Music and Silence

''Music and Silence'' is a historical novel written by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

author

Rose Tremain Dame Rose Tremain (born 2 August 1943) is an English novelist, short story writer, and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. Life Rose Tremain was born Rosemary Jane Thomson on 2 August 1943 in London to Viola Mabel Thomson and ...

. It is set in and around the court of

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mon ...

in the years 1629 and 1630. The book won Best Novel at the 1999 Whitbread Awards. The main historical event depicted is the end of Christian's second marriage, to

Kirsten Munk Kirsten Munk (sometimes "Christina Munk"; 6 July 1598 19 April 1658) was a Danish noble, the second spouse of King Christian IV of Denmark, and mother to twelve of his children. Early life and morganatic marriage Kirsten Munk was the daughter o ...

, and the start of his third, to Vibeke Kruse. There are also numerous sub-plots and parallel stories, the main one being the love affair between two fictional characters, an

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...

Peter Claire and Emilia Tilsen, a Danish servant of Kirsten's. In addition there are several references to Danish history and flashbacks to Christian's childhood and subsequent development. Historical novels Novels set in Copenhagen 1999 novels Fiction set in 1629 Fiction set in 1630 Chatto & Windus books Novels about music Cultural depictions of Christian IV of Denmark Novels set in the 17th century {{1990s-hist-novel-stub