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 [log in to unmask]