Susan Tomes: 5 books

In Speaking the Piano, renowned pianist Susan Tomes turns her attention to teaching and learning. Teaching music encompasses everything from putting a drum in a child's hands to helping an accomplished musician unlock the meaning and spirit of the classics. At every stage, some fundamental issues...

We knew from her recordings that Susan Tomes is a superb chamber player; now we know that she's a superb writer too. Michael Church, INDEPENDENT She is as sensitive an observer and as subtle a writer as she is one of our finest chamber musicians...This is a book that should be read by practising musicians...

Out of Silence is a diary of a year in Susan Tomes's life as a performer. Taking as its inspiration Schumann's remark that 'I am affected by everything that goes on in the world, and I think it all over in my own way', it aims to show how a working musician mulls over and draws energy from the events...

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...

Have you ever wondered whether musicians notice the audience or are influenced by them? Wanted to know how performers might learn particularly difficult pieces? Thought about the terms 'old' and 'young' in reference to music? Using the letters of the alphabet as her starting point, Susan Tomes...