Walter Meyer:

>I've started reading a book by Vikram Seth called *An Equal Music*.
>It may be familiar to some here but I had never heard of it and bought
>it because its summary in Daedalus' remainder catalog interested me.

There was a thread about it two years or so ago, which was what prompted
me to buy, read and be greatly impressed by it.

>It turns out that this little-known work (almost all music store clerks
>do a double take when he mentions it) actually exists and in the first
>55 pages of the book he has been able to order a score and even managed
>to secure a Supraphon LP recording by the Suk quartet after a fruitless
>search for a CD. ...

>Was there ever such an LP?

There was - even the store he bought the LP from (Harold Moores) is real.

>Is there currently a CD available?

The version mentioned in the book is still available on Supraphon SU
3447-2 111, coupled with the String Quintet Op 4.  I got mine from Musica
Bona if you have trouble ordering it locally.  I think there's a set -
but not on Supraphon - containing all the music mentioned in the novel.

>Are The New Grove's remarks (it's the 1980 edition) still believed to
>be correct?

The notes for the CD, written in 1999, say "...the direct inspiration
for this quintet was provided by an amateur music lover who made a rather
unskilled transcription of the original trio and presented his work to
the composer who, having evaluated it, went about making his own detailed
arrangement."

Richard Pennycuick
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