An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
"An Equal Music" by Vikram Seth is a poignant novel that delves into themes of love, loss, and the complexities of artistic ambition. Set primarily in London, the story follows Michael Holme, a second violinist in the Maggiore Quartet, who reflects on his turbulent past and the emotional weight of his decisions. Michael’s journey is marked by his fraught relationship with Julia McNicholl, a former love whose reappearance reignites unresolved feelings and leads to an affair, despite her being married and deaf. Central to the narrative is the tension between Michael's musical career and personal life, as he grapples with the expectations of his quartet and the haunting influence of his past failures. The novel intricately weaves together the characters' relationships with music, showcasing how it binds and separates them. As Michael navigates his regrets and desires, the story raises questions about the nature of love, fidelity, and the sacrifices made in the pursuit of artistic excellence. The title itself, drawn from a sermon by John Donne, suggests a deeper exploration of equality and the shared human experience within the realm of music and emotion.
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An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1999
Type of work: Novel
The Work
An Equal Music is set mainly in London and gets its title from a sermon by John Donne. Its first-person narrator, Michael Holme, is in his mid-thirties and plays second violin for the Maggiore Quartet. Michael grew up in northern England and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Michael’s former teacher at the Musikhochschule in Vienna, Carl Käll, has been long retired in Sweden, but he remains a powerful presence in Michael’s imagination because he had foretold Michael’s collapse at a concert: “It was because he had said I would fail, and I could see him in the audience and knew he had willed me to.” A second haunting figure in Michael’s life is Julia McNicholl, a fellow student whom he had loved and abandoned after his Vienna failure. All of this happened ten years ago. Julia is now a wife and mother, and Michael bitterly regrets his decisions.
Michael’s comusicians in the quartet are Helen, the viola player; Helen’s older brother, Piers, first violinist; and Billy, cellist and composer. Leaving Wigmore Hall one night after a program of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig von Beethoven, Michael runs into Julia, and their old romance is soon rekindled as an adulterous affair. The Maggiore Quartet’s success wins it a contract to record Johann Sebastian Bach’s Art of Fugue, as well as an important concert in Vienna. Piers, however, not knowing of Julia’s deafness, invites her to join them in playing Franz Schubert’s Trout Quintet. Ambiguities in their rehearsal force Michael to reveal Julia’s deafness, a challenge that is surmounted by providing Julia a strong bass sound to follow, and the program at the Musikverein goes off well, despite Michael’s debilitating nervousness.
Julia follows the quartet to Venice, and all is well until Michael reads a loving fax that Julia has sent her husband, and his cruel comments wound Julia beyond reconciliation. Back in London, Julia’s husband, James, a former Boston banker, invites Michael to a party at which James’s coolness tells Michael that he knows of the affair. Michael soon quits the quartet when he discovers that Julia has scheduled a performance of the Art of Fugue, and when he goes to hear her play at Wigmore Hall he leaves at the intermission and walks off in the rain.
Sources for Further Study
Booklist 95 (March 15, 1999): 1261.
The Christian Science Monitor 91 (June 19, 1999): 16.
Library Journal 124 (April 15, 1999): 146.
National Review 51 (May 17, 1999): 60.
New Statesman 128 (May 3, 1999): 58.
The New York Review of Books 46 (July 15, 1999): 20.
The New York Times Book Review 104 (June 13, 1999): 34.
Publishers Weekly 246 (April 12, 1999): 53.
Time 153 (May 31, 1999): 98.
The Times Literary Supplement, April 2, 1999, p. 22.