Difference between revisions of "On Wings of Song"
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| − | '''''On Wings of Song''''' | + | These are notes for '''''On Wings of Song''''', a 1979 novel by [[Thomas M. Disch]], originally serialized in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction''. It follows the life and career of Daniel Weinreb, who aspires to become a singer—and to experience "flying", a form of electronically-assisted astral projection triggered by singing—in a deeply dysfunctional near-future America where Midwestern states have fallen into religious fascism. |
| − | + | * '''[[/Part One|Part One]]''' | |
| + | * '''[[/Part Two|Part Two]]''' | ||
| + | * '''[[/Part Three|Part Three]]''' | ||
| − | + | {{SummaryWarning}} | |
| − | + | ''On Wings of Song'' was Disch's first return to novel-length science fiction after ''[[Camp Concentration]]'' ten years earlier—not counting ''[[334]]'', which began as a short story cycle—although he had been writing novels in other genres (historical fiction, gothic, etc.). It was his first work to feature openly gay themes, as well as other aspects of his life that he hadn't focused on in writing before, namely his childhood in Iowa and Minnesota, and his experience with opera. Disch had performed as an extra in operas in New York City, and wrote librettos for two operas by {{wp|Greg Sandow}} (''The Fall of the House of Usher'' and ''Frankenstein'').<ref>{{cite article|author=Sandow, Greg|title=Frankenstein|url=https://gregsandow.com/old/frankenstein.htm|publication=Gregsandow.com|accessed=January 20, 2025}} This archive includes the full libretto and score of ''Frankenstein'', and audio recordings of a workshop production.</ref> | |
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| − | == | + | An early harbinger of the novel was Disch's two-page story fragment "How to Fly" (1977), a whimsical and lyrical set of instructions to the reader for achieving personal levitation. Even though the story describes flight as physical rather than psychic, it establishes the idea that "the most certain way ... is to accompany flight with song", and ends with: "who shall say that any price is too great for what is surely life's supreme pleasure?" In his preface to a reprint of the story in 1982, Disch described how the leap from there to "the idea for my novel, ''On Wings of Song'', and most of the plot"<ref>{{cite book|author=Disch, Thomas M.|date=1981|title=The Man Who Had No Idea|publisher=Bantam|pub-date=1982|isbn=0553226673}} "How to Fly" first appeared in the British magazine ''{{wp|Bananas (literary magazine)|Bananas}}'', No. 8, Summer 1977 (''[http://www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/k01/k01582.htm# The FictionMags Index]'').</ref> was prompted by reading {{wp|John Berger}}'s "The Moment of Cubism."<ref>{{cite article|author=Berger, John|title=The Moment of Cubism|date=1967|publication=Verso Books Blog|pub-date=December 6, 2018|url=https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/3035-the-moment-of-cubism?srsltid=AfmBOori0UTXxSSfo5ne67CbIfL8tN0A8GikshDyiJLoaZ92fCfcaiQX|accessed=January 24, 2025}} Originally published in [https://newleftreview.org/issues/i42/articles/john-berger-the-moment-of-cubism ''New Left Review'' 42].</ref> Berger's essay on modern art's relationship to technological change, specifically in terms of how they can both be ''liberating'' experiences, cited these lines from Apollinaire's "Tree" about the new experience of a telephone call, with imagery suggesting an out-of-body experience: "Already I hear the shrill sound of the friend's voice to come / Who walks with you in Europe / Whilst never leaving America."<ref>{{cite book|author=Apollinaire, Guillaume|translator=Anne Hyde Greet|title=Calligrammes|date=1918|url=https://www.academia.edu/28746823/Apollinaire_Calligrams_pdf|location=Berkeley|publisher=University of California Press|pub-date=1980|isbn=0520019687}}</ref> |
| − | + | == Title == | |
| − | This is the | + | This is the English translation of the title of Heinrich Heine's poem "{{wp|On Wings of Song (poem)|Auf Flügeln des Gesanges}}" (1827), which was set to music by Felix Mendelssohn in 1834 (known as Mendelssohn's Opus 34, No. 2). In English, the poem's first and last stanzas are: |
| − | + | <poem> | |
| + | On wings of song, | ||
| + | Sweetheart, I carry you away, | ||
| + | Away to the fields of the Ganges, | ||
| + | Where I know the most beautiful place. .... | ||
| + | There we will lie down | ||
| + | Under the palm tree | ||
| + | Drink in peace and love | ||
| + | And dream our blissful dream. | ||
| + | </poem> | ||
| − | + | == Epigram == | |
| − | |||
| − | == | ||
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| − | + | <blockquote>Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc mundo.</blockquote> | |
| − | + | This is the beginning of an eighth-century Roman Catholic prayer traditionally used in ministry to a dying person, advising the soul to begin its journey. It is known variously as the "Prayer of Commendation", "Commendation of the Soul", or just "the ''Proficiscere''." (In every edition I've seen, except for [[/Editions#Textual differences|the ones]] that omit the epigram, the first word is misspelled as "Profiscicere.") | |
| − | + | Like the novel's title, the ''Proficiscere'' is associated with choral music. Text from the prayer, in both Latin and English, appeared in the poem ''{{wp|The Dream of Gerontius (poem)|The Dream of Gerontius}}'' (1865) by John Henry Newman, which Edward Elgar used as text for his orchestral/choral work ''{{wp|The Dream of Gerontius}}'' (1900). | |
| − | === the | + | The English translation currently used by the Church in the US<ref>{{cite article|title=Prayers for Death and Dying|url=https://www.usccb.org/prayers/prayers-death-and-dying|publication=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|accessed=January 2, 2024}}</ref> renders the first line as: |
| − | + | <blockquote>Go forth, Christian soul, from this world.</blockquote> | |
| − | == | + | == Major characters == |
| − | + | * Daniel Weinreb a.k.a. Ben Bosola, dentist's son, aspiring singer | |
| + | * Boadicea Whiting, an idealistic child of privilege | ||
| + | * Grandison Whiting, her ruthless wealthy father | ||
| + | * Harriet Marspan, Boadicea's aunt and Daniel's music teacher | ||
| + | * Ernesto Rey, a bel canto star | ||
| + | * Alicia Schiff, a reclusive composer | ||
| + | * Mrs. Norberg, American History and Senior Social Studies | ||
| − | == | + | == Other reading == |
| − | + | * [https://web.archive.org/web/20180714223441/http://www.ukjarry1.talktalk.net/owos.htm Matthew Davis's page] for the book, with many more interview excerpts {{InternetArchive|date=July 14, 2018}} | |
| − | == | + | == Footnotes == |
| + | <references/> | ||
| − | + | {{On Wings of Song nav}} | |
| + | [[Category:Thomas M. Disch]] | ||
Latest revision as of 13:12, 24 January 2025
UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
These are notes for On Wings of Song, a 1979 novel by Thomas M. Disch, originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. It follows the life and career of Daniel Weinreb, who aspires to become a singer—and to experience "flying", a form of electronically-assisted astral projection triggered by singing—in a deeply dysfunctional near-future America where Midwestern states have fallen into religious fascism.
The "Summary" section on each page gives away some plot details, so avoid it if you're reading the book for the first time. The rest of the notes don't discuss any significant events that haven't already happened at that point.
On Wings of Song was Disch's first return to novel-length science fiction after Camp Concentration ten years earlier—not counting 334, which began as a short story cycle—although he had been writing novels in other genres (historical fiction, gothic, etc.). It was his first work to feature openly gay themes, as well as other aspects of his life that he hadn't focused on in writing before, namely his childhood in Iowa and Minnesota, and his experience with opera. Disch had performed as an extra in operas in New York City, and wrote librettos for two operas by Greg Sandow (The Fall of the House of Usher and Frankenstein).[1]
An early harbinger of the novel was Disch's two-page story fragment "How to Fly" (1977), a whimsical and lyrical set of instructions to the reader for achieving personal levitation. Even though the story describes flight as physical rather than psychic, it establishes the idea that "the most certain way ... is to accompany flight with song", and ends with: "who shall say that any price is too great for what is surely life's supreme pleasure?" In his preface to a reprint of the story in 1982, Disch described how the leap from there to "the idea for my novel, On Wings of Song, and most of the plot"[2] was prompted by reading John Berger's "The Moment of Cubism."[3] Berger's essay on modern art's relationship to technological change, specifically in terms of how they can both be liberating experiences, cited these lines from Apollinaire's "Tree" about the new experience of a telephone call, with imagery suggesting an out-of-body experience: "Already I hear the shrill sound of the friend's voice to come / Who walks with you in Europe / Whilst never leaving America."[4]
Title
This is the English translation of the title of Heinrich Heine's poem "Auf Flügeln des Gesanges" (1827), which was set to music by Felix Mendelssohn in 1834 (known as Mendelssohn's Opus 34, No. 2). In English, the poem's first and last stanzas are:
On wings of song,
Sweetheart, I carry you away,
Away to the fields of the Ganges,
Where I know the most beautiful place. ....
There we will lie down
Under the palm tree
Drink in peace and love
And dream our blissful dream.
Epigram
Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc mundo.
This is the beginning of an eighth-century Roman Catholic prayer traditionally used in ministry to a dying person, advising the soul to begin its journey. It is known variously as the "Prayer of Commendation", "Commendation of the Soul", or just "the Proficiscere." (In every edition I've seen, except for the ones that omit the epigram, the first word is misspelled as "Profiscicere.")
Like the novel's title, the Proficiscere is associated with choral music. Text from the prayer, in both Latin and English, appeared in the poem The Dream of Gerontius (1865) by John Henry Newman, which Edward Elgar used as text for his orchestral/choral work The Dream of Gerontius (1900).
The English translation currently used by the Church in the US[5] renders the first line as:
Go forth, Christian soul, from this world.
Major characters
- Daniel Weinreb a.k.a. Ben Bosola, dentist's son, aspiring singer
- Boadicea Whiting, an idealistic child of privilege
- Grandison Whiting, her ruthless wealthy father
- Harriet Marspan, Boadicea's aunt and Daniel's music teacher
- Ernesto Rey, a bel canto star
- Alicia Schiff, a reclusive composer
- Mrs. Norberg, American History and Senior Social Studies
Other reading
- Matthew Davis's page for the book, with many more interview excerpts (Internet Archive link, archived July 14, 2018)
Footnotes
- ↑ Sandow, Greg. "Frankenstein". Gregsandow.com. Accessed on January 20, 2025. This archive includes the full libretto and score of Frankenstein, and audio recordings of a workshop production.
- ↑ Disch, Thomas M. (1981). The Man Who Had No Idea. Bantam, 1982. ISBN 0553226673. "How to Fly" first appeared in the British magazine Bananas, No. 8, Summer 1977 (The FictionMags Index).
- ↑ Berger, John (1967). "The Moment of Cubism". Verso Books Blog, December 6, 2018. Accessed on January 24, 2025. Originally published in New Left Review 42.
- ↑ Apollinaire, Guillaume (1918), translated by Anne Hyde Greet. Calligrammes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980. ISBN 0520019687.
- ↑ "Prayers for Death and Dying". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Accessed on January 2, 2024.