Daily Archives: March 31, 2014

Protagonist Musicians in SF, pt.2—Erich Zann

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TITLE: Music of Erich Zann (available here)
AUTHOR: H.P. Lovecraft
YEAR: 1922

PJE SYNOPSIS
A perpetually poor student in Paris finds an affordable residence in a part of the city that doesn’t actually exist, but seemed to for a short while. While living on the fifth floor, he hears music, eerie music, disconcerting music, coming from the sixth floor and wants to find out more.  He meets Erich Zann who plays viol(!).  By day/evening Zann plays for theater orchestras, but by night/early morning plays music for an audience beyond……..  When our poor student meets EZ, says he wants to meet/listen, EZ humors him at first with some typical classics. Student is curious about the other music, EZ sends him away, mortified to know that student has been eavesdropping. EZ later relents, allowing student to witness him playing the “music” for something not of this world/time/space/cosmic psychology.  Student flees in horror, tries to return, but can never find the neighborhood ever again.

REALLY A MUSICIAN?
Yes!
1) EZ plays viol for crying out loud!  Though HPL did not know much about music, we are given the impression that he is technically proficient, musically knowledgeable, etc.
2) Despite constant playing and practicing, EZ can still only afford to live in the cheapest parts of town
3) EZ hates to know that other people are listening to him when he is not performing.

WHY A MUSICIAN?
Music is the most ephemeral of the arts, and HPL takes that to a further extreme—ephemeral to the point of supernatural.

CONCLUSIONS?
As with most HPL, the narrator is a unwitting-observer, so the reader is not sure what it is exactly that EZ is doing, or where he’s getting his music from.  One wonders if he is attempting to communicate with the beyond through music, or if he’s taking dictation for new ideas, though his reticence does not lend itself towards the latter.  One could read this short story as a play on the adage “Music soothes the savage beast”.

RECOMMENDED?
Yes.  HPL called this one of his favorites, and it does have a certain flavor and pacing that stands out from the rest of his oeuvre. Short and crisp, psychologically compelling enough to be a gateway to the rest of HPL’s work.

© 2014 Peter J. Evans, theorist

Protagonist Musicians in SF, pt. 1

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TITLE: We Who Are About To…
AUTHOR: Joanna Russ
YEAR: 1975

PJE SYNOPSIS
The protagonist is a musicologist who just happens to be female.  Due to an accident to the faster-than-light-speed drive, a ship is forced to land on an uninhabited planet millions of light years from anywhere. Protagonist suggests that doom is inevitable, while other passengers suggest attempting ‘colonization’. Protagonist is on the side of pragmatism: though things seem OK for now, air, water, plants could be partially poisonous—-days are too long, weather too dry for cultivation, etc. Among the other passengers are a family with a teenage daughter (Lori), a jock, a ‘professor of ideas’, and two younger women, one of whom is en route to military training.  Add to that, the protagonist hordes pharmaceuticals and micro-weaponry, and goes to great lengths to conceal these, so that even when she is found out and thoroughly searched some of her stash remains undiscovered. This, along with some ‘code-speak’ she attempts with the trainee, suggests that she might be an undercover agent of some sort. Without  totally giving it away, let’s just say her viewpoint prevails in the end (for those who have read this book, please note the irony…)

REALLY A MUSICIAN?
YES! Protagonist claims to be a scholar of John Dowland in particular and Late Renaissance/Early Baroque in general. In the early parts of the book she sings songs (including some by Dowland) around the camp-fire, to help calm the child etc.

WHY A MUSICIAN?
Protagonist spends much time in a dark and secluded cave, so obviously a musician would be be able to handle that duty… Protagonist is also equipped with a voice-activated recorder, enabling her to archive the plight. Additionally she often speaks derogatorily to the professor of ideas, contrasting her own practical approach with his idealistic approach, which is actually a quite remarkable statement regarding the study of music (which itself is often considered a-practical).  Additionally, she is also well-rounded, often quoting poetry and history, making her an ideal archivist for the group.  Also typically for a trained musician, she shows the requisite amount of disdain. Oddly enough when Lori says she wants to be a composer, the protagonist does not jump at this opportunity to teach or encourage, probably because of her pragmatism regarding the living situation.  The protagonist’s relationship with Lori is one of the few quasi-connective relationships she has with any of the group.

CONCLUSIONS?
All in all, the Protagonist is a musician inasmuch as she is the archetypal Storyteller, sharing songs and shaping histories about the current group and others long gone. She is also the one person in the group able to read celestial/solar activity in terms of day lengths and seasonal transitions.

RECOMMENDED?
YES—Good read, lots to chew on… and on…

© 2014 Peter J. Evans, theorist