Hearing Secret Harmonies
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''Hearing Secret Harmonies'' is the final novel in
Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work '' A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell ...
's twelve-volume series, ''
A Dance to the Music of Time ''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is a 12-volume ''Book series#History, roman-fleuve'' by English writer Anthony Powell, published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim. The story is an often comic examination of movements and manners, power ...
''. It was published in 1975, twenty-four years after the first book, ''
A Question of Upbringing A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
'', appeared in 1951. No other novel series is based on the formal pictorial principles as ''A Dance to the Music of Time''. The book ends with a torrential passage from ''
The Anatomy of Melancholy ''The Anatomy of Melancholy'' (full title: ''The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it. In Three Maine Partitions with their several Sections, Members, and Subsections. Ph ...
'' by Robert Burton.


Plot summary

The book opens in the late 1960s. Nick and Isobel Jenkins let a caravan of four hippies from the Harmony cult, followers of the occult and spiritualism, stay on their land: their niece, Fiona Cutts, daughter of Roddy Cutts; Scorpio Murtlock, an intense young man, also described as "creepy"; Barnabas Henderson; and Rusty. Jenkins muses on Ariosto's
Orlando Furioso ''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form ...
--specifically the section when Orlando's comrade-in-arms Astolpho travels to the Moon, to the Valley of Lost Things, to recover his friend's lost wits. Kenneth Widmerpool has embraced counter-culture after his stay in the United States, and, disdaining the form of address "Lord Widmerpool", is now calling himself "Ken Widmerpool". He is appointed Chancellor of a new university, and during the opening ceremony, has paint thrown over him by students (the Quiggin twins). Matilda Donners has established the Magnus Donners Memorial Prize, awarded to biographies. She persuaded Nick to serve on the award panel by showing him and Isobel the photographs Donners took of Nick and friends 30 years before, portraying the
Seven Deadly Sins The seven deadly sins (also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins) function as a grouping of major vices within the teachings of Christianity. In the standard list, the seven deadly sins according to the Catholic Church are pride, greed ...
. The other panel members are Mark Members and Emily Brightman, with Gibson Delavacquerie serving as secretary. In the fourth year of the award, the only suitable book is Russell Gwinnett's biography of X Trapnel. There is a complication, however: Trapnel and Gwinnett both had affairs with Pamela, wife of Widmerpool who is one of the trustees. Widmerpool has no objection to the award being granted to Gwinett, provided he can attend the award dinner with the Quiggin twins. He gives a speech denouncing bourgeois society, which is interrupted by the Quiggin twins setting off a stink bomb. Nick meets Gwinnett at "The Devil's Fingers," prehistoric standing stones near his house. Gwinnett had attended as an observer a ritual of Murtlock's Harmony cult, an attempt to summon the spirit of Doctor Trelawney. They were interested in Gwinnett because of his necrophilia. Widmerpool has joined the cult, offering the use of his house, and a power struggle has taken place between Widmerpool and Murtlock. Fiona succeeds in leaving the cult and moves into Gibson Delavacquerie's flat. Nick and Isobel attend the wedding of Fiona's brother, held at Stourwater, previously the home of Sir Magnus Donners, now a girls' school. Fiona has married Gwinnett and the couple attend the reception. Fiona spots the Harmony cult out for a run on the Stourwater estate, including Widmerpool and Bithel, and invites them to join the wedding reception. Widmerpool is in poor health, and wants to apologise to Sir Bertram Akworth, grandfather of the bride, a City colleague of Widmerpool, whom he had got expelled from school decades before for writing a love note to Peter Templer. Henderson sees an old boyfriend of his, Chuck, and decides to leave the Harmony cult, with Murtlock's permission. However, when Widmerpool tries to leave the cult, he is refused permission. Nick attends a centenary exhibition of Mr. Deacon's paintings at Barnabas Henderson's gallery. The latter is much improved after leaving the cult. Nick meets Polly Duport, who is marrying Delavacquerie, and her parents Bob Duport and Jean Flores. Bithel arrives, reporting Widmerpool's death. He died from over-exertion trying to lead one of the cult's runs while in poor health. Murtlock ordered his belongings burnt, but Bithel rescued the Modigliani drawing previously owned by Charles Stringham and Pamela Flitton. He gives this to Henderson. The 'enchantments' Powell interlaces in this novel with their occult and magical association are more than metaphors but matters calling for serious consideration. Jewett has observed echoes of
The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' () is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...
in Widmerpool's death. ''Hearing Secret Harmonies'' is dedicated to historian and poet
Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 19173 August 2015) was a British and American historian, poet, novelist, and propagandist. He was briefly a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain but later wrote several books condemning commun ...
.Jay, Mike. (2013) "Who Were the Dedicatees of Powell’s Works?" ''The Anthony Powell Society Newsletter.''50 (spring): 9-10.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hearing Secret Harmonies 1975 British novels Novels by Anthony Powell A Dance to the Music of Time Heinemann (publisher) books