Music carries meaning throughout the novel, in particular works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bach and Schubert which accompany the characters through different stages of their lives, acquiring new resonances as those lives change. Music evokes the people they once were, preserves friendship and memory, and offers consolation. But it cannot undo experience.
Beethoven’s ‘Spring’ Sonata (Op.24) for piano and violin lies at the heart of the novel. Hearing it on the radio, some 25 years ago, was the initial spark for writing the book, and it is the piece which brings the main characters together at the start of the narrative. It becomes their ‘signature piece’, their “favourite, most special piece”, performed regularly and with great affection. For me, it conveys something of the innocence and optimism of youth with its its modest, serene melodies, its joyful tone, and its refreshingly hopeful qualities. As such, it seems the ideal piece for two young people who are poised on the cusp of professional success with excitement and ambition.
The other duo sonata which takes centre stage in the first part of the novel is Brahms’ expansive sonata in D minor for Violin & Piano, Op. 108. An ambitious, large-scale work, technically and artistically challenging, and quite different from the ‘Spring’ sonata in terms of its breadth and expressive depth.
In writing about music in the book, I wanted to convey both the emotional experience of music, from the point of view of player and listener, but I also wanted to write about the physical “feel” of certain pieces under the hands (this becomes more significant later in the book), so I have tried to include piano music that I have played myself (for example, Schubert’s Opus 90 Impromptus) and know well, to understand both the physical and emotional demands, and the pleasures and the challenges of specific pieces. Certain pieces also have an emblematic or metaphysical place within the narrative.
There are numerous other pieces for which appear in the book, and I have compiled them into a playlist which I hope readers will enjoy exploring.
F M Wilson, August 2026
NINE BARROW PRESS 