tennis Championships just passed, and the Olympics which start in Paris at the end of the coming week. I got quite engrossed in both the tennis and the football,...
Risk assessments
The other day I was part of a coffee gathering where people from various lines of work were talking about their experiences of writing 'risk assessments'. They described the complicated forms that had to be filled in and the efforts to explain what preventive measures...
FT Best Summer Books of 2024
My book on women pianists has been chosen by the Financial Times as one of their Best Summer Books of 2024. Music critic Richard Fairman made it one of his choices. It's very gratifying to find the book being noticed by a wider circle - I suppose because of the...
Wall Street Journal reviews my book
This weekend my book Women and the Piano is reviewed by Diane Cole in the Wall Street Journal. I don't think my books have ever come to the attention of the WSJ before, so I am delighted to be included. Only subscribers can read the full review, but this link at least...