Sleeping in Temples

Highly acclaimed author Susan Tomes takes up various topics of perennial interest: how music awakens and even creates memories, what 'interpretation' really means, what effect daily practice has on the character, whether playing from memory is a burden or a liberation, and why the piano is the right tool for the job.

Highly acclaimed author Susan Tomes takes up various topics of perennial interest: how music awakens and even creates memories, what 'interpretation' really means, what effect daily practice has on the character, whether playing from memory is a burden or a liberation, and why the piano is the right tool for the job.

In several decades as a distinguished classical pianist, Susan Tomes has found that there are some issues which never go away. Here she takes up various topics of perennial interest: how music awakens and even creates memories, what "interpretation" really means, what effect daily practice has on the character, whether playing from memory is a burden or a liberation, and why the piano is the right tool for the job. She pays homage to the influence of remarkable teachers, asks what it takes for long-term chamber groups to survive the strains of professional life, and explores the link between music and health. Once again, her aim is to provide insight into the motives and experiences of classical performers. In this fourth book she also describes some of the challenges facing classical musicians in today's society, and considers why this kind of long-form music means so much to those who love it.

SUSAN TOMES has won a number of international awards as a performer and recording artist, and in 2013 was awarded the Cobbett Medal for distinguished services to chamber music. For fifteen years she was the pianist of Domus, and for seventeen years she was the pianist of the Florestan Trio, one of the world's leading piano trios. She is the author of three previous books:Beyond the Notes (2004) andOut of Silence (2010), both published by Boydell, andA Musician's Alphabet (2006). She gives masterclasses, writes and presents radio programmes on music, and sits on international competition juries. Her blog on susantomes.com has a loyal following.

Prelude
Giving People Memories
The Right Tool for the Job
Play the Contents, not the Container
Temps Perdu
Raw Materials
'Interesting things happen when you deny people the consolation of technical excellence'
Plugged In
Fashion Parade
Enigma Variations
Old People
What is Interpretation?
Bullfrogs
The Iceberg
Starting and Beginning
Light and Heavy
Music hath Charms
Coda