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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.
Tricky fingering resolves itself
I've been gradually playing through the whole volume of Mozart piano sonatas, and the other day I reached the B flat Sonata, K333. This piece holds unpleasant memories for me because when I was doing my O-levels, or Highers, I forget which, I had to perform some of it...
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Back story? A new weapon in career-building
A new series of Channel 4's 'The Piano' has begun. Judge Mika is still there, but Lang Lang has left the show and in his place is the multi-talented American musician Jon Batiste. For anyone who isn't familiar with the show, this is the concept: an upright piano is...
Background music that won’t stay in the background
We went out for lunch yesterday to celebrate the publication of the paperback of Bob's book A Little History of Music. Here's to a whole new bunch of readers! Everything in the restaurant was nice except for the music playing in the background. It was a dreary, drifty...
Three masterclasses this week
I'm giving three masterclasses this coming week: at the Royal Academy of Music on Monday, at Trinity College of Music on Tuesday, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on Thursday (details on the Concert and Events Schedule tab at the top of this page). I...
The award-winning coastline of Norway
Thank you to those kind people in the Lofoten Islands who wrote to me after I played in the music festival there last week. By popular request, here is another photo I took, this time from the plane on the way back to the Norwegian mainland. The scene reminded me of...
The majestic scenery of the Lofoten Islands
I probably would never have gone to the Lofoten Islands of Norway on my own initiative, but I was very glad that a music festival had summoned me there last week. Somehow I had imagined the islands as smaller and tamer than they really are. In fact, the scenery was...
The character of audiences
It’s always so interesting how each audience has its own character, even though each audience is a random collection of people. I have been to see the film ‘The King’s Speech’ twice recently in my local cinema. On the first occasion, nobody moved when the film ended....
Inside the Arctic Circle
I’m preparing lots of music for a trip next week to the Lofoten Islands of Norway, inside the Arctic Circle. Their summer festival of chamber music is already established as a rather special event in the calendar, and their new winter festival is an intriguing...
Millionaires
I was discussing the challenges of life in chamber music with a fellow musician from one of the big London orchestras. He told me the following joke, or rather 'joke', which orchestral players tell about chamber musicians: Question: How does a chamber musician make a...
Among historians
There was lively debate at King’s College London following my talk yesterday. I had spoken about the interpreter’s task as I see it, taking as my title a remark of György Sebök’s, ‘Play the contents and not the container’. In my talk I used ‘contents’ to refer to...
At the Edinburgh Society of Musicians
I've been in Scotland, giving a talk and masterclass at the Edinburgh Society of Musicians, founded in 1887. Their meetings take place in an fascinating house now shared by several of the city's musical societies. The house was built in the late 19th century, and...
Florestan Trio’s final season
To everything there is a season .... and the Florestan Trio has announced its final season of concerts. We'll be concluding a year from now with a celebratory Beethoven Cycle in the Wigmore Hall, London. For the full text of the announcement, please click on the...
Concert in memory of Sandor Vegh
Yesterday I went to a concert in memory of the Hungarian violinist Sandor Vegh who founded the International Musicians' Seminars in Prussia Cove, which I attended as a student for many years. Vegh died on 7 January 1997 and for the past few years, a group of string...
Like in Bach’s day
I've been in Germany, where I attended a christening in a lovely old Baroque church in Bavaria (see photo). Music was provided by friends and family members playing various instruments in the gallery of the church. The baby's grandfather had composed a Pastorale for...
The strength of his up-bow
I've been in Scotland, where I enjoyed seeing Raeburn's portrait of the 18th-century Scottish fiddler Niel Gow in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. I was amused by the information beside the painting, which explained that 'as a fiddler, Gow was especially...