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.
Concertos from long ago
I was looking through the list of candidates for a concerto competition recently and was struck by the list of pieces they were playing. Mozart (lots), Haydn (several), Beethoven (several), Mendelssohn (several), Schumann (several), Chopin, Brahms (several), Grieg,...
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‘So somewhere in my youth … or childhood’
During the Christmas holidays we watched The Sound of Music on television. Some parts of it will forever be charming, while other parts have not worn so well. No matter - it's still a feast of nostalgia for those of us who remember the film when it first came out. Bob...
Best reads of the year
A reader has asked me to specify my favourite books of the year. I keep a note in my diary of the books I read, and this year I read 42 books in their entirety, plus a few more I didn't finish. Here are my top five favourites: 1. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth....
Silver linings
Sometimes the old saying, 'every cloud has a silver lining', seems true. Today my trio was due to start making a record, at a studio in a rural location near the Welsh border. It’s a good four hours’ drive from my house at the best of times. We only agreed to go so...
An unexpected pairing
A most unexpected and heartwarming New Year gift arrived today in the form of a comment made in a Times book review by the distinguished cellist Natalie Clein. Reviewing a new book on Bach’s cello suites, she muses on the difficulty of writing about music, and says,...
First concert of the year
London is blanketed in snow at the moment. Dragging my little suitcase gingerly over the icy pavements, I managed to get in to the LSO St Luke’s Centre this morning to rehearse for my first concert of the year, the first of four concerts by the Florestan Trio in the...
No more tweaking
I spent most of yesterday correcting the page-proofs of my new book and twitching with frustration. My electronic copy of the page-proofs is ‘read only’. I cannot type on it or make any alterations. Any mistakes have to be listed separately and sent to the publisher....
New Year’s Day
This new year has found me in thoughtful rather than celebratory mood. So here is a photo of the tide gracefully looping its way along Portobello Beach in the winter sun in Edinburgh, where I spent Christmas. There is much to look forward to in 2010, and I wish you...
Felix Wurman – in memoriam
Yesterday brought the very sad news that American cellist Felix Wurman has died, age 51, of cancer. Felix was an inspiring person with a passion for adventure and an extraordinary gift for making friends. He was the founder of the music group Domus, which had its own...
Yule Blog
While everyone is busy with Christmas festivities, this blog is going to sink into a cosy armchair with a slice of home-made Christmas cake and gaze out of the window for a while. Season's greetings!
A layer of icing
Richmond Park yesterday was full of children sliding happily on the icy paths. Not on the ponds, though – the ice is rarely thick enough to take a person’s weight. Everyone seemed to be chatting about the Eurostar trains which got stuck in the Channel Tunnel on Friday...
Voices raised (or lowered) in song
The other night I went along to join some friends who sing in a little choir. They had relaxed the membership rules for their last meeting of the year, a time for Christmas carols and mulled wine. Snow had fallen in London for the first time this winter, and it felt...
News of my new book
I’m delighted to announce that my third book, 'Out of Silence', will be published by Boydell and Brewer in March 2010. Boydell, who specialise in history books, published my first book, ‘Beyond the Notes’, in 2004. Since then, they’ve developed a very strong music...
The Birds
Visiting King’s College in Cambridge the other day, Bob and I were horrified to see that several of the lawns had been badly damaged (see photo). It looked as if hooligans had been let loose there, or as if a rugby scrum had taken place there during the night. What on...
O magnum mysterium
Yesterday I was in King’s College, Cambridge to hear the ‘Carols from King’s’ service, which will be broadcast on Christmas Eve on BBC2. When I was a student at the college, the choir sang Evensong every day and I missed most of the services, telling myself that I...