Instrumental cover art

Instrumental

A Memoir of Madness, Medication, and Music

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Instrumental

By: James Rhodes
Narrated by: Mark Meadows
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About this listen

James Rhodes' passion for music has been his absolute lifeline. It has been the thread that has held him together through a life that has encompassed pain, conflict and turmoil. Listening to Rachmaninov on a loop as a traumatised teenager or discovering an adagio by Bach while in a hospital ward - such exquisite miracles of musical genius have helped him survive his demons and, along with a chance encounter with a stranger, inspired him to become the renowned concert pianist he is today. This is a memoir like no other: unapologetically candid, boldly outspoken and surprisingly funny - James' prose is shot through with an unexpectedly mordant wit, even at the darkest of moments. 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.

©2014 James Rhodes (P)2017 Audible, Ltd Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity Funny

Critic Reviews

"The publishing sensation of the year." ( Mail on Sunday)
"Thrilling and harrowing.... Unsurpassed and unsurpassable" ( Sunday Times)
"There is an insight, often startling but always valuable, on almost every page...a tough, riveting read." ( The Times)

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Contemporary and moving

What a life. So much packed into what amounts to a very short book.

An offering in extremes - brutal, soothing, adventurous, stupid, triumphant but most of all, moving.

Beautifully and expressively read.

I am cheering on the breakdown of elitism that is set like plaque around classical music. James is an every-man rebel behind a piano keyboard. Marvellous.

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