It took years and years to gradually come to an understanding of what high end piano players wanted, and then allowing that to become my language. Piano tuning and repair for all types and ages of pianos by a registered piano technician of the piano technicians guild with over 30 years experience. Professional tuners spend a career perfecting their skills. Unfortunately, i had waited to start reading the book until after the return window had closed.
Its amazingly informative to delve into a book a second time with a completely different focus than the first. The piano tuners offerings of engaging history, drama and largescale thematic rumination seem even more impressive when one considers that mason is only 26, and that he wrote the novel while a fulltime medical student. Sep 29, 2002 the piano tuner said nothing, and the colonel shifted slightly in his seat. In the murky haze of a london morning in 1886, piano tuner edg. The piano tuner was the basis for a 2004 opera of the same name composed by nigel osborne to a libretto by amanda holden and is also due to be released as a film directed by charlie stratton. Not only am i a piano tuner near you, i am affordable. Since 1965 under the brand name, panasonic has produced a variety of hifi products, such as turntables, amplifiers, receivers, tape decks, cd players and speakers for sale in various countries. The piano tuner is set in exotic burma, deep in the heart of a distant and ancient culture.
Letters, military documents, official reports, stories told on a ship or. Taking a tax deduction when donating a piano pianobuyer. While the piano has a more complex build than a classical guitar, tuning it doesnt have to be complicated as long as you know the mechanics of it. The story of the piano tuner is sensitive and moving but i havent finished it yet so i cant comment on the ending.
A few strongly coloured, curious images hang in the mind from this intriguing and alluring first novel. In connection with the harmony lessons, we use as a textbook clarkes. So before we introduce you to the few steps that are part of the process on how to tune a piano, here are a few tips to consider. These old analog instruments still grace our homes and concert halls. I specialize in reconditioning pianos restoring your piano to its best playing condition without expensive replacement of parts. Buy books faqs videos seller advice local services about. The piano tuner is the the story of edgar drake, a london piano i have read it at least 3 times, and each time i am completely drawn in to the world of edgar drake, and 19th century colonial burma. Eventually he reaches mae lwin in burma and fixes the piano. First and foremost, the piano tuner is about upper burma toward the close of the 19th century. As a novel, it is definitely different but in the end doesnt tell you much about. A remarkable first novel by a young author who is also currently a medical student.
Edgar drake lives a quiet life in late 19thcentury london as a tuner of rare pianos. I used money from my day to day tuning and repair business to buy the piano, but later. Over the past 35 years, piano technician sally phillips has worked in virtually every aspect of the piano industry. At the upper end of the strings, a bearingbar, situated between the tuning pins. The piano tuner by daniel mason in 1886, a shy, middleaged piano tuner named edgar drake travels to the remote jungles of northeast burma to repair the rare piano of an eccentric army surgeon. At the end, i was not sure what was real and what wasnt. Forsters a passage to india, joseph conrads heart of darkness, or george orwells shooting an elephant.
Technics, tekunikusu is a japanese brand name of the panasonic corporation for audio equipment. The uncompromising world of highend pianos pianobuyer. Jan 28, 2019 the piano tuner resumed, after about 100 pages of a thousand acres, at page 2. Needless to say, a large portion of the story was missing and i was somewhat lost. As a third generation piano technician, owner joe cacheiro is a registered technician with the piano technicians guild and has. They got a coupon book, just like when you buy a car.
When edgar drake is summoned to the british war office and asked to tune an eccentric majors 1840 erard grand piano in the jungles of burma, he is both confused and intrigued. In 1886 a shy piano tuner is commissioned by the british war office to travel to the jungles of burma to deliver a rare piano to an eccentric army surgeon who has arranged peace with local warlords through music and medicine. The piano tuner is a historical novel by daniel mason, set in british india and burma. Often in these stories, what seems a safe, comfortable environment turns suddenly threatening. Ending my 3rd round, to finish october was the piano tuner. Usa today masons writing achieves that kind of reverie in which every vision, tone, flavor and sensation is magnified.
Piano tuning, moving and repair the cacheiro family has been tuning, rebuilding, refinishing, moving and caring for pianos since 1920. The piano tuner accelerated piano adventures for the older. The acoustic piano still remains loved and revered by many. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most.
What features does daniel masons novel share with such predecessors as e. Miami herald reminded me of books i read by flashlight, under the covers, when i was young. One of the stars on the fischer and fielding circuit was cowboy danny protrero a singing cowboy. Although the book is set during the british raj in the late 1880s, much of the area and the people have hardly changed at all over the years. In her role as a concert piano technician, she has tuned and prepared pianos for concert and recording work in such venues as town hall, alice tully hall, and the kennedy center, and for the cincinnati symphony orchestra, the bbc. It seems quaint, like a throwback to the old days before electronic keyboards. Dennis kurk has many years of experience tuning pianos and restoring them. Cree fischer who wrote this fine book on piano tuning was the wife of francis armbrooster fischer, coowner of fischer and fieldings vaudeville company. A novel by daniel mason when edgar drake is summoned to the british war office and asked to tune an eccentric majors 1840 erard grand piano in the jungles of burma, he is both confused and intrigued. Sep 04, 2018 what books to read this fall as mason showed in his previous novels, the piano tuner and the far country, hes extraordinarily good at conjuring up journeys into unfamiliar places. In the piano tuner, peter meinke writes of the foreignness that awaits us when we go abroad and when we answer our own front door to admit a stranger, that confronts us in unfamiliar cities and villages and in the equally disquieting surroundings of our memories and regrets. The piano book, now in its fourth edition, has been the standard consumer reference in the piano business in the united states and canada since 1987, and is the only book of its kind.
On its surface, the piano tuner is loaded with the traditional elements of an exotic 19th century adventure saga. He has wondered which visions would remainthe salweens coursing coffee flow after a storm, the predawn palisades of fishing nets. Our piano tuning web page is straightforward, online and completely free. If the piano being donated is not in at least good used condition, this. At the request of surgeonmajor anthony carroll, edgar drake is commissioned to tune a fine piano that is secreted somewhere in the burmese jungle. The pianist is a 2001 frenchlanguage erotic drama film, written and directed by michael haneke, that is based on the 1983 novel of the same name by elfriede jelinek. I had never even heard of this book before even though it has been published in 27 countries. Sep 26, 2012 the piano tuner deceptively transforms from intriguing premise to smartly crafted thriller in an admirable, almost hitchcockian, style. He is a member of the piano technicians guild of america also. Anthony carol who was using unorthodox methods to bring about a peace treaty between the shan people and the limbin confederacy during the british colonial occupation of burma. Now this time for seeing how the story enhances the.
In the fleeting seconds of final memory, the image that will become burma is the sun and a womans parasol. Twentysixyearold mason has penned a satisfying, if at times rather slow, debut historical novel. Edgar sets off on the long journey and encounters many different cultures on the way. Buy the piano tuner book online at low prices in india. In what could have easily provided enough engaging content for a feature narrative, the film relates an entire range of character development and emotions in thirteen short minutes, from depression, to humor. The piano tuner participates in a tradition of literary works that try to fathom colonized cultures vastly different from the authors own. Jan 18, 2003 the piano tuner by daniel mason 368pp, picador. With this promising debut, mason now joins the ranks of jonathan safran foer and nick mcdonnell in the under30 set of. Drake begins his mission with the purity of good intentions. The piano tuner audiobook abridged listen instantly.
The piano tuner french short film,must see,english subtitles. In october 1886, edgar drake receives a strange request from the british war office. If they dont tell of the rain, or of mae lwin or a piano tuner, it is for they came and vanished. The tuning process is mechanically simple but difficult to master. Most other tuning sources tell you not to try, overwhelm you with technical detail, or really want to sell you a book. The piano tuner resumed, after about 100 pages of a thousand acres, at page 2. The novel is about edgar drake an ordinary man living with his wife and his profession is a piano tuner. He plays music for a local prince, which helps to convince the prince to sign a peace treaty. In 1886 a shy, middleaged piano tuner named edgar drake receives an unusual commission from the british war office. At the end of the novel, captain nashburnham tells edgar that anthony carroll is a traitor to england and suggests a number of possible roles for the doctor. Oct 14, 2002 fortyoneyearold edgar drake seems an unlikely protagonist for a bildungsroman. The piano tuner the piano tuner audiobook, by daniel mason. If i were forced to choose a favorite book, this would be one of the contenders.
Daniel masons debut novel, the piano tuner, is the mesmerizing story of edgar drake, commissioned by the british war office in 1886 to travel to hostile burma to. Piano tuning seems to be a lost art that people find hard to find and hard to afford. Now this time for seeing how the story enhances the setting. It was first published in 2002 when mason was 26 and was his first novel. In october 1886, edgar drake receives a strange request from the british war. It really goes back to the old model of how piano technicians have learned their craft through generations, which is mentorships. Free shipping on many items browse your favorite brands. It immerses the reader in a distant world with startling immediacy and ardor. Peterson electronic piano tuner strobe center sc5000ii.
Because each piano is, to some extent, unique, and comparable sales are therefore. Drake, that to impress a local noble with recitation and rhyme is one thing. The piano tuner is a book that is rich in details about burma, piano tuning, and british colonialism, as well as other devices to entice a reader. Edgar drake, a fortyoneyearold english piano tuner, accepts a commission from the 1886 british war office to tune an erard grand piano located in a colonial military outpost in mae lwin commanded by surgeonmajor anthony carroll. The introduction, discussion questions, suggested reading list, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your groups reading of daniel masons enigmatic and compelling first novel about the angloburmese war, a rogue major, and the fate of an ordinary piano tuner drawn into an extraordinary entanglement. Sent to southeast asia by the british war office, edgars been tasked with tuning a rare piano while the shan revolt and other conflicts rage. More specifically, it is about britains greedy intent to subjugate the shan states. The year is 1886, and the british empire is attempting to tighten its control of its colonies in the far east.
In connection with the harmony lessons, we use as a text book clarkes. Piano tuner project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. From this irresistible beginning, the novel launches drake into a world of nightmarish intrigue rendered through the unbreakable spell of daniel mason. The piano tuner, by daniel mason the independent the.
He lives and breathes pianos and is so passionate about tuning and fixing them. Mildmannered piano tuner edgar drake seems like an odd hero to lead us through a story about 19thcentury burma. Edgar drake, a piano tuner living in victorian london, is commissioned by the army to travel to burma to fix the piano of surgeonmajor carroll. Michiko kakutani, the new york times in 1886 a shy, middleaged piano tuner named edgar drake receives an unusual commission from the. Piano tuning book and cd for beginners by dennis e. Happy with his wife of eighteen years and his reputation as one of the finest piano tuners in latenineteenth.
To request a grand piano to be sent to the most remote of our forts is quite another. Teacher demo buy accelerated piano adventures for the older beginner lesson book 1 here. An extraordinary first novel that tells the story of a british piano tuner sent deep into burma in the nineteenth century. His book, piano tuning for beginners, is 18 pages long, 812 by 11 inches. Peterson electronic piano tuner strobe center sc5000 ii. The piano tuner has an intriguing premise an english piano tuner in the 1880s with an excellent reputation who specializes in tuning the esoteric erard piano is commissioned to travel to the jungles of burma during the british occupation, to tune a piano. The the piano community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Letters, military documents, official reports, stories told on a ship or a train or the back of a horse or in a bamboo. Feb, 2021 not all piano tuners offer these kinds of spiff job services. Get the best deals on piano tuner when you shop the largest online selection at. As a novel, it is definitely different but in the end doesnt.
1041 1519 1405 737 1129 1249 1429 938 1107 130 493 736 902 1080 209 1360 796 1496 895 767 1507 153 1496 617 747 245 28 188 1201 1381 541 80