Rough Ideas

Stephen Hough is indisputably one of the world's leading pianists, winning global acclaim and numerous awards, both for his concerts and recordings. He is also a writer, composer and painter and was recently described by the Economist as one of '20 Living Polymaths'. As an international performer he spends much of his life at airports, on planes, and in hotel rooms - and this book expands notes he has made, in his words, 'during that dead time on the road'.
He writes about music and the life of a musician, from exploring the broader aspects of what it is to walk out on to a stage or to make a recording, to specialist tips from deep inside the practice room: how to trill, how to pedal, how to practise. He also writes vividly about people he's known, places he's travelled to, books he's read, paintings he's seen; and touches on more controversial subjects, such as assisted suicide and abortion. Even religion is there - the possibility of the existence of God, problems with some biblical texts and the challenge involved in being a gay Catholic.
An illuminating and absorbing introduction into the life and mind of one of our great cultural figures.

Auteur

Stephen Hough

Texte du rabat

Winner of the Royal Philharmonic Award for Storytelling 2020

'A rich, endlessly fascinating book.' Philip Pullman

'One pleasure after another.' Gramophone

'The delightful musings of a wise and worldly polymath.' Financial Times, Books of the Year

Stephen Hough is indisputably one of the world's leading pianists, winning global acclaim and numerous awards for his concerts and recordings, as well as being a writer and composer.

In Rough Ideas, Hough writes about music and the life of a musician, from exploring the broader aspects of what it is to walk out onto a stage or to make a recording, to specialist tips from deep inside the practice room. He also writes vividly about people, places, literature and art, and touches on more controversial subjects, such as the possibility of the existence of God, and the challenge involved in being a gay Catholic. Rough Ideas is an illuminating and absorbing introduction into the life and mind of one of our great cultural figures.