title: A Devil to Play: One Man's Year-Long Quest to Master the Orchestra's Most Difficult Instrument
author:  Jasper Rees 
description: Rees, a London journalist, decided to face his midlife crisis by picking up the French horn&mdash;an instrument he hadn't played since he was a teenager&mdash;and whip himself back into shape so he could play a Mozart concerto in front of an audience in just one year. Luckily, he had one of England's best horn players to give him lessons, but it was still an uphill battle&mdash;for starters, the concerto was composed in the key of E flat, but the horn was tuned to F, so Rees (like every performer before him) had to transpose the notes down a tone as he played along. Along the way, he recounts the instrument's colorful history, including a playful recreation of the first performance of Handel's <I>Water Music</I> (when the hunting horn first appeared alongside more widely acknowledged serious instruments), and chats with many of the world's leading performers, as well as Holly Hunter and Ewan McGregor who, like Rees, played the instrument in their youth. Rees's self-assigned quest turns into an amiable romp with quiet bits of inspiration. <I>(Dec.)</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text:  
  in
   
  THE MYSTERY
  OF THE
  DEVIL’S MUSIC
   
  
   
  What’s the matter with Bob? Why does the otherwise so well-balanced detective
  suddenly react aggressively to his friends, Jupiter and Pete? He seems to be under
  the influence of an unknown force. Jupiter and Pete follow their friend
  unobtrusively into the concert hall of a private house. There he listens spellbound
  to the music of a virtuoso violin player. And before they know what is happening
  to them, Jupiter and Pete are also bewitched by the music. Can they escape the
  spell of the devil violinist before it’s too late?
   
  
   
  The Three Investigators
  in
  The Mystery of the Devil’s Music
   
  Original German text by
  André Marx
  (from an idea by André Marx & Christian Strohkirch)
  Based on characters created by
  Robert Arthur
   
  
   
  Translated, adapted, and edited from:
  Die drei ???: Musik des Teufels
  (The Three ???: Music of the Devil)
  by
  André Marx
  (from an idea by André Marx & Christian Strohkirch)
  (1998)
   
  Cover art by
  Aiga Rasch
   
  (2020-02-23)
   
  
  