With The Piano: A History in 100 Pieces the Scottish born pianist and writer Susan Tomes investigates the history of the piano from the late 18th century until the present, undertaken via a personal investigation of a hundred compositions. These include not only solo works, but also concerti and chamber music. 

The piano has had a far greater repertoire written for it, and prior to the advent of 20th-century mass media, was the predominate means by which people personally discovered music. The author is also a highly regarded pianist who is perhaps best known as a member of the chamber group, Domus, and with her keen insight and knowledge, takes the reader through an eclectic and personal journey.

The book presents her favourites, from a widely chosen group of composers who reach from Bach and Scarlatti to the contemporary. Commencing with the Goldberg Variations, she not only talks of the work’s importance within Bach’s oeuvre but analyses it and talks of how the Canadian maverick Glenn Gould had introduced the piano public to this work in the mid-50s,...