Am I Too Loud? The memoirs of an accompanist

by Gerald Moore

Gerald Moore, the distinguished English musician who for almost a half century has accompanied the world's great singers and instrumentalists, gives here a brilliant solo performance as a writer. "Am I Too Loud?: A Musical Autobiography" abounds with humorous anecdotes, from the author's days as a young man falling in with his alcoholic landlord to World War II when the fire guard in charge of protecting music manuscripts turned out to be a pyromaniac. Mostly, Moore's autobiography is full of deep and sensitive appreciation for concert performers as well as some excoriation for prima donnas and ignorant music patrons. He devotes a chapter to the late Kathleen Ferrier and her contralto of "unearthly nobility." Moore provides tales of violinist Yehudi Menuhin, English tenor Joan Coates, Danish tenor Aksel Schiøtz, Hungarian violinist Josef Szigeti, Spanish cellist Pablo Casals, and many others.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Classical Music

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

This is Gerald Moore, the piano accompanist. Gerald^Moore.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Ksenija · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book first published in 1962 has since gain somewhat of a cult status among musicians. However, this could not be classified as a straightforward biography, because Mr Moore is very cautious to keep the reader as far as possible from his actual life. The dose of biographical notes that we get is carefully drained in no more than what he believes is absolutely necessary and even then, it is disguised as a humorous side note.

Furthermore, he is almost obsessively praising artists fond to him, while at the same time can be grossly unappreciative to the ones less fortunate to belong to the former category. For example, I found it downright offensive when he dismissed Leontyne Price in one sentence simply as "the American girl" while praising Elizabeth Schwarzkopf. Although I highly regard the artistry of Ms Schwarzkopf, Ms Price is by all means no lesser of an amazing artist in her own right. The chapter about Ms Schwarzkopf I found the most tiresome overall because one cannot simply convince me in the 'great and kind personality' of someone who was actively supporting Adolf Hitler.

Mr Moore is really a man of his time, and having to read this book in 2013 in feels a bit like admiring a piece of antique furniture. The classical music business is simply not at all the same as it was during Mr Moore's lifetime, and that can be seriously misleading if you are a young aspiring musician living in the 21st century when reading this. Passages about old concert halls, hotels, traveling arrangements, managers and alike, are best to be taken with not more than a smile, a bit like tasting and old brandy.

I stated that this is not a simple biography, but nevertheless, the personality of the writer is overwhelmingly present on every single page. This fact can be at times hilarious considering his sharp sense of humor, but it does easily cross that border in more than several occasions. Mr Moore is far from a 'politically correct' author and doesn't shy away from the impeccable British snobbism. For example, he describes that he was 'sentenced in Iceland' or that he was 'deprived... in that miserable city of Belgrade'. Examples like this are abundant.

However, some aspects of creating art through musical interpretation stay in my opinion, ageless. Mr More's wast experience and knowledge can hardly be surpassed even in modern terms. This is the strong point of this book and for that reason alone I would recommend it to any fellow musician.

[John Scothern · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be engrossing, hence my speedy progress! These memoirs of Gerald Moore's career as accompanist clearly recall a long distant era, of whose musicians but a few are remembered perhaps. However, I found the recollection of events, characters encountered and lessons learned to be still pertinent and instructive. Good basic ability, a lifetime of hard work and readiness to try opportunities arising seem to have been consistent themes underlying his success.

The irony of my discovering this book 'Am I too loud?' lies in that I asked my accompanist to play on another 'quieter' piano to suit my song...and it was then I spied the book on top of the lid and borrowed it to read!

[Felicity · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, dry and witty memoir of Gerald Moore's career as an accompanist. There were several anecdotes that made me laugh out loud and several that made me nod in agreement or recognition about the classical music industry. My favourite had to be about a singer's recital Moore played for at the Wigmore hall where the singer sang flat throughout. Afterwards the organiser went up to Moore and said: "Well done but you were playing sharp throughout."

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing, full of fun anecdotes. It is amazing how many crazy-famous people Moore worked with!

[Stephanie C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars not because I disliked it, but because I didn't really like it.

I felt a bit out of my depth reading about all his references to (apparently) very famous singers. I'm an instrumentalist and am reading the book some 60ish? years after it was written, so recognized only about two of the names.

The parts I loved most (there were just a few of them) were when he talked about the challenges and day-to-day details of being a musicians. I related to those. He mentioned that the fear and trepidation of performing in public grows rather than diminishes as a musician progresses in their craft. I'd never heard someone say that before and found it reassuring.

[Stephen Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful weaving of stories into an autobiography. Very insightful into the accompanist's life in the mid-20th century.

[Mahni Booth]

Read for university study. I will review when I am no longer required to be biased.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming.

[Ansie de Swardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful to read. Interesting, funny, thought provoking, loved it.

[Berniniandre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great performer about music and musician. Very easy to read but rich of hints. Good for summer

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always a bridesmaid, so to speak. Moore was the equal partner to many a luminary of mid-20th century musical performance, enlivening recitals though his name was usually in much smaller print. An interesting glimpse behind the curtain of what such a role entails.