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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.
A competition for concertos
I spent the past couple of days popping in and out of the first round of the Concerto Class held each year by the Edinburgh Music Competition Festival. The Concerto Class is strictly for amateurs; those who get to the final are given the opportunity to play their...
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Listening bars
In today's Guardian I was reading about the Japanese tradition of 'listening bars', where customers have 'a deep, beautiful, reverential attitude to listening to music'. High-end sound systems, sometimes dominating a whole wall, convey every layer of a recorded album...
Looking over the list of books I read this year
On the last day of the year I have been looking through the list of books I read during the year. This year I seem to have read 36 books. I used to read books from the library, but the pandemic (when libraries were closed for ages) trained me out of that habit, and...
A sudden flash of colour
'If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?' It's funny how the first flowers of the year - crocuses, daffodils, aconites -seem especially vivid in colour. Are they really brighter than other flowers, or do they just strike us that way because our eyes have gradually...
Link to Guardian Review
If you would like to read the excerpts from 'Out of Silence' in today's Guardian, click here.
Book excerpts in the Guardian
The Guardian is publishing excerpts from Out of Silence in the Review section on Saturday 20 March. I’ll post the link on Saturday when I know it. In the meantime, many thanks to everyone who silently toasted my book from several different countries and three...
Virtual book launch party
Thursday's the day when Out of Silence is officially published. As I haven't managed to organise a book launch party, how about a virtual book launch that day? At 18:00 hours (UK time) on Thursday 18 March, I’m going to raise a glass to toast my readers, wherever they...
Under the pyramid
Here I am in Paris, sitting on top of the concert hall where the trio made its Paris debut this week in a concert broadcast live by Radio France Musique. I'm sitting by IM Pei's celebrated glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Musée du Louvre. Underneath the pyramid...
Another excerpt on Boydell’s blog
My new book, Out of Silence, comes out on March 18. I haven't even seen a copy yet, though I'm hoping to see one early next week. In the meantime, the publisher, Boydell Press, has posted another excerpt from the book on its website. You can read the new excerpt by...
Lucky old snails
Coming back from a concert in Holland I thought, not for the first time, how strange it is that there’s only one little spot on the earth that is ‘my house’, and to which I have to make my way back from wherever I’ve been. In this case, first with a taxi ride, then a...
Not effortless after all
I was recently sent the score of Mendelssohn’s D minor piano trio, in a forthcoming edition of his first draft of the piece. I’d read about this first draft, but had never had the chance to see it until the editor of the new Leipzig edition, Dr Salome Reiser, kindly...
Lights Out
My second frustrating expedition this week. We decided to give ourselves the morning off and see the Van Gogh Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. Even on a weekday morning it was packed. Standing on tiptoe, we had managed to see about a dozen early sketches over...
An equal music?
A brochure for the South Bank Centre’s ‘International Chamber Music Season 2010/11’ lands on the doormat. My trio has appeared in this series, and the plans are always of interest to me. But when I look at next season’s programmes, I notice disturbing signs of a...
City frustration
A disappointing evening. We had been invited to a lovely 'housewarming concert' on the other side of the city (I took this photo of the full moon as we set off in cheerful mood). After waiting for ages at our local tube station, we were told that because of a signal...
Reducing numbers
At this time of year in Richmond Park, I shudder when I see official notices warning visitors about the deer cull. The park is closed at certain times while its resident population of deer is ‘reduced’. It’s always a treat to see the park's different herds of deer,...