{"id":120174,"date":"2025-12-09T15:50:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T20:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=120174"},"modified":"2025-12-10T07:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T12:00:02","slug":"interview-tom-allen-talks-classical-musick-almynack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/12\/09\/interview-tom-allen-talks-classical-musick-almynack\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Tom Allen Talks About His Classical Musick Almynack"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R:
L-R: Author, broadcaster and storyteller Tom Allen (Photo courtesy of the artist); Tom Allen\u2019s Classical Musick Almynack (Photo courtesy of the artist); Tom Allen (Photo: Max Telzerow)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tom Allen’s Classical Musick Almynack \u2014 A Compendium of Classical Curiosities Calendrically Catalogued \u2014 is a new book by the veteran broadcaster. It aims to offer tidbits, inspiration, activities (including recipes), and more, all based on nuggets gleaned during his many years as a musician, concert host, and author.<\/p>\n

Organized by month, each section begins with a proposition. January\u2019s for example, is \u201cCan Classical Music Get Me In Shape?\u201dAlong with whimsical illustrations by Ian Bell (which permeate the book), a flow chart offers tidbits like Beethoven and Mahler\u2019s walking habits, and athlete Bruny Surin\u2019s classical piano career (which includes recent performances with the Laval Symphony), among others.<\/p>\n

There are cartoons based on anecdotes about various composers and other figures, recipes, a timeline of significant dates during the month in question, anecdotes, suggested musical activities, and more.<\/p>\n

LV spoke with Allen about his new venture.<\/p>\n

Tom Allen<\/h2>\n

Born in Montr\u00e9al, Allen studied music at McGill University, Boston University and Yale University. He worked as a musician for several years, playing bass trombonist in New York City, and going on tour with the Great Lakes Brass.<\/p>\n

Tom began working for the CBC on his 30th birthday, and has hosted a variety of shows with the broadcaster, including Fresh Air, Weekender, Music and Company, Radio 2 Morning, Shift, About Time, and This is My Music, as well as filling in on a number of prominent current affairs programs.<\/p>\n

Alongside his radio career, he\u2019s been involved in several initiatives related to Western classical music over the years. That includes hosting ten seasons of concerts with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and another ten seasons of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Afterworks series, among others. He helped to created Eight Days In June, a music festival, with Peter Oundjian. He\u2019s published several books, including Toe Rubber Blues (1999), Rolling Home (2001), and The Gift of the Game (2005).<\/p>\n

He\u2019s married to harpist Lori Gemmell<\/strong>, and with her, has presented a series of storytelling shows, including JS Bach\u2019s Long Walk In The Snow<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tom Allen: The Interview<\/h3>\n

The Almynack consists of notes and facts, some that were only noted in his memory, collected over decades in and around classical music. When did he realize he was collecting material for a book?<\/p>\n

\u201cAt no point, honestly,\u201d Allen says. \u201cI think collecting is too active a verb. I\u2019m a storyteller. Without even knowing, it, I\u2019m collecting stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over time, he realized what a wealth of material he possessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really how this book came into existence.\u201d<\/p>\n

His attention was drawn to the quirky and unusual. He includes many of those gems in the flow charts that begin each month. \u201cShould I eat these mushrooms? Should I marry my sweetheart\u2019s sibling? That was a good one.\u201d The former comes with the month of August, and includes notes like the fact that composer Johann Schobert, his wife, four friends, the maid, and one of their children all perished after eating poisonous fungi he\u2019d collected that fateful morning in 1767.<\/p>\n

June, devoted to weddings, includes both Should I Marry My Sweetheart? and Should I Marry My Sweetheart\u2019s Sibling? \u201cThere were varying degrees of success with that,\u201d Allen notes. Surprisingly, many of the sweetheart sibling unions were quite successful, including the marriages of Mozart and Dvo\u0159\u00e1k. \u201cHaydn was the terrible failure,\u201d he adds. \u201cI had that flowchart from years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShould I quit my day job? That was a fun one.\u201d That flowchart appears in September, and let\u2019s just say, the answer is a mixed bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn November, its when will my brilliance be recognized? and the answer is kind of never,\u201d he laughs. \u201cAnd the cost of being recognized is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ludwig Spohr (1784 to 1859) was a popular composer and conductor in his time. \u201cIn some ways, in the model for big conductors as we see it [today],\u201d he says. \u201cAnd he\u2019s completely forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

That, despite the fact that he invented the chin rest, as well as a way of notating scores with sections to make rehearsals easier.<\/p>\n

Compiling the Book<\/h3>\n

Sometimes he took notes of the facts and stories he came across. Many pieces of the puzzle, however, came only from his memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the way my memory works. I hang on to things I find interesting,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Putting the book together took several months. \u201cIt probably took the first half of this calendar year.\u201d From January till June, Allen was digging out facts, and trying to figure out how to incorporate them in various formats in the book. Some of the information was used his radio programs. \u201cFor example, in the August segment there\u2019s a little entry with John Cage getting lost in Saskatchewan woods.\u201d He turned that tidbit into a radio show during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

When it came to formatting, he worked closely with illustrator Ian Bell<\/strong>. \u201cHe has a couple of old printing presses,\u201d Allen notes. That includes a 19th century press with wooden letters, and hand printed fonts with wooden letters. \u201cSo that they\u2019re imperfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

It adds to the charm of the book. \u201cThe ink is not uniform and there are all sorts of imperfections.\u201d One month was printed as a trial run.<\/p>\n

He had such a wealth of information that many items were condensed. \u201cThat was months of work,\u201d he notes of the John Cage in Saskatchewan story. But, it takes up only seven lines in the book. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of unfair how reduced everything was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell contributed many ideas on how to put everything together. \u201cWe collaborated on the format and how it would work.\u201d Allen appreciated Bell\u2019s sense of humour. On page 29, for example, there\u2019s a story about Peter Maxwell Davies, who was Master of the Queen\u2019s Music in 2005. One day, a whooper swan flew into the electrical lines where he lived, and it died. Davies collected the bird\u2019s corpse, using the feathers for a costume, and made a terrine out of its liver. He was observed, though, and wildlife authorities came to his door to ask about his handling of the protected species. Davies, in turn, asked if they wanted some of the terrine.<\/p>\n

Bell\u2019s illustration is of the terrine with the swan\u2019s feet sticking out.<\/p>\n

Where It Began<\/h3>\n

It all began, as Allen mentions in his introduction, with a music class he took in 1982 with professor John Daverio<\/strong> at Boston University. \u201cHe\u2019s a wonderfully engaging historian.\u201d Previously, Allen had viewed the world of classical music history as somewhat boring in nature. The professor\u2019s story about the music director of St. Mark\u2019s Cathedral in Venice in the 16th century, who wrote a note to his choristers warning them to stop feuding with each other \u2014 they were throwing meat and bones at each other during the service \u2014 changed his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the first time that classical music history seemed very human to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He notes that in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a tendency to view the classical music world with a kind of pretentious reverence \u2014 that the music somehow existed beyond the confines of daily life. He uses a Mozart symphony as an example. \u201cMozart\u2019s 41st symphony is a work of astonishing complexity,\u201d he says. \u201cBut he was also human, and greatly flawed. It makes this work of great art even more astounding to me,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn every other respect except making this music they were just like you and me. My whole approach to music and storytelling is that producing extraordinary things is possible within very ordinary lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting the Word Out<\/h3>\n

Allen reports that the book, published in fall 2025, has proven to be popular. \u201cThere\u2019s demand for the book across the country,\u201d he reports. \u201cPeople are looking for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s entered into a partnership with music retailer Long & McQuade, where his Almynack will take its place among the music scores and student exercise books.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s created kind of a fun intersection of communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are you looking to promote an event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0news tip<\/u><\/a>? Need to know the best\u00a0events<\/u><\/a>\u00a0happening this weekend? Send us a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>note<\/u>.<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! \u2014 local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox <\/em>HERE<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Allen’s Classical Musick Almynack \u2014 A Compendium of Classical Curiosities Calendrically Catalogued \u2014 is a new book by the veteran broadcaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":120176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,7,27,29,63],"tags":[36971,4668],"yst_prominent_words":[27260,11027,6767,6715,14729,6616,14728,29434],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_5.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-vgi","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120174"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120183,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120174\/revisions\/120183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120174"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=120174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}