Nietzsche wrote that without music, life would be a mistake. Edna St. Vincent Millay said that without music, she would wish to die. Among current writers, Richard Powers has written beautifully about life with music, particularly in his novel The Time of Our Singing.
The story is about a black woman in 1930s Philadelphia, her German-Jewish physicist husband, and their sons. Throughout their lives, each of the family members has their own deeply meaningful experiences with music. At the end of the novel, Powers writes that music reminds us of “how short a time we have a body.”
Key Takeaways:
- Nietzsche and Edna St. Vincent Millay both considered music essential to life.
- Powers’ novel is about a black woman in the 1930s who marries a German-Jewish physicist.
- The couple’s son is the narrator, and he is moved by a performance of an ancient music choir.
“No writer has conceded it more beautifully or with more rapturous reverence for the life of the body in the life of music than Richard Powers in his exquisite 2003 novel The Time of Our Singing (public library).”
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