Beyond the Notes: Journeys with Chamber Music

by Susan Tomes

Susan Tomes, a rare example of a leading musician who writes about the craft of performance, describes her experience of twenty years of rehearsal, concerts and recording. Her performing life has been centred on chamber music and the need to communicate it fully to an audience hungry for meaningful musical experience. Susan Tomes was a founder member and the pianist of both Domus and the Florestan Trio, award-winning groups at the top of their field. Part One is a series of diaries describing their travels and Domus in the 1980s with its own portable concert hall, struggling to create the conditions for informal but intense concert performances, and the Florestan Trio, currently one of the world's finest piano trios. Part Two is a collection of thought-provoking essays about teachers, making records, practising and rehearsing, audiences, earning a living, and the particular challenges of being a concert pianist. Beyond the Notes gives an unusually candid view of the complexities of a life in music.

210 pages, Hardcover

First published August 4, 2004