Music as a source of writing inspiration

All three of my books contain a significant number of musical references: the baroque period in The Music Book; baroque and classical in Fortune’s Sonata; and the classical and romantic period in A Motif of Seasons.

The performance of music in all three books – either by a fictional chamber orchestra or by fictional soloists or singers – is an integral part of each story line. It not only reflects my affection for classical music but has been a literary tool occasionally used to help convey the context of a scene I am writing about. To put it another way, I seek to translate into words the music which depicts what I see in my imagination.

For example, the second movement of Ludwig Abeille’s piano concerto for four hands underpinned a sexual scene in Fortune’s Sonata. It was equally the case with the second movement of Bacarisse’s guitar concertino to convey in the same book a scene in Andalusia of impending and poignant finality.

In short, for me there are times where music has provided inspiration for the conveyance of particular images in words.