Listen with Father is a book about the transformative power of listening, and about how we remember those we have loved and lost.
At four years old, Caroline Sanderson fell in love with the music of Mozart after listening to it with her father. At eight, she fell even harder for the songs of David Bowie. Her dad made many gentle attempts to persuade her to back to his world of classical music, but it wasn’t until after he died that she returned to it, in memory of him. Listen with Father tells of how she set out to listen, with great care and attention, to the music her dad loved, to work out why he so appreciated it and whether she could too.
In a beguiling blend of memoir and biography, Sanderson explores the music of composers from Igor Stravinsky to Clara Schumann and Frédéric Chopin, hearing Mozart recitals in Salzburg, visiting Sibelius’s house near Helsinki and playing Robert Schumann at home on the piano. Beautifully touching and absorbing, Listen with Father is a story of a beloved father, told through the classical music he cherished.
It’s a bright Sunday morning. Here I come, four years old, walking down the stairs at home. Across the parquet floor of the hall I can see the door to the dining room is ajar. Music flows from behind it and so it seems, right at me. I step forward and into its embrace. I listen. Then craving more, I creep to the door and push it open so I can see my Daddy’s blue reel-to-reel tape recorder in the corner of the room. I love watching the spinning reels of this machine, marvelling at the way the tape unwinds from the fast-moving left hand one, while winding up much more slowly on the right. But today it is the music that has my full attention.
Daddy is sitting at the table in his shirt sleeves, his dark wavy hair flopping across his forehead as he frowns at his weekend paperwork. He looks up, irritated at the interruption, but then smiles when he realises that I too, am listening to his music. It is Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E Flat he tells me– the third movement, the Rondo. Always exact, even with a child as young as I am, he also tells me the Köchel number: K482.
I quickly forget the name and number of the piece. And I especially forget the Köchel number. But to the day my Daddy dies, I remember the Rondo.
Listen with Father: How I Learned to Love Classical Music
Caroline Sanderson
Signed Hardback£35.00Signed first edition hardback, signed by Caroline, and the name of your choice printed in the subscribers’ list at the back of the book.
Ebook Download£10.00Digital copy of the book and the name of your choice printed in the subscribers’ list at the back of the book.
- Hardback£25.00
First edition hardback and the name of your choice printed in the subscribers’ list at the back of the book.
In Memoriam£35.00Dedicate a signed copy to someone who is missed. There will be a separate space in the back of the book for the name of someone special to you in remembrance of them. Just enter their name in the box below.
Listen with Father Spotify Playlist£10.00Exclusive access to a Spotify playlist filled with music that Caroline and her father listened to together. [Please note that the book is not included in the price so you will have to add it to your bag separately]
Listening Party£35.00Only 28 leftA ticket to a virtual listening party with Caroline. After each piece of music is played, Caroline will lead a discussion based on her experience of listening to it for the book. LIMITED TO 30. Please note that the book is not included in the price so you will have to add it to your bag separately.
Only 28 left
Set of Postcards£10.00A set of four postcards created from Caroline's personal photographs, including images taken while researching the book. [Please note that the book is not included in the price so you will have to add it to your bag separately]
Memoir Masterclass with Caroline Sanderson£165.00Only 3 leftA ticket to attend a headline classical music concert with Caroline, with details to be decided nearer the time. LIMITED TO 5. [Please note that the book is not included in the price so you will have to add it to your bag separately]
Only 3 left
Virtual Bookclub£175.00Five signed first edition copies to read with your book club, plus a virtual visit with Caroline.
Concert Ticket£230.00A ticket to attend a headline classical music concert with Caroline, with details to be decided nearer the time.
Only 0 left
Listen with Father is a book about the transformative power of listening, and about how we remember those we have loved and lost.
At four years old, Caroline Sanderson fell in love with the music of Mozart after listening to it with her father. At eight, she fell even harder for the songs of David Bowie. Her dad made many gentle attempts to persuade her to back to his world of classical music, but it wasn’t until after he died that she returned to it, in memory of him. Listen with Father tells of how she set out to listen, with great care and attention, to the music her dad loved, to work out why he so appreciated it and whether she could too.
In a beguiling blend of memoir and biography, Sanderson explores the music of composers from Igor Stravinsky to Clara Schumann and Frédéric Chopin, hearing Mozart recitals in Salzburg, visiting Sibelius’s house near Helsinki and playing Robert Schumann at home on the piano. Beautifully touching and absorbing, Listen with Father is a story of a beloved father, told through the classical music he cherished.
It’s a bright Sunday morning. Here I come, four years old, walking down the stairs at home. Across the parquet floor of the hall I can see the door to the dining room is ajar. Music flows from behind it and so it seems, right at me. I step forward and into its embrace. I listen. Then craving more, I creep to the door and push it open so I can see my Daddy’s blue reel-to-reel tape recorder in the corner of the room. I love watching the spinning reels of this machine, marvelling at the way the tape unwinds from the fast-moving left hand one, while winding up much more slowly on the right. But today it is the music that has my full attention.
Daddy is sitting at the table in his shirt sleeves, his dark wavy hair flopping across his forehead as he frowns at his weekend paperwork. He looks up, irritated at the interruption, but then smiles when he realises that I too, am listening to his music. It is Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E Flat he tells me– the third movement, the Rondo. Always exact, even with a child as young as I am, he also tells me the Köchel number: K482.
I quickly forget the name and number of the piece. And I especially forget the Köchel number. But to the day my Daddy dies, I remember the Rondo.
Blending memoir with biography, history and travel writing, this book records my attempts to lend an ear and listen, at last, with father.
About the author
Updates
It’s been too long since my last “Listen With Father” update. My excuses: last autumn was a time of intense reading after I was appointed chair of judges for the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize, UK’s most ...
16.01.2023
