This is the story of a young English lute player, Peter Claire, who arrives at the Danish Court in 1629 to join King Christian's IV's Royal Orchestra. Although it was difficult to get into, because of many different characters and places during that time period, I soon got into the rhythm of the book and was fascinated by the personalities and plots as they moved along. The stories are intertwined: King Christian the IV as an absolute ruler who must have his musicians play from the cellar; his consort Kirsten who is vulgar, selfish, petty, but humorous; Kirsten's 'general lady' who is drawn into an intense love affair with the lutenist..... although this is not my normal type of book, I loved it!

Mixed feelings. Other people I know really loved it, so I was inclined to like it, but it never really grabbed me. I took a while to get into it and to keep track of the range of characters - when I did I got more involved. Though I was never completely convinced by the historical setting or the motivations of some of the characters, especially the women. On the other hand there were some parts where I was caught up in the writing and atmosphere.

I almost never re-read, but I'm so glad I did. I read it for the 'I'll Have What You're Reading" readalong, in memory of book podcaster and human being extraordinaire, Jenny Colvin. The title of the readalong was her tagline for her podcast, Reading Envy. The episodes are still online and I highly recommend people check it out and have the Jenny experience. This book is on her Goodreads TBR list, and I am sure she would have loved it.

It's been 15 years since my first reading, and I didn't remember a single thing about the novel, despite the fact that my minimal review shows I was impressed. So this time around I thought I'd do more justice to the book - but now I'm so overwhelmed with all there is to say that I'm exhausted before I start. So I'm just going to flit among my impressions.

I'll start by stating the obvious - the book reads like a symphony. A large cast of fascinating characters act in point and counterpoint to each other; past and present tenses interweave seamlessly; numerous themes rise and fall throughout the story. All this makes the book sound dense and cerebral but it's not, it's engrossing and propulsive and has a little bit of everything plot-wise, from mystery to romance (which I normally hate!) to murder. I don't know much about fairy tales, but it's obvious that some of the characters, their temperaments and situations, evoke fairy tale tropes even though they are firmly grounded in their time and place.

While music is, of course, a driving element of the book, Tremain mercifully never does anything as ham-handed as trying to describe it in words - the power and beauty is there in the thoughts and reactions of the characters. The same goes for silence:

"As they part, both men reflect upon all that might have been said in this recent conversation and yet was not said; and this knowledge of what so often exists in the silences between words both haunts them and makes them marvel at the teasing complexity of all human discourse."

Tremain's writing is understated but not simple - a perfect vehicle for her characters and story. An example is her description of Charles I of England, a character who is present for only a few pages. For me, she captures his essence obliquely but fully and with great sensitivity:

"He did not master the art of walking until the age of seven. Though now, at thirty, he holds himself graciously, there is in his walk some memory of those labours and humiliations of his childhood, a kind of hesitancy that is not quite a limp but more a visible disinclination to put one foot in front of the other.

At the window, he does not move and he does not speak. The palace courtiers know better than to interrupt him when his back is so resolutely turned upon the room. They know that this condition of stillness and silence is consoling to his spirit. For just as walking remains uncomfortable to him, so expressing himself in plain words is very hard for him. It isn't that he does not know, in his head, what he wishes to say; it is simply that what he wishes to say is not what he is able to utter. He can talk to himself with absolute clarity and eloquence. And as with himself, so with God, whom he imagines as a near relation, privy to all the quirks and habits of his mind. But to express himself to his subjects - this is arduous. Sometimes, he will even stammer."

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(Original review, 2009)
Beautiful, subtle historical novel. The period is evoked through character and plot, not description. The kind of novel that gets better and better the more I think about it.

I found this book a bit hard to get into, but once I was, I found it hard to put down.

This is a wonderful historical novel set in the early 1600's in Denmark. King Christian IV is a decent king (as a result of his boyhood) with growing concerns (perhaps somewhat paranoid) about the financial state of his kingdom. He lives with his ghastly adulterous wife Kirsten, and retreats from his daily miseries in his chamber music. His musicians are the finest in Europe and they must play for him at will from the unheated basement beneath his sitting room. Enter Peter Claire, an English lute player of fine repute and a beautiful face. Peter falls in love with Emilia, the adulterous wife's lovely young hand-maiden - but the evil wife works to destroy this love (probably because it so real that she envies it).

The tales of the various personalities in this novel are expertly woven and while there is hate and destruction, there is also kindness, true love and some sweet (albeit late) revenge. The reviewer who wrote this was the stuff of fairy tales has it right. Although this is a fairy tale, it is so well written that the reader can hear the sweet calm of the chamber players' music, can smell the virgin forests in which King Christian and his dear boyhood friend, Bror, learn about life and loyalty, and can rejoice in the few moments of true passion in this novel. A wonderful tale of old, very well written, with an excellent story. The author's style of writing in this novel is difficult to get used to in the beginning, but stay with it because it is worth it....

Set in 17th century Denmark at the court of Christian the 4th, this book reminds me of a fairy tale by Hans Andersen, for it is full of magic and wonder. The writing is lovely, except for the sections in which certain characters revel in some rather sordid sexual antics. The writing, though, fits the characters and events. There are several witches, a king, the good girl, the hero -- even a boy who works wonders. They are all larger than life -- another element that adds to the feeling of fairytale. There are palaces and buried treasure. This was a theme driven book rather than plot driven, with elements of light and dark, music and silence, fidelity and betrayal. It's a book I would read again, just to savor it even more than I did the first time.

"نوميدي جايي است همين نزديكي ها.من فكر ميكنم نوميدي يك روستا است،آنجا مهمانسرايي است و يك مشت خانه،با پيرمردي كه چاقو تيز ميكند."

رمان زيبا،با قلمي جذاب و خاص،هرفصل از رمان از زبان افراد مختلف و با طرزفكر و بيان مختلف نوشته شده بود كه اوايل عجيب،در اواسط هيجان انگيز و در فصل هاي آخر...كسل كننده بود.نقطه اوج رمان تقاطع شخصيتها بود.اواسط كتاب آنقدر گيرا بود كه انتظار پايان خيلي بهتري داشتم با اين وجود بين رمانهاي كلاسيك يك انتخاب خوب و متفاوت بود...
وبخش مورد علاقه ام از كتاب :
"اميد متاع غريبي ست.
مخدري ست.
قسم ميخوريم كه ديگر گردش نگرديم اما ميبيني روزي مي آيد كه ناگهان باز گرفتار و پايبند ميشويم."

"پذيرش،سخت ترين درسي است كه زندگي به ما ميدهد و مهم ترين درسي كه بايد آموخت."

Music & Silence was my first Rose Tremain experience and I have to say I’m completely smitten. I listened to the audiobook available on Scribd with the brilliant narration of Michael Praed (you might remember him from the British 80s tv series Robin of Sherwood), Clare Wille and Alison Dowling.

The story is set in the court of Christian IV of Denmark during the 17th century. You have real historical figures like King Christian IV of Denmark (1588-1648), his 2nd wife and consort Kirsten Munk (1598-1658) who gave him 12 children, Kirsten’s German lover Rhinegrave Otto Ludwig, Kirsten’s Maid of the Torso Vibeke Kruse to name a few, and fictional ones. The author transported me in such a way, they all became real to me.

The narration was splendid. Michael Praed was such a pleasant surprise and a perfect choice. But the absolute star for me was Clare Wille, who did the voice of lusty Kirsten Munk, she who is perpetually vexed. What a character! I bought the book so I can read it as well at some point. But do yourself a favor and listen to it on Scribd.

I want to read more Rose Tremain and I want to listen to more Clare Wille!

This is what the professionals had to say about it:

‘A superb novel … a wonderful, joyously noisy book’ - Guardian

‘The best thing from Denmark since Hamlet’ - John Julius Norwich

‘With Music & Silence Rose Tremain returns to the historical novel, for which, as Restoration proved, she has a genius. This is evident not just in the richly imagined sense of period and place, but in the humanity of her characters, historical and fictitious; the way she gets under their skin and into their hearts … Tremain has a masterly grip of the intricacies of structure; Music & Silence is narrated through a variety of perspectives, which intersect and illuminate each other, providing both breadth and intimacy … Tremain seems unable to put a foot wrong. Over and over in this novel one is pulled up short by the truth of a sentence or observation, by the lightness and precision of its expression … This is quite simply a wonderful novel – wise, humane and moving’ - Kate Hubbard, Literary Review

m/f

5 Stars

I am a late convert to Rose Tremain's writing - and what beautiful writing it is. Having suffered through some appalling novels of late, it was wonderful to have this novel remind me that there are still some very talented authors out there!

It took me a little while to get used to the episodic nature of this novel - more pronounced than in 'Restoration'- but I found myself engaged by the characters and their stories (even the appalling Kirsten!) and intrigued by the narrative. At times the novel seemed to move a little slowly, but I simply reminded myself to be lulled along by the quiet beauty of Tremain's writing rather than expect a 'high action' drama.

This novel, Music and Silence, by Rose Tremain, is essentially an epic saga based around the life of the Danish King Christian. The tendrils of Christian’s influence throughout Europe are explored as he becomes King, rescues his childhood friend Bror from cruelty and death, recruits his English lutenist Peter Clair, marries devotedly but foolishly the disloyal Kirsten, and attempts to manage his faltering freezing Kingdom.
King Christian is a man ambitious for his own country, but suffering from the repercussions of misplaced loyalties. He is a man dogged by guilty dreams all manifesting in violent indigestion which he treats with bouts of musical therapy supplied by his own orchestra.
The author creates her major female characters as exploitive carnal selfish creatures who despise the usual gentle loyal traits of love for children and family. Her male characters are vulnerable to the machinations of their wives and lovers. This makes for difficult reading at certain parts of the book.
Fortunately the book is beautifully written in a particularly old world style that allows the reader to reside temporarily to the layered medieval world of the 1600s.
This sense of belonging saves the book from becoming too unwieldy and tedious.
Carinya

There are so many books at home, stuck in corners, piled up here and there, over any table, even beneath the bed that I decided to make a pile of books which eventually I will discard. There are a few I have not read yet, but most of them are books I would like to read again before I say goodbye to them. This is one such.

In this process of rereading, I am also enjoying observing how my impression has changed with time. With historical novels I now pay a great deal more attention to the created setting, to the events narrated, to the characters portrayed. The novel feels as an excuse to explore the historical episode in which the fiction has been planted. In my last read this novel got four stars; it now has lost one – precisely because of its faulty plausibility.

Music and Silence is set during a couple of years in Denmark in the early 17th Century (1629-1630), Tremain presents an assortment of personalities, and interrelated plots, around king Christian IV (1577-1648). There is his second wife, Kirsten Munk (1598 -1658), his mother Sophie Mecklenburg-Schwein (1557-1631), and a few completely fictional characters. Of these, the English lutist Peter Claire emerges as the motor that moves the plot. Unsurprisingly the musician and composer John Dowland, who had worked for the music-lover Christian for a few years, is evoked a few times, although he had died in 1626, just a few years before this book begins.

I know very little of this period, but I had an overall sense that Christian was, at least, a king who wanted to do things right. Tremain portrays him, while he is a youth, as a promising lad. But then, as an adult and husband to his nymphomaniac Kirsten, he comes across as a nitwit. His visionary enterprises (silver mine in Norway; new fleet…) all flop and he certainly lacks a managerial ability with Denmark’s rapidly deteriorating finances. I wonder how much of this was more or less accurate.

Tremain is quite good in the way she handles the various plots, interweaving them through short episodes, but at times I felt some of the supplementary stories did not add enough and the book dragged. Her writing is elegant and flowing. There is a love story that ends well, and in this it comes across as a concession from the author to the happy reader. For me the best was the portrayal of the terrible Kirsten. With her Tremain was able to match convincingly the speech to the personality, which greatly added to her appeal. Kirsten has a lurid tongue suited to a paired mind – very entertaining. Not what one would imagine from this courtly portrait.

Set in the early 1600s Denmark, Tremain spins a historical fiction story around King Christian IV. Much of Christian's story is true. He succeeded to the throne at the age of 11. He married twice. His second marriage to one of the other primary characters Kirsten Munk was problematic. You will see.

In "Music & Silence", a young English lutist named Peter Claire becomes a popular companion of King Christian. Peter falls in love with one of Kirsten's ladies in waiting Emilia. Kirsten is insatiable and scheming. When troubles between Kirsten and Christian surface, Kirsten proves to be an unpleasant woman to cross. Just as Christian adopts Peter, Kirsten clings tightly to Emilia.

Emilia's family is another matter. Her mother dies while giving birth to her younger brother Marcus. Emilia's father Johann remarries to Magdalena. Magdalena shares many lustful and calculating characteristics that define Kirsten. She stirs up trouble in Johann's family.

The themes of love, lust and power, especially in the form of a battle of the sexes, are central to the novel. Part historical lesson, romance novel and love story, Tremain delivers on all three fronts. At times the novel goes into seemingly disconnected or unimportant directions, though Tremain neatly cleans up the story lines as the novel winds down. There are times that Tremain seems unsure to expand her cast of characters and plot lines or to wrap things up. These loose ends are not George R.R. Martin level digressions and expansions, but minor threads that add little to the main story. Tremain also dabbles with the mystical. She backs off this angle and steers a course for a conventional and only mildly prophetic plot convention. She keeps the reader guessing to the very end. The ominous atmosphere adds tension as a central love story plays out.

The story and writing is solid and satisfying. The book begins strong with promise of fantastical twists, turns and action. Ultimately, Tremain delivers a sound, albeit more conventional tale.

Disappointing, over written with too much flowery language which suffocates the plot. King Christian's orchestra are made to play in a damp dark cellar and that was the only interesting thing about the book.
Being there with them was preferable to reading this shocker.