An Equal Music
![]() First edition cover | |
Author | Vikram Seth |
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Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre | Fiction |
Publisher | Phoenix House |
Publication date | 8 April 1999 |
Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
Pages | 383 pages (first edition, hardcover), 400 pages (hardcover edition) & 400 pages (paperback edition) |
ISBN | 1-86159-117-9 (first edition, hardcover), (ISBN 0-7679-0291-2 (hardcover edition) & ISBN 0-375-70924-X (paperback edition) |
OCLC | 41381950 |
An Equal Music (1999) is a novel by Vikram Seth.
Plot[]
The plot concerns Michael, a professional violinist, who never forgot his love for Julia, a pianist he met as a student in Vienna. They meet again after a decade, and conduct a secret affair, though she is married and has one child. Their musical careers are affected by this affair and the knowledge that Julia is going deaf.
A recurring element throughout the plot is the pair's performance of Beethoven's Piano Trio Opus 1 No.3, which they first perform in their college days.
Seth together with Philippe Honoré marketed a double CD of the music mentioned in An Equal Music, performed by Honoré.[1]
Reception[]
The book was especially well received by musical fans, who noted the accuracy of Seth's descriptions of music.[citation needed]
Paolo Isotta, one of Italy's most significant music critics, wrote in the influential newspaper Il Corriere della Sera of the Italian translation that no European writer had ever shown such a knowledge of European classical music, nor had any European novel before managed to convey the psychology, the technical abilities, even the human potentialities of those who practise music for a living.[2]
Works referenced[]
Several musical works figure prominently in An Equal Music. Among these are the Trout Quintet by Franz Schubert, the String Quintet in C minor by Ludwig van Beethoven, and The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Notes[]
- ^ Amazon: An Equal Music (CD), Amazon.com.
- ^ Albertazzi, Silvia (20 January 2005), "An equal music, an alien world: postcolonial literature and the representation of European culture", European Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13, pp. 103–113, doi:10.1017/S1062798705000104.
- 1999 British novels
- Novels by Vikram Seth
- Novels about music
- 1990s novel stubs