Product Description

In the year 1629, a young English lutenist named Peter Claire arrives at the Danish Court to join King Christian IV's Royal Orchestra. From the moment when he realises that the musicians have to perform in a freezing cellar underneath the royal apartments, he understands that he's come to a place where the opposing states of light and dark, good and evil are waging war to the death. "Music and Silence" tells a story that is both violent and tender, shocking and consoling. This is a bold, uncompromising, wildly original book which demonstrates that in the day-to-day business of living, as in a fairy tale, not everything is totally black, nor wholly white.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11634 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Rose Tremain deserves a Hallelujah chorus dedicated just to her: a decade after the appearance of Restoration--and with a range of stunning novels and short story collections before and after it--now comes her glorious and enthralling Music and Silence.

This treasure house of delights, as haunting as it is pleasurable, teems with characters, real and imagined; with intrigues, searches, betrayals, in vivid scene after scene which loop in and out, back and forth, like overlapping and repeated chords.

King Christian IV of Denmark is, in the year of 1630, living in a limbo of fear and rage for his life, his country's ruin, and his wife's not-so-secret adultery. He consoles himself with the weaving of impossible dreams and with music--played by his Royal Orchestra in the freezing cellar at Rosenborg while he listens in his cosy Vinterstue above. Music, he hopes, will create the sublime order he craves. Kirsten, his devious wife, is a continual maker of Beautiful Plans to outwit, avenge, feed her greed. And she detests music.

The awkward duty of assuaging the King's miseries falls to his English lutenist, Peter Claire, his "Angel", whilst Emilia Tilsen must bend to Kirsten's every whim. Yet what Peter and Emilia seek is each other, largely in silence both necessary and cruelly imposed. Other stories, each of them full of fabulous and often joyful and witty invention, intertwine through the Royal Court's machinations: the King's mother who hoards her gold in secret; his boyhood friend, Bror, a tormenting memory; the villagers who suffer and wait in the frozen Numedal; Emilia's mute young brother Marcus. And in Ireland, Johnnie O'Fingal, once a kind father and husband, is driven mad by hearing music of utter divinity in his dreams, but which neither he nor Peter Claire can make earthbound. His devoted but spirited wife has distracted herself with Claire, but now finds herself rejected. Palpable with desire and longing, this extraordinary narrative builds its grand themes in storytelling that is both profound and wonderfully satisfying. --Ruth Petrie

Review
'This story is Rose Tremain's most fantastic achievement and also the most extraordinary novel' --www.bfkbooks.com

From the Publisher
'Best thing from Denmark since Hamlet' John Julius Norwich
'Lyrical, voluptuous...splendid...A sumptuous drama lit by the glamorous torchlight of the courtly past' Lucy Hughes-Hallet, Sunday Times

In the year 1629, a young English lutenist named Peter Claire arrives at the Danish Court to join King Christian IV's Royal Orchestra. From the moment when he realises that the musicians perform in a freezing cellar underneath the royal apartments, Peter Claire understands that he's come to a place where the opposing states of light and dark, good and evil, are waging war to the death.

Designated the King's 'Angel' because of his good looks, he finds himself falling in love with the young woman who is the companion of the King's adulterous and estranged wife, Kirsten. With his loyalties fatally divided between duty and passion, how can Peter Claire find the path that will realise his hopes and save his soul?

'Music & Silence is a magnificent novel...a brilliant book which will repay many readings' Michael Ardetti, The Times

'She is the best historical novelist of her generation. She evokes the past...with sensuality, wit and superb sleights of hand...The plot is ingenious...an unforgettable tapestry of Eros and of art' A.N. Wilson, Evening Standard

'A superb novel...a wonderful, joyously noisy book' Steven Poole, Guardian

'Tremain's achievement in Music & Silence is extraordinary...A narrative as funny as it is compelling' Patrick Gale, Daily Telegraph

Customer Reviews

A beautifully lyrical masterpiece.
In Music and Silence, Rose Tremain lyrically reproduces the rich fabric of seventeenth century Denmark as though she was there. As in Restoration, Tremain has succeeded in breathing the past into the book and still infusing the story, that of the court of Christian XV, with a contemporary elegance. The novel is narrated by four different narrators, all of whom are inextricably linked together. We see Kirsten Munk, the King's consort, who is adulterous, vicious and scheming. We also see one of her women, Emilia Tilsen, who is a meek young girl come to serve Kirsten Munk as one of her Women. The pivotal character, and indeed narrator, is perhaps Peter Clare, the lutenist and also the protagonist, who has been appointed the Kings' Angel, because of his good looks. Peter Clare falls in love with Emilia, but their love is soon stopped by the wicked Kirsten, who is banished from court by her husband, as he finally sees her for the evil that she is, thus deciding that if she is not to have any joy in her life, then neither can Emilia. Tremain directs the story with an eye to detail and wit and transports the reader to seventeenth century Denmark, where the air is crisp and smells of spiced wines. Without doubt, Music and Silence is one of the most beautiful, intricateley woven stories I have ever read.

A splendid recreation of 17th century Denmark
Tremain has created a masterpiece of historical fiction -- fascinating, informative, richly-detailed. She moves deftly between subplots and sites (Scandinavia and England).

Among the many characters both real and fictitious, Tremain enlivens one of the 17th century's most striking monarchs: Christian IV of Denmark, called the Sun King for the dazzling sweep of his ambitions. While reading this book I visited his tomb, outside Copenhagen. Music & Silence was the perfect introduction to the king and his world.

It's worth noting that readers in Denmark, more familiar with this history than I, have loved this book.

Superb; an exciting historical novel
This is the first Rose Tremain book that I've read; how I was impressed. 'Music and Silence' is a reminder of just how good the historical novel can be. Everything is here: a range of leading players all trapped in history or circumstance; old ghosts and secrets everywhere; madness, pomposity and all manner of outrageousness; magical realism in the Danish forests. Superbly crafted and easy to read - in the best sense of the phrase.