Caroline Sanderson has written a very touching and erudite hymn to her father. I should say at once that I have a personal interest in this book because I know Caroline. She is a kind and generous person, is easily moved and when she does a thing she does is to the best of her ability. This book is a perfect example of that. All the same, I wouldn’t have chosen to review it if I hadn’t been so impressed by it.
When she was a little girl, Sanderson adored her Father and enjoyed listening with him to the classical music he liked so much. As she grew older she still loved her Dad but came to prefer David Bowie’s take on music. It wasn’t until after her Father had died that she began to wonder what exactly he had loved so much about classical music. She decided to choose some of his favourite CDs and listen again. That decision and what followed became a paean to her much loved Father and a new appreciation for her of classical music.
A short overture sets the scene and then she begins with Mozart. The book has chapters on 8 composers and one singer, the unforgettable Kathleen Ferrier. It would be entirely possible to use this book as a primer, a way in to music one has never appreciated before, but there is much more to it than that. This well researched book will tell you about the composers and their lives, as well, importantly, how Sanderson felt when she heard the pieces again as an adult. The audience reaction to the first performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring is fascinating, as is Sanderson’s unsettling memory of watching Fantasia with her Dad. How brave of her to re-visit Stravinsky’s work after such a disturbing introduction!
I love the way Sanderson is so down to earth about her musical journey while also thrilled when she realises she is beginning to hear the music at a different level. I also enjoyed the little asides, the realisation, for instance, that she’s probably particularly enjoying the triangle while at a concert, simply because she enjoyed playing the instrument at primary school. Her attention wavers; she notices what members of the audience are wearing, she wishes her Dad were with her to explain why he loved Brahms so much. And yet, she sticks at it and slowly gets there. The hard work of deep listening pays off. And more, she finds other pieces that her Dad didn’t introduce to her, but for which she develops an affection all by herself.
Listen With Father is a wonderful journey full of fascinating asides. There are people and books between these pages as well as music. It is a private journey that is also a wonderful signpost to the world of classical music.
Sanderson doesn’t forget the bibliography, arranged by composer. To complete the work, a useful note of the recordings Sanderson listened to is also there. What a perfect volume to enjoy and maybe to set one off on one’s own journey into deep listening and a new love of music.
Listen with Father is published by Boundless.
More of Cindy's choices:
The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall
The Master by Colm Toibin
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
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