Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication, and Music

by James Rhodes

Overview

“A mesmeric combination of vivid, keen, obsessive precision and raw, urgent energy.” —Zoe Williams, Guardian

“Thrilling and harrowing . . . Unsurpassed and unsurpassable.” —Sunday Times

James Rhodes's passion for music has been his lifeline—the thread that has held through a life encompassing abuse and turmoil. But whether listening to Rachmaninov on a loop as a traumatized teenager or discovering a Bach adagio while in a hospital ward, he survived his demons by encounters with musical miracles. These—along with a chance encounter with a stranger—inspired him to become the renowned concert pianist he is today.

Instrumental is a memoir like no other: unapologetically candid, boldly outspoken, and surprisingly funny—shot through with a mordant wit, even in its darkest moments. A feature film adaptation of Rhodes's incredible story is now in development from Monumental Pictures and BBC Films, following a competitive bidding war involving major U.S. and U.K. companies.

An impassioned tribute to the therapeutic powers of music, Instrumental also weaves in fascinating facts about how classical music actually works and about the extraordinary lives of some of the great composers. It explains why and how music has the potential to transform all of our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632866967
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	02/07/2017
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,176,644
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

James Rhodes had no formal music education until age fourteen. At eighteen, he stopped playing the piano entirely for a decade. But since returning, he has released five albums, all of which topped the iTunes classical charts. He performs in halls around the world and has made TV programs in the U.K. for the BBC, Sky, and Channel 4. His TV documentary Don't Stop the Music raised over £1 million for instruments in U.K. primary schools. Rhodes lives in London. @JRhodesPianist

Table of Contents

Prelude xi

Track 1 Bach, 'Goldberg Variations', Aria Glenn Gould, Piano 1

Track 2 Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 2, Finale Evgeny Kissin, Piano 11

Track 3 Schubert, Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat, Second Movement Ashkenazy Zukerman Harrell trio 23

Track 4 Bach-Busoni, Chaconne James Rhodes, Piano 31

Track 5 Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111, Second Movement Garrick Ohlsson, Piano 47

Track 6 Scriabin, Piano Concerto. Last Movement Vladimir Ashkenazy Piano 59

Track 7 Ravel, Piano Trio Vladimir Ashkenazy Itzhak Perlman Lynn Harrell 75

Track 8 Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No. 2, Second Movement Elisabeth Leonskaja, Piano 81

Track 9 Bruckner Symphony No. 7, Second Movement Herbert von Karajan, Conductor 87

Track 10 Liszt, 'Totentanz' Sergio Tiempo, Piano 105

Track 11 Brahms, 'German Requiem', First Movement Herbert von Karajan, Conductor 117

Track 12 Mozart, Symphony No. 41 ('Jupiter'), Fourth Movement Sir Charles Mackerras, Conductor) 139

Track 13 Chopin Étude in C major, Op. 10/1 Maurizio Pollmi, Piano 157

Track 14 Chopin, Fantasie in F minor, Op. 49 Krystian Zimerman, Piano 167

Track 15 Ravel, Piano Concerto in G, Second Movement Krystian Zimerman, Piano 177

Track 16 Schumann, 'Geister Variations' for Piano Jean-Marc Luisada, Piano 193

Track 17 Schubert, Sonata No. 20, D959, Second Movement Alexander Lonquich, Piano 213

Track 18 Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 5 ('Emperor'), Second Movement Radu Lupu, Piano 233

Track 19 Rachmaninov, 'Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini' (Zoltán Kocsis, Piano 243

Track 20 Bach, 'Goldberg Variations', Aria da capo Glenn Gould, Piano 251

Afterword 253

Acknowledgments 261

Appendix 267

Editorial Reviews

10/10/2016
Music soothes a lifetime of mental illness and psychosexual trauma in Rhodes’s intense memoir. Rhodes, an English concert pianist famous for his classical-music-for-the-masses shows, tells of being raped from the ages of six–10 by a teacher, which eventually led him to heavy drug abuse, obsessive-compulsive tics, a wrecked marriage, a suicide attempt, and commitment to mental institutions. The author tells his story with harrowing realism and even rollicking humor—smoking heroin, he writes, was “the greatest and stupidest thing I’ve ever done”—probing both the everlasting anguished chaos in his head and his own appalling behavior with self-lacerating specificity. Intertwined throughout is the remarkable efflorescence of his musical career—he didn’t start studying piano seriously until his late 20s—and the healing power of music. (He credits a cache of music smuggled into his psych ward by a friend with helping him regain sanity, and he sprinkles in rapturous appreciations of his favorite pieces.) The book trails off at times in self-promotion (Rhodes even plugs his shoe line) and showbiz rants, but Rhodes’s energetic, edgy, painfully perceptive prose makes for a gripping narrative of abuse and dysfunction as well as the quiet, painstaking, redemptive labor of music making. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"[Rhodes] is quite good at articulating the often intractable dimensions of shame as experienced by sexual abuse survivors." - New York Times Book Review

"It was a striking year for musical memoirs. The American market got 'Instrumental,' the explosive memoir by the pianist James Rhodes depicting his addiction and mental illness in the wake of sexual abuse as a young child." - Washington Post, "10 Noteworthy Moments in Classical Music in 2017"

"In his literary debut, British concert pianist James Rhodes merges an intense, eloquent, and appropriately furious memoir with the transporting beauty of classical music. The result . . . is an all-access pass to the sublime . . . What Rhodes wants you to know is that intense beauty can coexist with unimaginable pain, and he shows you how that's possible . . . The cumulative effect of the literary concert he gives in these pages is transcendence, both for him and for the reader." - Los Angeles Review of Books

"In this triumphant and arresting memoir, Rhodes charts his ongoing recovery and journey to his place as today’s most exciting classical pianist . . . Rhodes writes with an arresting charm, at times cold and clinical, shockingly self-effacing, then painfully personal and poetic—sure to register powerfully with readers with similar experiences (he gives ‘trigger warnings’ before the more gruesome scenes). A gripping testament to the immense tragedy of sexual abuse, the magic of music, and the power of hope." - starred review, Booklist

"You might expect James Rhodes to have been crushed by his experiences. On the contrary I don't think I've ever read an autobiography which is this exuberant, this full of life, this addictively readable." - Mark Haddon, author of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

"Rhodes debuts with a memoir that is, in many ways, a dark, underground cavern only intermittently permeated by shafts—and sometimes floods—of light . . . [A] passionate narrative . . . A powerful story of day-to-day survival, struggle, triumph, and hope." - Kirkus Reviews

"I have rarely read so cogent an account of the nature of victimhood . . . Visceral and palpable . . . Among the most powerful pages I've read all year." - Scotland on Sunday

"There is an insight, often startling but always valuable, on almost every page . . . a tough, riveting read." - The Times

"Bravo to a survivor who refused to be silenced . . . What really marks this book out is his confrontation with the unsaid (or rarely said) aspects of child sexual abuse and mental illness . . . Some of these thoughts verge on the taboo and it takes clarity, courage and intelligence to say them as plainly and honestly as Rhodes does." - Independent

"A poet once said great books help you to live your life. They also help you survive your ruin, and James Rhodes's Instrumental is a masterpiece of creative endurance. His passion is his programme, his heart is his true instrument, and you might not read a more moral or more loving book this decade." - Andrew O’Hagan, author of OUR FATHERS

"A searingly honest, moving and compelling account of a life damaged by abuse but saved by music. James Rhodes is a rare and gifted spirit with something vital to tell us all." - Victoria Hislop, author of THE ISLAND and THE THREAD

From the Publisher

2016-10-31
A noted classical pianist revisits the horrors of the abuse and rape he experienced as a little boy and rehearses the enduring effects on his life, loves, and music.Rhodes debuts with a memoir that is, in many ways, a dark, underground cavern only intermittently permeated by shafts—and sometimes floods—of light. He divides his account into 20 "tracks," each of which begins with rumination about a relevant classical piece for the piano, including some biographical details about the composer and information about the performance he recommends. Throughout the passionate narrative, the author examines a variety of topics, including the serial rape he experienced for five years in elementary school (painful even to read—though not overly graphic), the enduring psychological problems that ensued (he says he's never more than "two bad weeks away from a locked ward"), the process of becoming a respected classical pianist (despite a 10-year hiatus in late adolescence/early adulthood), the events that led to the end of his first marriage (he offers numerous declarations of love for his son), his stays in mental institutions, and his fiery beliefs about the status and future of classical music. In a particularly bitter passage, Rhodes assails those whom he calls "gatekeepers," stuffy performers, record labels, and critics whom he blames for what he sees as the moribund state of the genre. He proposes a number of solutions, and he practices what he preaches—on YouTube are a number of his performances that make his beliefs and practices particularly clear. The text is replete with dismissive profanities for those he believes have earned his disdain. There are times when Rhodes becomes a bit preachy and repetitive, but, given the haunted house in which he's lived since boyhood, most readers will surely cut him some slack. A powerful story of day-to-day survival, struggle, triumph, and hope.

Kirkus Reviews

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