''Music and Silence'' is a historical novel written by English author
Rose Tremain. The audiobook, released in 2009, is narrated by
Michael Praed,
Clare Wille
Clare Wille is an English stage and television actress. Wille has been working as an actress and voiceover artist since graduating from RADA in 1997. Her recent theatre work includes ''Seeing Without Light'' at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth Theatre ...
, and Alison Dowling.
''Music and Silence'' is set in and around the court of
Christian IV of Denmark in the years 1629 and 1630. The main historical event depicted is the end of Christian's second marriage, to
Kirsten Munk, and the start of his third, to
Vibeke Kruse Vibeke Kruse (died 1648) was the official mistress of King Christian IV of Denmark between 1629 and 1648 and the mother of one of his three acknowledged, illegitimate sons, Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve. She was described as influential.
Life
Not ...
. There are also numerous sub-plots and parallel stories, the main one being the love affair between two fictional characters, an
English lutenist Peter Claire and Emilia Tilsen, a Danish servant of Kirsten's. In addition there are several references to Danish history and
flashbacks to Christian's childhood and subsequent development.
Reception
''Music and Silence'' was generally well-received among British press. ''
The Guardian'' gave the novel an average rating of 8.6 out of 10 based on reviews from multiple British newspapers.
The book won the
1999 Whitbread Award for Novel.
References
{{reflist
1999 British novels
Chatto & Windus books
Cultural depictions of Christian IV of Denmark
Fiction set in 1629
Fiction set in 1630
Historical novels
Novels about music
Novels set in Copenhagen
Novels set in the 17th century