The Student Conductor

by Robert Ford

Returning to the orchestral communities of Germany just as the Berlin Wall falls, Cooper Barrow begins studying under the cruel and capricious maestro and concentration camp survivor Karlheinz Ziegler, an endeavor that is compromised by a psychologically complex relationship with a beautiful fellow musician. A first novel. 12,500 first printing.

Genres: Fiction, Music, Germany, Historical Fiction, Literature, Literary Fiction, Holocaust

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Robert Ford earned a master of music degree from Yale and an MFA in writing from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he grew up in New Jersey, and now lives with his wife in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Reviews

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was the kind of day they polish steel for. This sentence, on the first page, makes me think I'm going to like this novel.

If you're running like hell from something, it must still be very much alive inside you. p. 225

"... That is not why I offer."
"Why do you offer?"
"To see if you will accept."

Beautiful words, making the foreign (to me) world of orchestra and classical music accessible.
Towards the end I sort of thought the story would tip over into some kind of thriller (maybe because I'd just finished an audio book mystery), but it never does, luckily. It gives you just enough to wonder about and to imagine.

Brahms Second Symphony--

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved, loved this book. I could not put it down. Don't think I ever considered how important a conductor is to an orchestra. This book made me want to go see a live performance just to watch the conductor. And the Nazi Germany backdrop and the tearing down of the wall interwoven throughout the story made it spellbinding. Possibly one of the better books I've read in a long time.

[Lillian Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally one of my MOST FAVORITE books of all time. The kind that has a place of honor on the top shelf so the kids can't touch it, and I reread once a year. I've had it for 10 years and still haven't gotten tired of it.

[Lisa Debellevue · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book I thought it was just going to be another angsty novel about a musician with unending self doubts and a love obsession (similar to An Equal Music). But this book delved deeper into the relationship between the teacher and student and the struggle to find your confidence as a musician. It also had the historical element of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the struggles that many dealt with in Germany at that time and prior to that in WW II. Well worth reading, but probably understood and enjoyed more by a musician (which I am) than by a non-musician. Minus 1 star because sometimes the dialogue was a little hard to follow. I kept having to backtrack to figure out who said what.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the backdrop of the fall of the Berlin Wall, this story of a musician belatedly coming of age, finding love and a career, is mesmerizing, and a page turner. With WWII shading the current lives of the main characters, it combines many fascinating elements. After such a debut, I wonder why this author has not produced more work.

[LK Hunsaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Student Conductor caught my eye because of its name. As a music-obsessed reader, I love finding anything based in music, especially of the literary genre because I expect to learn more about my second passion while reading.

Robert Ford's debut novel didn't disappoint me. Cooper Barrow is an American music student with a personal issue that drives him away from music for several years. At the beginning of the story, he has moved to Germany just before the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and is studying with a famed conductor with his own secrets. Cooper's story interweaves with Germany's story and we learn about the insides of the conducting world, as well as the lives of those most affected by the Wall; by both its rise and its fall.

The writing style is reminscent of Germany itself: straight-forward and non-superfluous, yet lyrical and poetic in its peculiar way. Ford has insights that are somewhat rare for someone his age and is immersed in his own musical world with a masters degree in both music and writing. There were a few times I found myself re-reading a sentence to try to make it make sense, and a few German words or phrases I would like to have had defined more clearly, but overall it's an excellent read that doesn't take a lot of time or effort to get through, and has plenty to say that lingers after closing the back cover.

For those wary of literary fiction, this is one to try.



"It has killed his career, this obsession with Brahms. He admires him too much, never killed him. You have to kill the composer at some point. Today it is all respect for the composer. Fine, I say, but do not have too much of it. If you have too much respect for the ham on your plate, you will never want to eat it."

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm often very skeptical of novels with music as a centerpiece for their story line. I find the musical descriptions contrived and overwrought, as if the author is trying to convince the reader that he/she is an expert in all things musical. One of the benefits of this first novel by Robert Ford is that the author has the skills and experience to write convincingly about music without the pedantic, over-researched feel so present in other works.
Ford successfully creates vivid characters who are bound together not only by their relationship to music, but by their secrets. The author sensitively weaves historical elements (the fall of the Berlin Wall, for example) into a multi-layered narrative. The main protagonist, thirty-year-old American conductor Cooper Barrow, embarks on a quest to face his fears by studying with a master conductor in Germany. What he finds is a Germany built on secrets and fears, trying to demolish and rebuild at the same time. In the middle of it all is the enigmatic oboist Petra Vogel, whose own dark past comforts Barrow with its refreshing relativism.
These characters dance together to a soundtrack of Brahms, a composer who is subject to their idolatry, historicism, and emotional baggage. Ford unapologetically navigates through the conducting and orchestra worlds, framing the shades of the human soul with the best of its potential.

[Ceci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un’interessante storia di un (apprendista) direttore d’orchestra ai tempi di una Germania divisa a metà.

Rimango sempre affascinata dall’abilità degli scrittori di mescolare trama e contesto storico, portando avanti una vicenda che scorre anche grazie all’ambiente e al periodo nel quale è collocata. Senza dubbio molto interessante l’introspezione nel mondo dei concerti, delle orchestre, della musica (in merito al quale ammetto la mia ignoranza).

Ero molto scettica nell’iniziare questo libro che, devo essere sincera, non avrei mai neanche preso in mano non mi fosse stato regalato, ma devo dire di essere stata piacevolmente sorpresa. Un gentle reminder che, come si suol sempre dire, un libro non va giudicato dalla copertina, e che uscire dalla propria comfort zone di lettura, o anche solo dalla propria bolla, può portare a piacevoli scoperte.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authenticity of the musical world in this novel is one of its great strengths. In my own reading life, it made for an interesting companion piece, of sorts, to Murakami's Absolutely on Music, which consists of conversations between the author and conductor Seiji Ozawa.

Set in 1989 in Germany around the time that the border between East Germany and West Germany was reopened, history is a major theme. Our protagonist, a conductor from the U.S., feels how historic this event is, but actually, the wounds of WWII are just as omnipresent.

[Sinead Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by a composer friend, this book didn't disappoint. I loved the evocation of life in Germany after the wall came down, but it was the accuracy of the old Maestro that really hit home, and his harsh treatment of the young conductor, all in the name of preparing him for this profession. The characters were well drawn, and I really enjoyed the back story behind why there had been a hiatus of 10 years in the young conductor's career - rang so true!

[Hannah Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I actually loved this book. I can't say much about the plot without giving it away, but it headed places I didn't see coming. If you're into musician-related jokes, which conductors were actually Nazis, and/or finding out the time period of a book halfway into it (but like in a good way), this is for you! it would actually make a spectacular thriller if classical music got butts in seats.

[Angel Walker-Werth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5 The protagonist grows, but sadly those around him less so. Still, quite a nice story about trying to succeed in complicated times. Historical fiction gifted to me by a friend who was especially fond of the descriptions of music, which are indeed lovely.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost, but not quite. I can’t put my finger on what it is about this book that didn’t quite do it for me.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this one...I really was. Music, history, the line, "It was the kind of day they polish steel for" on the very first page, it seemed promising. But something went wrong for me in the middle somewhere. I'm starting to get a little bored with existential crises in books that never lead to any character development. These characters do the typical boy-meets-girl, someone-gets-upset-and-leaves, and then no one grows from the experience. The characters keeps doing what they've done the entire time. Perhaps I merely read it too fast (deadlines and all) and missed the subtlety to it, but it didn't thrill me. It did contain some beautiful prose, though, and the musical descriptions were lovely and I think filled with enough emotion that those who've never had a lick of musical compositions training or theory will still understand the music's importance and gravity.

[Richard Cuthing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is among the books I never thought of reading. When I saw this literary piece on a pile of literature in a local bookstore, I was captivated by its intriguing title. My intuition was right when it persuaded me to rope it in to my collection and probably find it interesting. Cascading powerful themes, The Student Conductor significantly fueled my interest in the world of music. The revelation of its spectacular cast of characters, however, enthralled me unexpectedly. Each character plays a very imperative role in the development of an engrossing and sterling story that certainly brings something more than entertainment to its readers. Read full review at Bloodspots' Harbor.

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost five stars...
The plot is brilliantly spun, keeping the reader constantly uncertain of what will happen next. You can read the book as an exciting political thriller but Robert Ford also serves the reader a very close look into the conservatory student's shaky time just before entering the professional musician’s life. With other words when business is getting serious.

I absolutely loved to follow the young musician's fears, self-doubts and conflicts and their dealing with tricky lessons and uneasy backstage situations. Just a little bit of linguistic rework and the making of more elaborated characters could have moved this book from the entertainment book shelve to the classics.

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so immersed in the arcana of classical music performance that it's not going to appeal to a broad audience, but I was thoroughly engaged in the story of a young man who returns to studying conducting after a 10-year layoff due to an early failure. He works with an unpredictable, autocratic German maestro & falls in love with a talented oboist who defected from East Germany under broodingly mysterious circumstances not long before the fall of the Berlin Wall, which occurs at the height of the novel. Although I liked the book very much, the ending was baffling.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not into classical music, but feel like I must listen to fully appreciate the entire story. It was deep, moving, and enlightened! I enjoyed learning about the life and efforts of conductors and musicians. I will go hear/see orchestra and try and see what I learned. Music is an amazing piece of our lives and touches us on all levels. The characters each had their own baggage and struggles - it was remarkable to see how all pieces came together. We could all only hope to have a teacher in our lives who could use horseback riding or other seemingly strange methods to teach us.

[Margaret Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a serious exploration of musical passion and its overflow into the lives of its disciples -- a story of a young American student conductor, Cooper, who comes to West Germany in November 1989 to study with a famous Maestro. A love story and undertones from Germany's Nazi past flood the pages; glimpses into the activities of the last generation's great conductors add depth to writing which is intensely musical in its delicate 'phrasing' and layered presentation of its theme of psychological and musical awakening. A beautifully rendered narrative.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written, including many poetic swells as our narrator (young, hot, and an up-and-coming conductor) coaxes beautiful music out of his orchestra. Also an interesting view of Germany just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. But ultimately the plot, which is supposed to be full of mystery and tension, disappoints. Ignore the supposed drama and read it for the linguistic vignettes.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting insight into the 'industry' of music and the talented, quirky, obsessed people involved. Set in Germany but the main character is American. Also about redemption, rebirth and romance against a background of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. Ultimately I found there was no one whom I particularly cared about.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been a student conductor for the past year, I was surprised and impressed by the descriptions of the skill that were given in this book. The interpretation of East & West Germany during the fall of the Berlin Wall was rich and nuanced, at least for someone who has read so little about it, like me.

[Jojoma · Rating 3 out of 5]

the student conductor in question lives in Germany as the Wall is about to come down. Through his trials with his teacher and colleagues from the orchestra, various musings occur about WWII, the holocaust and German collective guilt. The novel deals in depth with Brahms' compositions.

References to Brahms,

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, an easy read, has some surprises, not my favorite

[dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. just really good
2. written by someone i actually know/knew
3. motivated me to get into classical music

[Susanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me, a little hard to follow. I never really attached to the characters.

[Aprile · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. As a music lover, I understood so much more of the plot. Set in Germany after WWII, it is a moving book with an amazing plot.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book for musicians and historians. Lots of music metaphors. Challenging read but excellent.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good. An American student conductor enrolls at the Basische Hochschule fur Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany in 1989 just before the fall of the Berlin wall.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most gripping love story I've ever read. Each word pulls you further and further into the story until you're gasping for air.