Why “A Song of Sorrow?”
Welcome to my fourth newsletter. If you want to review the first three, they are Blogs on my website, thesongsofwar.com. The first four books of The Songs of War series are available there, and the fifth will be published in April.
Readers like you sometimes decide whether to buy a book by reading the reviews, so it is essential for you to rate the book and leave a review. You can contact me at thesongsofwar@gmail.com. to get a free book in exchange for a promise to review it honestly.
Contrary to popular belief, war is not natural, although many people, for different reasons, accept it as such. In today’s media-soaked world, where ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ are more important than live friends, we are fed a constant stream of what we euphemistically call information. In times of war, cable news and social media feed us glimpses into the lives of victims—those who fight, those who die, and those who grieve. We sit in our comfortable chairs and watch sorrow play out live on our flat-screen televisions, laptops, phones and tablets, muting the commercials while we discuss what we should do about dinner. We grow accustomed to death, loss and suffering, and the networks scurry to dramatize fresh tragedies. A television war leaves us thinking of war as entertainment, like a sport, full of clichés. We are only indirectly aware of the human cost. A thousand dead? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? Millions? We can’t differentiate.
There is nothing in our lives that moves our emotions like music. From popular songs to symphonies and operas, we are moved to laughter and tears. Ancient civilizations sang their history to their children. The Book of Psalms in the Bible’s Old Testament is history written to be sung. Most aboriginal cultures sing their history, keeping it alive through song. Because we have been so desensitized to tragedy, words are no longer enough to describe war. Ergo, music as an expressive medium in my wartime series, “A Song of Sorrow.”
Juliette, my first singing teacher, taught me how to express myself with my singing voice, using the primitive part of my vocal cords to produce a melodic sound. I learned to tell the story hidden in my character’s emotions by singing, and now that my singing fails me, I write it in prose. “A Song of Sorrow” is Juliette’s story of unbearable sorrow in a counterpunctual world of beautiful music. The link is to the complete opera, which is important as accompaniment to the book. La Traviata
Juliette’s first duet with Alfredo begins at 14:00; Her ‘freedom’ aria begins at 21:40; The second duet begins at 31:20; Their fight at the party begins at 1:23:10; The death of Violette begins at 1:37:40. To add context, these are the points in the opera mentioned in the book, but the entire opera is critical to the spirit of the book.
When Juliette chose to fight the Nazis, she declared a personal war on the most intelligent, manipulative evil in the world. Her enemy was not an alliance of fools but a formidable organization of experts in their fields. When the Nazis crossed the line on Kristallnacht, Juliette devoted her considerable talent to fighting a battle against the regime she hated. Her intelligence equalled her enemy’s, but could she learn to be merciless? And would that be enough?
La Bohéme Act III La Bohéme Act IV
I have chosen two excerpts from La Bohéme to close my newsletter. The first is the duet /quartet from Act III, performed in Salzburg in 2012. The subtitles are in German, but for those who don’t speak it, the plot is simple: Mimi has tuberculosis and must have a warm place to live, something a poor writer like Rudolpho can’t offer, so Mimi and Rudolpho say goodbye until spring while their friends, Marcello and Musetta, quarrel in the background. The second excerpt in this tragedy is the final scene in the same performance of the opera.
I want to thank you for subscribing to my newsletter. I will continue to explain the intent behind the books, and music will continue to be a significant theme. The next book, Book 3: Reap the Whirlwind is available on my website, thesongsofwar.com. Juliette has a minor role in a story that looks at the battle to save the small city of Heilbronn from British bombs from both sides.