Editing Michael Gilbert (section)

== Music ==
Gilbert apparently had an abiding interest in, and deep knowledge of, music. Many of his earlier books contain scenes, some of them quite lengthy, involving choirs, in churches, cathedrals, boarding schools, and neighbourhood organizations. Additionally, a number of his secondary characters are accomplished musicians of one kind or another, some of them at the professional level. He also occasionally uses musical references to indicate a sudden change of direction in his present story. In a typical example from ''Paint, Gold and Blood'' (1989), the protagonist has just received an unexpected letter from an old school friend and opens the envelope:
<blockquote>A single note from a flute, or perhaps from a clarinet, had interrupted the rhythm of the tympani and the strings to announce the start of a new movement.<ref>''Paint, Gold and Blood'', [[Harper & Row]], New York, 1989, page 83.</ref></blockquote>