Between the Lines: Obsession reading list

New Zealand String Quartet
1 hour ago
3 min read

Welcome to Between the Lines, our brand-new musical book club series created with Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Wellington Central Library, Orchestra Wellington and New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī. We're bringing music and literature into conversation across seven free, monthly concerts.

For the second session in the series, but the first hosted, curated and performed by NZSQ, we're exploring obsession. From infatuation to guilt to eccentricities to passion, composers and writers have been obsessing about obsession for centuries. This concert brings together some of the most fascinating cases of it in classical music and places them alongside thought-provoking literature.

Explore our music and reading lists below, but watch out you don't become too obsessed!

See you there: Thursday 28 May, 5:30pm on the Bleachers, Ground Floor of Te Matapihi Wellington Central Library. Its free to attend, but we recommend you book a spot here.

MUSIC

Carlo Gesualdo | “Io parto' e non più dissi” (I am departing and I said no more…)

Erik Satie | Gymnopédies 1 & 3

Carlo Gesualdo | “Deh, come invan sospiro” (Ah, how in vain I sigh…)

Robert Schumann | String Quartet Op. 41/1

Carlo Gesualdo | “Moro Lasso” (I die, alas, in my suffering…)

Meredith Monk | Stringsongs

LITERATURE

	*The flowers of evil* by Charles Baudelaire Find it in WCC's catalogue: French & English Poetry Links to: Erik Satie's Gymnopédies 1 & 3
	*The Marriage Diaries of Robert & Clara Schumann: from their wedding day through the Russia trip* edited by Gerd Neuhaus; translated by Peter Ostwald Find it in WCC's catalogue Diary Links to: Robert Schumann's String Quartet Op. 41/1
	*Smitten: romantic obsession, the neuroscience of limerence, and how to make love last* by Tom Bellamy Find it in WCC's catalogue Non-fiction Links to: Robert Schumann's String Quartet Op. 41/1
	*Robert Schumann: life and death of a musician* by John Worthen Find it in WCC's catalogue Biography Links to: Robert Schumann's String Quartet Op. 41/1
	*Wuthering Heights* by Emily Brontë Find it in WCC's catalogue Fiction, romance Links to: Carlo Gesualdo's madrigals
	*Satie seen through his letters* by Satie Erik Find it in WCC's catalogue Letters Links to: Erik Satie's Gymnopédies 1 & 3
	*Beethoven’s Skull: dark, strange, and fascinating tales from the world of classical music and beyond* by Tim Rayborn Find it in WCC's catalogue Anecdotes, humour Links to: Carlo Gesualdo's madrigals
	*The Little Stranger* by Sarah Waters Find it in WCC's catalogue Fiction, horror Links to: Carlo Gesualdo's madrigals
	*Erik Satie: Three Piece Suite* by Ian Penman Find it in WCC's catalogue Biography Links to: Erik Satie's Gymnopédies 1 & 3
	*The Genius Myth: The Dangerous Allure of Rebels, Monsters and Rule-Breakers* by Helen Lewis Find it in WCC's catalogue Non-fiction Links to: Carlo Gesualdo's madrigals
	*The Charlotte Perkins Gilman Reader: The Yellow Wallpaper and other fiction* by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Find it in WCC's catalogue Fiction, short stories Links to: Robert Schumann's String Quartet Op. 41/1