Joyeful One of a Kind Friday: Music Influences Literature

I absolutely love it when people use one art form to influence another. Writing poetry from admiring a painting, composing a piece of music to go with a dance, painting an illustration to go into a book. It is creativity at its finest.
I heard about an author the other day on NPR that created a story after listening to a piece of music. The music is played by Edgar Meyers and Joshua Bell and is a haunting and emotional melody called “Short Trip Home”.
Michael Koryta is the author and based his book, “So Cold The River” on this beautiful tune. To Quote Mr. Koryta, “The song itself is just scorchingly beautiful,” he says. “It’s an Americana-, folk-inspired piece, but there’s this joined quality of beauty and sorrow” From the NPR site article: ” Just as he tried to imagine the story behind the hotel, Koryta says he also tried to imagine the story behind the song and, in doing so, landed on the image of a Depression-era prodigy violinist busking in tattered clothes with his violin case open for donations.

He says the performer’s history and motives, which play a significant role in the novel’s narrative, all arose from the song itself.”

I am planning on reading this fascinating book and have already purchased the song. I wonder if I can learn to play it on my violin, gotta try, gotta try.

The NPR article can be found at: NPR.

“So Cold the River” can be bought through my page Shop with Joye.