Peter Els is a composer. It’s not what he always wanted or intended to be, but it does seem to be what he is. His connection to music and composition undergoes transformations over the years. His collaborations affect him intimately. And he experiences near-consistent disappointment. Thus the life of an avant-garde composer. But toward the end of his life he embarks on a new compositional exercise and this one is going to have huge ramifications.

Writing about music may be a lot like listening to a painting. Such writing most resembles other writing about music; in no instance should it be construed as a substitute for music. Which could make one wonder how much this failure of commensurability mirrors others when it comes to writing. Richard Powers certainly knows a thing or two about such frustrations.

For those who know a fair bit about music, composition, and especially composition in the 20th century, this novel will either be exhilarating or aggravating. For everyone else it may be tedious, I fear. I can’t say that I learned anything new about music through learning about Peter’s life. But his anguish is nonetheless poignant and telling. And I’ve got to hand it to Richard Powers for even attempting to craft a novel on this subject matter.

Gently recommended. ( )

Not what I expected from this extraordinary author ( )

The death of his dog triggers a series of events leading retired professor and composer Peter Els to become a suspected bioterrorist and fugitive from justice. As Els tries to figure out how he got here and what to do next, he reflects on his past and the choices he made.

The structure of this novel reminds me of The Remains of the Day, with the protagonist journeying toward a destination while looking back at his past life. It has the feel of some of Ali Smith’s novels, which Smith infuses with the fine arts (although Smith leans heavily on the visual arts rather than music).

Non-musical readers may feel that the musical jargon is beyond their ability to understand. If this doesn’t scare you off, you’ll be rewarded by rich verbal descriptions of the experience of listening to and creating music. Thanks to streaming music services like Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Music, readers can create their own playlist or find one that has already been created for this book. ( )

Unless you are musically proficient or an unusually fast learner, many parts of ORFEO will be skimmed lightly over
and eventually just skipped.

As Peter Els "...sees the world" via his microscope and his genetic mutations are gradually revealed,
an underlying tension may arise about the death of his dog, Fidelio.

Quotes interspersed between chemistry and music start with blood.

Scenes with birds and jogger recall why I was reading this Powers' book.

Things get boring until Hazmats invade house, dig up his dog, and remove all his possessions,
notably the suspected petri dishes of death.

His musical backstory delivers a very strange avoidance of the Creative New Music of
African American Musicians, from John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy to Anthony Braxton
and Roscoe Mitchell and The Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Listeners to Mitchell's SOUND may be transported to the Beyond that Els seeks.

And why does he seek this semi-mythical/mysticall thing?

Are there smells beyond smells, sights beyond seeing,
touch that no one has
ever experienced...?

More bewildering is how easily Els rejects Life, first Maggie and Sara, then Clara -
what's the point of Music if not Love?

And the ending - as Token Creek, Wisconsin, offers up a poisonous mushroom
so also does the Lily of the Valley thrive - will drinking from its flask of water poison Els? ( )

My take on this unusual novel is that it is an avant-garde piece of music translated into words by the author. His vehicle is the protagonist, Peter Els, a composer and scientist attempting to encode music into bacterial nucleotides in DNA to leave his legacy, to achieve immortality, and to create “great art.” He is considered a possible bioterrorist due to his manipulations of genetic material.

What worked well for me:
I felt as if I were in the mind of this musical genius, at times scattered and at other times extremely analytical and focused. His thoughts are given to flights of memory interspersed with multi-layered examination of musical compositions that have stirred him, and touching on his deepest regrets. At the end of his life, he recognizes the power of interpersonal relationships and what he has missed in life by focusing so intently on self-realization through music. Themes include: freedom, fear, the nature of art, and the impact, both positive and negative, of obsession.

What didn’t work as well for me:
While the work displays elements of genius, it is also dissonant, discordant, and somewhat inaccessible, perhaps intentionally. As a reader, I like a certain amount of structure to my reading, such as chapters, quotation marks, and a logical flow. I am not a fan of stream of consciousness writing. Even for someone with an extensive background in classical music, some of the descriptive passages will be difficult to interpret. I thought it was a great concept, but the execution will not be to everyone’s taste.

Recommended to those that enjoy avant-garde literature, pushing the envelope of creativity. If you like difficult subject matter, and don’t mind a lack of structure, you may enjoy this book.

Notable quotes:

“But Peter Els wants only one thing before he dies: to break free of time and hear the future.”

“Music, he’ll tell anyone who asks over the next fifty years, doesn’t mean things. It is things.”

“The music said you had one chance to blow through life, and the only crime was wasting it on fear.” ( )