A Dance to the Music of Time is a 12-volume 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 and passivity in English political, cultural and military life in the mid-20th century. The books were inspired by the painting of the same name by French artist Nicolas Poussin.
The sequence is narrated by Nicholas Jenkins. At the beginning of the first volume, Jenkins falls into a reverie while watching snow descending on a coal brazier. This reminds him of "the ancient world—legionaries ... mountain altars ... centaurs ..." These classical projections introduce the account of his schooldays, which opens A Question of Upbringing.
Over the course of the following volumes, he recalls the people he met over the previous half a century and the events, often small, that reveal their characters. Jenkins's personality is unfolded slowly, and often elliptically, over the course of the novels.[1]
Bernard Stacey compiled a catalog and analysis of the poetic allusions in the novel.[2]
Time magazine included the novel in its list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.[3] The editors of Modern Library ranked the work as 43rd-greatest English-language novel of the 20th century.[4] The BBC ranked the novel 36th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels.[5] In 2019 Christopher de Bellaigue wrote in The Nation that A Dance to the Music of Time is "perhaps the supreme London novel of the 20th century, an examination of the human behavior that defines the upper echelons of this brash, resilient, often pitiless place."[6] Volumes 7-9, "The War Trilogy," --The Valley of Bones, The Soldier's Art and The Military Philosophers—are the focus of Bernard Stacey's War Dance.[7]
Inspiration
edit
Jenkins reflects on the Poussin painting in the first two pages of A Question of Upbringing:
These classical projections, and something from the fire, suddenly suggested Poussin's scene in which the Seasons, hand in hand and facing outward, tread in rhythm to the notes of the lyre that the winged and naked greybeard plays. The image of Time brought thoughts of mortality: of human beings, facing outward like the Seasons, moving hand in hand in intricate measure, stepping slowly, methodically sometimes a trifle awkwardly, in evolutions that take recognisable shape: or breaking into seemingly meaningless gyrations, while partners disappear only to reappear again, once more giving pattern to the spectacle: unable to control the melody, unable, perhaps, to control the steps of the dance.
Poussin's painting is housed at the Wallace Collection in London.
Analysis
edit- Powell's official biographer, Hilary Spurling, has published Invitation to the Dance – a Handbook to Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time.[8] This annotates, in dictionary form, the characters, events, art, music, and other references. She has also calculated the timeline employed by the author: this is used in the synopses linked from the novels below.
- The various aspects of the novel-sequence are also analysed in An Index to 'A Dance to the Music of Time' by B. J. Moule[9] and D. McLeod [10] and Robert L. Selig.[11]
The novels
editPublished dates are those of the first UK publication. The narrative is rarely specific about the years in which events take place. Those below are suggested by Hilary Spurling in Invitation to the Dance – a Handbook to Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time. Dust jackets of the first editions were designed by James Broom-Lynne.
| Order | Title | Story timeline | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Question of Upbringing | 1921–1924 | 1951 |
| 2 | A Buyer's Market | 1928 or 1929 | 1952 |
| 3 | The Acceptance World | 1931–1933 | 1955 |
| 4 | At Lady Molly's | 1934 | 1957 |
| 5 | Casanova's Chinese Restaurant | 1928 or 1929, 1933–1937 | 1960 |
| 6 | The Kindly Ones | 1914, 1938–1939 | 1962 |
| 7 | The Valley of Bones | 1940 | 1964 |
| 8 | The Soldier's Art | 1941 | 1966 |
| 9 | The Military Philosophers | 1942–1945 | 1968 |
| 10 | Books Do Furnish a Room | 1945–1947 | 1971 |
| 11 | Temporary Kings | 1958–1959 | 1973 |
| 12 | Hearing Secret Harmonies | 1968–1971 | 1975 |
Principal characters
edit| Character | Details | Historical inspirations[12] |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Jenkins | Narrator | A cypher, everyman; Powell himself |
| Isobel Tolland | One of the Tolland sisters, whom Jenkins later marries | Powell's wife Lady Violet Pakenham, third daughter of the 5th Earl of Longford. |
| Kenneth Widmerpool | A mediocre student whose rise seems unstoppable. | Powell confirmed character inspired by Col. Denis Capel-Dunn, under whom he served in the Cabinet Office. Plus an element from Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller's schooldays. Soviet bloc connection may be intended to suggest Labour MP Denis Nowell Pritt. |
| Charles Stringham | Schoolfriend of Nick's. A romantic. | Drawn from Hubert Duggan, whose glamorous mother married Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India. Not, as is often supposed, based on Powell's friend and fellow author Henry Green. |
| Uncle Giles ("Captain Jenkins") | Nick's uncle, unreliable and usually untraceable. | |
| Peter Templer | Raffish schoolfellow of Nick's | based on John Spencer, friend of the author's. |
| Jean Templer | Peter Templer's sister; Nick's lover | |
| Bob Duport | Jean Templer's first husband, businessman | |
| Sillery | Manipulative Oxford don | Professor Sir Ernest Barker, and "Sligger" Urquhart. Not Sir Maurice Bowra as often suggested. |
| Myra Erdleigh | Clairvoyante | |
| Pamela Flitton | Femme Fatale Married Kenneth Widmerpool | based on Barbara Skelton, tempestuous sometime wife of Cyril Connolly. |
| Mark Members | Promising poet | Peter Quennell, all-purpose literary personage, poet, and cultural historian. The name and the conference-going suggest Stephen Spender. |
| Maclintick | Music critic | Peter Warlock. |
| Audrey Maclintick | Married to and widow of Maclintik; later companion to Hugh Moreland | |
| Edgar Bosworth Deacon | Painter and antique dealer | Combination of Mr Bailey, an alcoholic antiques dealer, and eccentric bookseller Christopher Millard. |
| Gypsy Jones | anti-war friend of Mr. Deacon, Communist Party member | |
| Dr Trelawney | Occultist | Aleister Crowley, self-styled Great Beast 666 |
| The Field Marshal | Leader of desert warfare | Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein |
| David Pennistone | Major assigned to liaison work with exiled Allied governments | Alexander Dru [13] |
| X. Trapnel | Novelist and parodist | Julian Maclaren-Ross |
| Russell Gwinnett | Biographer of X.Trapnel and academic. | |
| Hugh Moreland | Composer | Constant Lambert |
| St John Clarke | Passé author | John Galsworthy |
| Max Pilgrim | Entertainer | in the manner of Noël Coward inspired by Douglas Byng |
| Gibson Delavacquerie | Poet, public relations at Donners-Brebner | Laurence Cotteril, Poet/businessman Roy Fuller and also V.S.Naipaul, novelist from Trinidad |
| Scorpio Murtlock | cult leader | |
| Sir Magnus Donners | Magnate and government minister | partly drawn from Lord Beaverbrook also from Desmond Morton[14] |
| J. G. Quiggin | Marxist writer | |
| Erridge (Earl of Warminster) | Socialist peer; Jenkins's brother-in-law | The Earl of Longford, Powell's brother-in-law. Also Powell's friend George Orwell – lives as a tramp for a time, fights in Spanish Civil War, dies in his forties. |
Adaptations
editThe cycle was adapted by Frederick Bradnum as a Classic Serial on BBC Radio 4. In order to fit the material in, it was broadcast as four separate serials each based on a set of three books: the first three serials had six episodes, the last eight. The series were broadcast between 1979 and 1982.[15] The cycle was adapted again as a six-part Classic Serial on BBC Radio 4 from 6 April to 11 May 2008, directed by John Taylor. The cycle was adapted as a four-part TV series A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell and Hugh Whitemore for Channel 4 in 1997, directed by Christopher Morahan and Alvin Rakoff.[citation needed]
| Character | 1997 TV series | 2008 radio drama | 1979 radio drama |
|---|---|---|---|
| Narrator | Corin Redgrave | Noel Johnson | |
| Kenneth Widmerpool | Simon Russell Beale | Anthony Hoskyns Mark Heap |
Brian Hewlett |
| Nicholas Jenkins | James d'Arcy James Purefoy John Standing |
Tom McHugh Alex Jennings |
Gareth Johnson, Noel Johnson |
| Charles Stringham | Luke de Lacey Paul Rhys | David Oakes Timothy Watson |
Simon Cadell |
| Peter Templer | Jonathan Cake | Jolyon Coy Ronan Vibert |
Christopher Good |
| Jean Templer | Claire Skinner | Emma Powell | Jane Asher |
| Bob Duport | Nicholas Jones | ||
| Orn | Dag Soerlie | Christopher Bidmead | |
| Lindquist | Christian Rubeck | Eric Allan | |
| Prof. Sillery | Alan Bennett | Paul Brooke | Preston Lockwood |
| J.G. Quiggin | Adrian Scarborough | Julian Kerridge | Gordon Dulleu |
| Gypsy Jones | Nicola Walker | Emma Powell | Susan Sloman |
| Suzette Barbara Goring |
Abigail Hollick | Josie Kidd | |
| Erridge | Osmund Bullock | Jonathan Keeble | Alexander John |
| Mona | Annabel Mullion | Abigail Cruttenden | Tamara Ustinov |
| Myra Erdleigh | Gillian Barge | ||
| Lady Molly Jeavons | Sarah Badel | Heather Tracy | Sian Phillips |
| Ted Jeavons | Michael Williams | ||
| Lady Isobel Tolland | Emma Fielding | Zoe Waites | Elizabeth Proud |
References
edit- ^ Hitchens, Christopher (1998). "Powell's Way," New York Review (May 28, 1998).
- ^ Stacey, Bernard and Anthony Powell Society. Poetic Dance: A Catalogue and Analysis of the Poetic References Found in Anthony Powell's a Dance to the Music of Time. Anthony Powell Society 2018.
- ^ "All-Time 100 Novels". Time. 16 October 2005. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ "The Modern Library, 100 Best, Novels". Randomhouse.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ Ciabattari, Jane (7 December 2015). "The 100 greatest British novels". BBC. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
- ^ De Bellaigue, Christopher, "The Near-Miss Generation: Anthony Powell's England." The Nation (January 24, 2019).
- ^ Stacey, Bernard. War Dance : A Glossary of the Military Terms and References in the War Trilogy Novels in Anthony Powell's "A Dance to the Music of Time." Greenford: Anthony Powell Society; 2017.
- ^ Spurling, Hilary. (2005). Invitation to the Dance: A Handbook to Anthony Powell's a Dance to the Music of Time. London: Arrow. ISBN 0-09-948436-6. OCLC 60511965.
- ^ The timeline of the novels, how the various episodes recur in the movement of the Dance and the career, character and relationships of Kenneth Widmerpool are analysed in extracts taken from An Index to 'A Dance to the Music of Time' by B. J. Moule (published by consent). The latter extract is accessible in standard format at Kenneth Widmerpool
- ^ McLeod D. "Anthony Powell: Some notes on the art of the sequence novel". Studies in the Novel. 1971;3(1): 44-63.
- ^ Robert L. Selig, Time and Anthony Powell: A Critical Study, Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1991.
- ^ "Anthony Powell Society – A Dance to the Music of Time Character Models". Anthonypowell.org.uk. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ Spurling, Hilary (2017) Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time. Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Books, p.396.
- ^ Bennett, Gill. 2006. Churchill’s Man of Mystery: Desmond Morton and the World of Intelligence. London: Routledge, p.xvii
- ^ Marshall, Keith (15 February 2005). "Dance on BBC Radio 4". Archived from the original on 20 September 2008.
