The Music Behind the Story
From the Publisher: We welcome author Sue Farwick back for her second guest blog post. Her first guest post, “Never Too Late,” discussed her trajectory as a writer, from blogging and photography writing to becoming a published novelist. In the present post, she returns to discuss the influence of music and family on her first novel, The Eternal Song. Join her as we get a glimpse into the inspiration behind the novel and its main character, Lucy Welbourne. Stay tuned for the third post in this three-post author series in early June. Thank you, Sue!
Although I never had any formal education in music, it has always been a great source of inspiration to me. From the time that, as a young child, I heard an orchestra playing Ketelby’s In a Persian Market to hearing and seeing people like Luciano Pavarotti, Samuel Ramey, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky performing onstage, music has thrilled me to my very marrow.
Excerpts from Thoughts on Music (originally published in my blog, Incidentally)
Once upon a time, I had an uncle who asked me, “How can anyone not like music?” The question was immediately followed by the emphatic statement, “Without music, you’re nothing!” We were standing in a crowded London pub at the time, and the conversation was no doubt accompanied by the sounds of someone playing “Boiled Beef and Carrots” on an untuned piano.
My uncle was rumored to be the son of a famous singer who, rather than tarnish his reputation with a messy divorce, had declined to marry my grandmother and left her to bring up her son with the help of a very understanding family. So, in a way, it wasn’t surprising that he held such passionate views about music.
My grandmother’s family included numerous brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins, many of whom had true musical talent. According to my mother, when they all got together for a party, which was quite frequently, they would perform their own special party pieces, which might be a song or poem or a tune played on the piano or violin.
Not to be outdone by her siblings, my grandmother would give her rendition of the song ‘My Hero’ from “The Chocolate Soldier,” a show in which her erstwhile lover had apparently performed, and at the conclusion she and her four sisters would all inevitably break down in tears, evidently remembering her doomed romance. This had a domino effect as it would invariably cause my mother to cry whenever she heard that particular song, and when I took her to see the show, just a few years before she passed away, we both sat and wept through almost the entire thing. We are an emotional lot!
I’m a romantic at heart, so, to me, music and romance go hand-in-hand. But while girls of my age were screaming over the Beatles, I was imagining what it must have been like to have inspired the great composers such as Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov. How wonderful it would be to hear someone like Caruso, Gigli, or Corelli singing just for me!
These imaginings continued throughout my adult life until, finally, I decided to create a story around a character who falls in love with a singer. But not just any singer. Someone from the past. How this would happen in a relatively modern-day setting was the question. And so, The Eternal Song took flight.
I immersed myself in Lucy’s life. I could visualize clearly everything that she said and did. Why was she obsessed with a singer from the past, and how would she get to meet him? Writing the storyline was easy, but going back and adding color and factual content took a lot of time and effort.
Even after all that, I lacked one thing, the self-confidence to share the story with anyone else. I printed it out and put it in a drawer, and it remained there for several years.
But I’ve learned that, as I grow older, I need to make the most of the time I have left. I wanted to leave behind something other than memories and old photos. So, when the folks at Tribus Press read The Eternal Song, gave it their nod of approval, and told me that I should go ahead and see it published, I agreed.
I cannot say enough good things about the people at Tribus Press. Their professionalism and attention to detail have been outstanding. Their encouragement and understanding have given me the impetus to not only put The Eternal Song out there but also bring other stories like Smoke out of the drawer and into the light.
- Sue Farwick, author of The Eternal Song in The Connections Series