Music

Listen to music from By Violence Unavenged

June 1, 2019 in By Violence Unavenged / Music / Vienna by francis

A new, one-minute book trailer captures the poignancy and beauty of Lucy’s story, with visuals of Galway and 1920s Sydney. Borodin’s beautiful Nocturne, third movement from his String Quartet No. 2 in D major, sets the mood. Paired in a program with Haydn’s “Fifths” quartet, this music features in the key climax […]

Irish-English Book Trailer for A Distant Prospect

July 3, 2015 in Book production / Borodin / Galway / Reviews / Video by francis

Hunter Valley Violins, Newcastle — Writing stunningly beautiful descriptions of musical performance takes a lot of hard work! Today Annette Young, who is an accomplished pianist and competent cellist, visited luthier David Robertson at Hunter Valley Violins in Newcastle, to continue researching the world of violins, bow-holds, strings and playing techniques. The sequel to A […]

Researching violins for the powerful sequel

November 22, 2014 in Research / Sequel / Violin by francis

Keep Calm and let the music teacher handle it — Annette’s character Mrs Epstein is far more than a music teacher. (Most music teachers are!) In Chapter Eight of A Distant Prospect, Mrs Epstein insists that Lucy can, and will, play in a string quartet, for the good of others as well as Lucy’s. Mrs Epstein had very weak, dark […]

Keep calm, and thank your music teacher!

August 17, 2014 in Lucy Straughan / Mrs Epstein / Music by francis

Lucy’s leg callipers gave this Great War veteran an opening for the black humour that helped him cope with his lost mobility. ‘I got mine at Bellicourt. Where’d you get yours?’ he asked me when I shook his hand, and he indicated my legs with a raise of an eyebrow […]

Music for war veterans

August 3, 2014 in Mrs Epstein / Music / North Sydney / Suffering / War by francis

Are you loving the music in Annette’s story? Lots of readers are bringing the rich musical repertoire of A Distant Prospect gloriously to life, by enjoying performances they find online. Here, for instance, Leonard Rose (cello) and Glenn Gould (piano) play the first movement of Beethoven’s Cello Sonata in A […]

Enjoying Beethoven cello and violin sonatas with Lucy and Della

June 5, 2014 in Beethoven / Cello / Della Sotheby / Lucy Straughan / Mrs Epstein / Music / Violin by francis

Here’s what Al Jolson was like on a live stage, as filmed in 1926 on a set at the New York City Opera. Below, read the incredible story from Ron Hutchinson about how this film and its sound were recovered. Couldn’t let Al Jolson’s birthday go by without posting his […]

Al Jolson on stage in 1926

May 27, 2014 in Al Jolson / Music by francis

Annette found this bit of nonsense while researching Austria for her sequel to A Distant Prospect. We may never know how many Austrian cyclists lost their tuned bicycle horns to make this clip, but it was worth it! More clues about the sequel will be revealed here in due course, […]

Austrian bicycle horns – A little nonsense!

May 4, 2014 in Fun / Music / Sequel / Vienna by francis

When Sue-Ellen Paulsen, Principal Cello of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, launched A Distant Prospect in Hobart, it was always going to be her cello performance of “The Swan”, from Camille Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals, to make the crowd swoon! “The Swan” was also Della Sotheby’s first request, upon discovering […]

Everyone’s cello favourite – Saint-Saens’ “The Swan”

April 10, 2014 in Cello / Della Sotheby / Lucy Straughan by francis

Harvest Time c. 1897, Irish Life Series, National Library of Ireland — Author Annette Young hears robins and cuckoos calling in Haydn’s “Fifths” String Quartet. She has cellist Lucy recalling her Irish childhood and the passing seasons while playing A Distant Prospect‘s climactic Chapter 50 concert: Autumn is celebrated with the races and the harvest; and the harvest months at home were […]

Autumn Harvest Time in Haydn’s Fifths String Quartet

April 2, 2014 in Haydn / Irish / Music by francis

The vibrant cultural scene in December 1928 saw at least five performances of Handel’s Messiah in Sydney Town Hall, so of course Annette Young wrote one into A Distant Prospect! The first Messiah to raise the roof was by the 600-voice Welsh Choral Society on 8 December, repeating its success […]

Christmas isn’t Christmas without Handel’s Messiah

December 21, 2013 in Lucy Straughan / Music / Sydney by francis

In Chapter 48, the eve of the climactic Conservatorium competition, Lucy practices getting her cello to the stage without callipers on her polio-weakened legs, when disaster strikes… I was feeling more optimistic than I had been for months about doing away with my right calliper. As far as walking on […]

The day I broke my cello

December 18, 2013 in Cello / Lucy Straughan / Morgan Straughan by francis

How do musicians do it? What is the secret to sight-reading? In Chapter 12 of A Distant Prospect, Phoebe gives Lucy this 30-second crash course. ‘What on earth are you doing?’ asked Phoebe. I returned my glasses to my nose. She was staring at me in a very scornful way. […]

A Distant Prospect – ISBN 9780987435101