Review: Music for another history
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 4, 2013
Davids Carrico's "1635: Music and Murder" brings 21st Century music to 17th Century Europe.To anyone who knows Eric Flint's 1632 series, in which he allows other authors to write, that statement makes sense.To anyone who loves music, the book is much more.The 1632 series postulates that through some kind of cosmic event, a little town in West Virginia is sent back in time to 1632. The central theme is how it affects warfare and politics. But it affects so many other things.What does music do? It entertains us, it tells us stories, it makes us laugh, it moves us, it can overwhelm us. Carrico's book does all of that.It follows the story of Marla Linder, a recent Grantville High School graduate who breaks barriers to become the first great female vocalist in Europe, and Franz Sylvester, a crippled violinist who becomes Europe's first true symphony conductor. They, together with 17th Century friends and some actual historical figures, change the face of music.Carrico's work mostly appeared first in The Grantville Gazette, a collection of writings by non-professional followers of 1632 stories. Carrico has gone beyond non-professional. You can see the growth in his book. He ends an early chapter with a hokey, "And the Grantville hills will be alive with the sound of music."He ends the book with an amazing "Elegy for Lost Innocence," a vocal piece written and sung by a friend after Marla's first child is stillborn and she falls into deep depression. The piece starts and ends with a lullaby. In the middle is an agonizing lament: "How could you take her?/She did nothing wrong!/She didn't deserve to die!"/Send her back!/Take me in her place!"It moved me to tears. Isn't that what music can do?