Why then does ''Music & Silence,'' winner of Britain's prestigious Whitbread Award, feel so Of the music-hating Kirsten - these are ingredients that could add up to something marvelous. The glimpse of court life the tentative music-enhanced friendship of lutenist and king the shrewish outbursts That's the premise of Tremain's latest novel, and for admirers of her best book, ''Restoration,'' it looks promising.

Will harmony find a way to win out? Or will sterile silence prevail?

Sent into an inebriate tailspin by these woes, Christian looks for solace to his court musicians -Įspecially one angelic English lutenist, Peter Claire, who dares not speak of his own romantic frustrations to such a lovelorn king. Has turned into a gold-hoarding miser who wouldn't dream of helping her son out of his financial difficulties. As for Christian's aging mother, Queen Sofie, she His second wife, Kirsten Munk, openly despises him and is having an affair with a German count. King Christian IV's treasury is depleted and his latest moneymaking schemes have come to naught. Skinny on what was going down at Elsinore a few centuries earlier - but things are still pretty rotten in the state of Denmark. Ose Tremain's new novel takes place in and around Copenhagen in the early 17th century, a good three decades after Shakespeare provided the

Richard Eder Reviews 'Music & Silence' (April 24, 2000).

A novel explores the affairs and intrigues of 17th-century court life.

Rose tremain music and silence review