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ARIEL’S MUSIC by Jennifer Brostrom submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Chair: Keftiit Moyer Richard McCann J£an of the College of Arts and Sciences 3 o )/Hc Date 1998 American University Washington, D C. 20016 THiS AJLi.aac±M UniyiiuilTY LLBBIBX Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 139 0297 UMI Microform 1390297 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. AH rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ARIEL’S MUSIC BY Jennifer Brostrom ABSTRACT Ariel's Music is an original novel that portrays a young pianist’s struggle to become a performer in the competitive world of classical music while she copes with life in a family troubled by depression and divorce. Both a coming-of-age story and a “portrait of the artist,” this work depicts Ariel Terraine’s search for identity amidst the social pressures of a small-town Midwestern environment and the Zeitgeist of American culture during the 1970s and 1980s. The protagonist becomes troubled by the sense that classical music has no value in a capitalist society in which success is a function of popularity. Ariel's Music also emphasizes oppositions that pervade American culture: rural versus urban, masculine versus feminine, intellect versus emotion, and utility versus aesthetics. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................ii Chapter 1. AUGUST, 1971..................................................................................................... 1 2. JUNE, 1974 ...............................................................................................................5 3. AUGUST, 1974 ..................................................................................................... 9 4. SEPTEMBER, 1974 .......................................................................................... 19 5 OCTOBER, 1974 ............................................................................................... 32 6. NOVEMBER, 1974 ............................................................................................ 42 7 DECEMBER, 1974 48 8. JUNE, 1975 ........................................................................................................ 58 9 JULY, 1975 ........................................................................................................ 61 10. SUMMER, 1975 ................................................................................................. 64 11. AUGUST, 1975 ................................................................................................. 75 12. SEPTEMBER, 1975 .......................................................................................... 86 13. OCTOBER, 1975 ............................................................................................ 100 14. DECEMBER, 1975 .......................................................................................... 107 15. JULY, 1976 ...................................................................................................... 117 ui Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 16. SEPTEMBER, 1976 ........................................................................................ 132 17. JUNE, 1977 ...................................................................................................... 144 18. AUGUST, 1977 ............................................................................................... 176 19. SEPTEMBER, 1977 ........................................................................................ 181 20 DECEMBER, 1977 .......................................................................................... 184 21. NOVEMBER, 1979 ...................................................................................... 201 22. DECEMBER, 1979.......................................................................................... 205 23. MARCH, 1980 ................................................................................................. 211 24. APRIL, 1980 ................................................................................................... 221 25. JANUARY, 1981 ............................................................................................. 232 26. MARCH, 1984 ................................................................................................. 256 27. APRIL, 1984 ................................................................................................... 264 28. MAY, 1984 ........................................................................................................ 267 29. JUNE, 1984 ...................................................................................................... 287 30. SEPTEMBER, 1984 ........................................................................................ 288 31. OCTOBER, 1984 ............................................................................................. 298 32. DECEMBER, 1984 .......................................................................................... 320 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 AUGUST, 1971 The space under the piano was cool and shaded. Ariel lay on her back and stared at the heavy beams of wood on the underside of the instrument, listening to her mother play a song called “Claire de Lime .” The music sounded blurry and vast~a rocking lullaby of a piece, like a small boat bobbing back and forth upon a gentle sea. Ariel watched her mother’s bare toes pushing the brass pedals down and then lifting up, pressing down, then popping up. The pedals were connected to thin poles that went up into the piano. When her mother pushed them down, the music sounded mysterious, filled with echoes. The waves of the music grew stronger, and Ariel saw dark clouds passing over a bright moon. The boat was tossed about in the cold water, which broke onto the deck and over her body. Finally the wooden boat shattered, and Ariel felt herself being swept into the sea, farther and father away from shore. Something pulled her down, underwater. To her surprise, she found that she could breathe there. The light was different--the colors more luminous and iridescent. Now the music surrounded her completely. “Damn!” said her mother, suddenly stopping. “I keep missing that.” 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 Ariel wished that her mother hadn’t stopped playing. “I like that song,” she said from under the piano. “Maybe you’ll learn how to play it someday,” said her mother. “I already know how to play it,” said Ariel, feeling that she truly did know how She had heard her mother play the piece so many times, she recognized every passage. “Don’t be a smart aleck,” her mother replied. Ariel wondered why her mother called her a “smart aleck.” After all, creating piano music was simply a matter of pushing the keys and bobbing your foot up and down on the pedals. How difficult could it be? “Why don’t you come up here and have a lesson, Ariel?” Ariel crawled out from under the piano and climbed up on the bench. Her