Dissonance: A Novel

by Stephen Orr

Dissonance begins with piano practice. Fifteen - year - old Erwin Hergert is forced to tackle scales and studies for six hours a day by his mother, Madge, who is determined to produce Australia's first great pianist. To help Erwin focus, Madge has exiled her husband, Johann, to the back shed. Jo is diagnosed with cancer and Madge allows him back inside, but only for long enough to die.Madge takes Erwin to Hamburg to continue his studies. Erwin prospers in Germany with his new teacher until he meets a neighbour, sixteen - year - old Luise, and finds there's more to life than music.Meanwhile, Germany is moving towards war. Late 1930s Hamburg forms the backdrop to an increasingly difficult love - triangle, as Erwin is torn between the piano, Luise, and the demands of his love and devotion to his mother. Soon the bombs, real and imagined, start falling. Marriage and parenthood give way to death, and tragedy. Before long Erwin and Madge are drawn into the horrors of a war that leaves little time for music.Dissonance is a re - imagining of the 'Frankfurt years' of Rose and Percy Grainger. This is a novel about love in one of its most extreme and destructive forms, and how people attempt to survive the threat of possession.

Genres: Australia

564 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Stephen Orr is an Australian writer of novels, short stories and non-fiction. His works are set in uniquely Australian settings, including coastal towns, outback regions and the Australian suburbs. His fiction explores the dynamics of Australian families and communities.

Reviews

[AngelaC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based loosely on the early life of Australian composer Percy Grainger, this is a fascinating novel set in the Barossa Valley in the 1920s and Hamburg in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Although nominally the story of musical genius Erwin Heggert, it is his domineering mother, Madge, who pervades every page of the novel. Her bitterness, abrasive character and obstinacy create never-ending conflict, firstly in their home town in the Barossa Valley and, later, in Hamburg to which the pair travel in order to continue Erwin's musical education at the Conservatorium. Madge rules every aspect of her son's existence through both mental and physical abuse and, in doing so, she creates a young man who seems incapable of plotting his own path through life.
The third main character is Luise, who is training to be a professional singer. When Erwin and Luise marry, she proves to be another strong-willed character in Erwin's life but even she is unable to withstand the onslaught from the redoubtable Madge.
The book is well-written, leading the reader to the poignant climax that gives a different view of characters and personalities.
I would thoroughly recommend this book.

[Nicki Markus · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book, I thought it would get at least four stars. How could I resist buying a book about music with links to Percy Grainger? Plus, the book started strongly and I was instantly swept into Erwin's world.

For the first three parts, I was entranced and unwilling to put the book down, but, for me, the ending just fell a little flat.

The horrors of his time in Poland never really touched me and I was left asking: yes, but what happened next? There was just so much left unresolved for me to feel entirely comfortable as I turned the last page.

Also, while a couple of mentions are made to the similarities between Erwin and Percy Grainger, it irked me that Erwin himself never seems to pick up on it - especially since he admires Grainger's music and must have known a little bit about him.

But this book still gets three stars as it is still a well-written piece - descriptive and captivating - and it is probably just the Grainger fan in me finding fault.

[Ruth Hosford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a great fan of Stephen Orrs books and this one didn’t disappoint. I know nothing about making or composing music, or for that matter singing, but I was intrigued by the story nonetheless. It is based on the life of Percy Grainger. In this story the young only child of a fiercely controlling mother is pushed to his limit, firstly in the rural Barossa Valley and then onto prewar Hamburg to further his career. The characters are remarkably well portrayed. I found it a riveting read and one I thoroughly recommend.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome. By moving the life of Percy grainger to another time and place Orr reflects on the complicated relations between Australian landscape and classical
music, Germany and the Barossa Valley, petty small towns and fascist cities. All the characters are complex in this novel, and I love the beautifully nuanced portrait of the pianist's mother, Rose/Madge. Compelling writing and fascinating story.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Orr is an established Australian author whose previous novels include Attempts to Draw Jesus, Hill of Grace and Time’s Long Ruin which was longlisted for the 2011 Miles Franklin Award and shortlisted for the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. His latest novel, Dissonance, seems destined for the awards too.

Very loosely based on the ‘Frankfurt years’ of the eccentric Australian composer Percy Grainger and his mother Rose, Dissonance tells the story of a mother’s obsessive ambition for her only child and her neurotic strategies for possession of his life. From the moment of conception Erwin Hergert was destined to transcend the cultural desert into which he was born and become a pianist of renown: she played to him in the womb and he started lessons at the age of four. She stopped at nothing in pursuit of her ambitions for him, wielding a horse-whip to enforce her will, and isolating him from anyone she feared might compromise his single-minded pursuit of success. She exiled her husband to a shed on the property, she prevented access to his half-brother and – using her parents’ money for the fare – she whisked him off to Hamburg as soon as he had outgrown his teachers at the Adelaide Conservatorium.

Orr explores the dynamics of this neurotic relationship as Madge’s formidable control begins to lapse.

To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/10/03/di...

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book by Stephen Orr that I've read this year and I was again rewarded with an intelligent story, evocative narrative and an engaging familiarity in the characters and settings. This is Orr's newest book and I felt it represented a further evolution in the way he weaves a fictional tale that resembles real and familiar events. This story begins in the pre second world war Barossa Valley, where a mother goes to great lengths to make her only child a world famous musician. This quest takes them to Germany, during which war breaks out and new relationships affect the mother's mission. It's a brilliant character study of what lengths a person will go for ambition and the realisation of a dream. A highly recommended book that I found very hard to put down.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is always lovely reading a book set, at least partially, in South Australia and written by a South Australian author. Although I enjoyed this book, it just felt a little bit like a copy of the movie Shine starring Geoffrey Rush (which is one of my favourite movies), although the emphasis of the story - the relationship between Erwin and his utter cow of a mother (who, as horrible characters go, is definitely up there with the best of them) - is different to the film. I do think that the author treated the relationship well, if not always completely realistically. As a reader, I hated Madge, but her son's feelings towards her would have been far more complex and that was definitely in evidence. As such, this was a good, solid book and therefore I would give it 3.5 stars.