Music and Silence

In 1629, young English lutenist Peter Claire arrives at the Danish court believing music will secure his future. Instead, he enters a world shaped by suspicion, rivalry and royal power. Set in Denmark and in the shadow of the Thirty Years' War, Music & Silence follows Peter as he joins King Christian IV's royal orchestra at Rosenborg Castle. The musicians perform in a freezing cellar beneath the splendour of the court, a stark contrast to the glittering chambers above. Yet although he is favoured by the King and nicknamed his "Angel", Peter is drawn into a forbidden love affair with Emilia Tilsen, companion to the King's estranged wife, Kirsten Munk - and further into court intrigue. As King Christian's authority weakens, loyalties fracture. Letters are intercepted, alliances shift, and both Emilia and Peter are threatened with a separation that might extinguish their fragile happiness. Moving between Copenhagen, Norway and Jutland, Music & Silence tells a story of ambition, political manoeuvring and love tested by exile. 'The best thing from Denmark since Hamlet.' John Julius Norwich 'The best historical novelist of her generation... an unforgettable tapestry of Eros and art.' A. N. Wilson

Rose Tremain's novels and short stories have been published in thirty countries and have won many awards, including the Orange Prize (The Road Home), the Dylan Thomas Award (The Colonel's Daughter and Other Stories), the Whitbread Novel of the Year (Music & Silence) the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and France's Prix Femina (Sacred Country), and the South Bank Sky Arts Award (The Gustav Sonata). Her most recent novel is Absolutely and Forever (2023), which was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. Rose Tremain was made a CBE in 2007 and a Dame in 2020. She lives in Norfolk and London with the biographer, Richard Holmes.