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BBC TV'S 'SACRED MUSIC'
In these extracts from the recent acclaimed BBC TV series, Jessica talks about
Faure's Requiem and the impact on the composer of the Franco-Prussian War. |
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KICK-START YOUR WRITING: BURGUNDY! |
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"I've always wanted to write, but..." Stopped by the buts? Here's your chance: join us at Les Cerisiers, the new creative arts centre in rural Burgundy, for a long weekend to kick-start your writing and sample the Beaujolais Nouveau! Whether you're a complete beginner or an experienced writer in need of an injection of energy, the course is designed to help rid you of the 'buts' that can sometimes stop us from following our writing dreams, and I aim to send you home with the tools you need to get started on your own novel. Building on the one-day workshops I've been holding in London, KICK-START YOUR WRITING: BURGUNDY! offers total immersion in the process for several days, amid the inspiration and peace of the French countryside, some amazing food and wine, and the chance to recharge your batteries in a creative environment with like-minded people.
For more details and booking, please visit The Really Big Dream Company's website. Places are strictly limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment!
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"Songs of Triumphant Love is an enthralling novel: I couldn't stop reading. I got deeper and deeper into the very real world Jessica Duchen has created and just had to find out how it would unravel. Jessica writes with an unpredictable and original voice and a dazzling perceptiveness, and I was hooked from the first page. A sensational achievement."
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JOANNA LUMLEY |
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Jessica is author of Phaidon's Biography of Gabriel Fauré.
Buy the book from Amazon. |
BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week - Gabriel Fauré.
Donald Macleod travels to Paris to chart the life of Gabriel Fauré. He's joined by the composer's English biographer Jessica Duchen, pianist Billy Eidi, and the leading authority on Fauré's music Jean-Michel Nectoux.
This week Donald Macleod is in Paris to follow Fauré's footsteps, and to probe this most enigmatic of personalities. From the start, Fauré is an outsider. Sent by his family to study at a school for gifted youngsters, the composer quickly decides that the traditional route is not for him. Instead of heading to the conservatoire, dogged by its reputation for fustiness, he falls in with the world of aristocratic music-making.
Follow these Episodes on LISTEN AGAIN. Links are on the right. (Ended)
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12 Disc Audio Book
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AUDIO BOOK OF 'SONGS OF TRIUMPHANT LOVE' OUT NOW
Isis Publishing has just released Songs of Triumphant Love as an audio book, read by actress Julia Franklin. It’s a tour-de-force on Julia’s part, with all those different accents, and she navigates her way around Glaswegian, Estuary, Bosnian, French and Russian – amongst others – with great panache. I’m most grateful to all concerned!
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The CD version is on 12 discs at £30.99 and the cassettes are £20.99, available direct from Isis at this secure link: |
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A 5 minute audio sample from the book is available on Audible.co.uk |
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Julia Franklin |
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TALKS
I love giving pre-concert talks and speaking to book groups, literary societies and libraries.
Please contact me if you wish to have further information.
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Click on Book Cover
to ORDER this book
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SONGS OF TRIUMPHANT LOVE |
Hardback and Paperback (Hodder & Stoughton, 09 July 2009) |
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My fourth novel, Songs of Triumphant Love, was published by Hodder & Stoughton on 9 July 2009.
The story of a singer, her daughter, their respective lovers and the after-effects of war upon all of them, its themes are healing, the power of music and the boundaries of love. It was inspired partly by a words&music project I tackled a few years ago about Pauline Viardot and also by my visit to Mostar in 2007, and is consequently set in London, Paris and Bosnia... JD |
| Read reviews of Songs of Triumphant Love here |
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SONGS OF TRIUMPHANT LOVE - OUT NOW!
My new novel SONGS OF TRIUMPHANT LOVE hit the shelves on 9 July 2009, but that didn’t stop us having a little party to launch it three days earlier. Here’s the video of my thank-you speech, which also introduces much of what the book is all about.
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Jad Sylla has provided some photographs from the Book Launch which you can see here in a small slide show. |
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Click on CD cover
TO ORDER THE CD
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Available now on Onyx Classics
Violinist Philippe Graffin and pianist Claire Désert have recorded a CD inspired by my book Hungarian Dances. To the best of my knowledge, it’s the first time that an international soloist has elected to base an original recording on a contemporary novel. While some of the music (Brahms, Bartók et al) appears in the story, Philippe has included many rare musical gems that give the disc an independent life. Exciting, daring and highly individual, the recital evokes just the atmosphere I wanted to capture in the book. My profound thanks to Onyx, Philippe and all the musicians involved!
.......................................................................................................................... JD
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Click on logo
Link to the website
for Hungarian Dances
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| Hungarian Dances |
| Paperback (Hodder & Stoughton, 24 July 2008) |
Hungarian Dances is a love story, a mystery and a tale of extraordinary personal transformation.
When disaster befalls her best friend, Karina, a young Anglo-Hungarian musician, feels compelled to question the very foundations of her existence. Her discoveries about her Hungarian family background and her Gypsy ancestry will change her life forever. Past and present collide in the intertwining stories of Karina and her grandmother, Mimi, a famous violinist. Love and loss, displacement and continuity mingle in a moving panorama that crosses eighty years and is permeated by the family’s one constant: the sound of the violin.
A CD to complement Hungarian Dances is being released by ONYX soon.
Release date: October 29th 2008.
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"A great love story and mystery set in – among other things – the world of Hungarian gypsies and passionate musicians. Duchen has a rare talent which is increasingly being recognised." - Gavin Esler, The Glasgow Herald
After having read Rites of Spring, I am now equally thrilled by Hungarian Dances. Jessica Duchen is a very gifted storyteller; her characters are sensitively portrayed. She has observed "Hungarianness" very well indeed. And her understanding of the tragedy and sufferings of the Gypsy people - that is not just history, but very much a problem of our time - gives this book an even more profound meaning.- András Schiff
"The pages of Hungarian Dances just kept turning! Like all the best novels, it asks unexpected and compelling questions. It's a book for anyone with an interest in how history leaves its mark on people and how they in turn come to live with its scars." - Martin Davies, author, The Conjuror's Bird
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| Read the REVIEWS page. |
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| RITES
OF SPRING |
Jessica
Duchen’s first novel, Rites of Spring, was
published by Hodder & Stoughton on March 13 2006.
The Paperback Edition was released on July 27 2006. |
| Order
now via Amazon.co.uk, or
direct from H&S. |
Order
from these links:
for Hardcover (click Logos) |
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Order
from this link:
Paperback (click Logos) |
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VIEW an enlarged version of the Paperback Cover |
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| ALICIA'S GIFT |
Jessica Duchen’s second novel was published by Hodder & Stoughton on 8 March 2007. A contemporary drama set in the Peak District concerning the problems of raising a gifted child, ALICIA’S GIFT draws on Jessica’s considerable experience in the music industry and as a pianist herself. A Dutch edition will also be published in due course by De Kern.
Read the first 3 pages (PDF file 727kb) (Set to 100%) ..... here
... a first review of the book:
"The devil in this book is in the detail, the accumulation of every detail that disables middle class life when the unexpected lands, in this case a musically gifted child. You turn the pages with a tremble, in case you crush the fragile family. Unbearably real."
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown |
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| WONDERKIND (Alicia's Gift) |
Jessica Duchen’s second novel 'Alicia's Gift' was published on October 9th in a Dutch edition .... and it looks wonderful.
Click here for details
ISBN: 9789032501778
€ 18,95
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| 06/02/06
- Read Jessica's interview on authortrek.com - ONLINE NOW - |
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| Photo Galleries |
London
November 22 2007 |
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Here
are some photos from the Royal Festival Hall after the UK premiere of Korngold's greatest opera, 'Das Wunder der Heliane', on 21 November 2007
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St.Nazaire
September 2007 |
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Here
are photos from Jessica's visit to St.Nazaire in September 2007 |
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Mostar
June 2007 |
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Here
are photos from Jessica's visit to MOSTAR in June 2007 |
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"Consonances" Festival
St. Nazaire
September 2006 |
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Here
are photos from Festival "Consonances" at St. Nazaire in September 2006 where Jessica's 'LE CHANT DE L'AMOUR TRIOMPHANT' was premiered. |
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Trip to
Budapest
September 2006 |
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Jessica's Trip to Budapest can be viewed here as a
Photo Page. |
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Booksigning,
Waterstones
Richmond
August 2006
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Jessica signing the recently published Paperback edition of her novel 'Rites of Spring'. View an enlarged photo here. |
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Lauch Party 'Rites of Spring'
March 2006
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Here
are photos from the launch party for Jessica's 'Rites
of Spring' at Kew on Wednesday March 2nd 2006 |
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