Customer Reviews

Beyond the Notes : Journeys with Chamber Music

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I have been a fan of Susan Tomes and her trio's prize-winning recordings for several years, and when Gramophone magazine had a laudatory review of her new book, "Beyond the Notes", it was irresistible. So I bought it, and devoured it ravenously over the course of 3 days. I don't think that the review did the book justice: I think that it's one of the most remarkable books on music that I have ever read. It has so much: musical insights and useful points for the non-professional player, humor, colorful descriptions of personalities, insights about teaching, learning a piece, rehearsing, the nature of audiences, extramusical considerations in performance, etc. I marked dozens of places in the book, and listed the pages with the marks so I can return to them often. Over and above all this, the book conveys the passion for excellence and the love of music that sustained the author and her partners in the most difficult times. Splendid and riveting. A must read for music-lovers and players.

Although I enjoyed the book because of my listening association with both Domus and the Florestan Trio, I thougth there was an excess of philosophising and that made it heavy going in some parts of the book. I regret that in my numerous visits to the UK in the 80's and 90's I never coincided with a concert by either of the chamber groups.