You’ve researched, you’ve developed your characters and plot, and you are ready to write. Perhaps you’ve already begun writing, but something is not working. It’s difficult to pinpoint, but the feeling of your story doesn’t seem authentic. How can you capture what it felt like to experience a time and place in history?
A sensory connection to the past
There is so much we’ll never know about the past, particularly how the people alive then would have experienced it. Using music and other audio from the period we’re writing about is a unique way to connect to the lived experience of historical figures by hearing the same things they would have heard.
This sensory connection is powerful and rare in historical fiction; it’s more difficult to know what it felt like wear clothing of the past, how stews cooked over an open flame tasted, or whether it was comfortable sleeping on a straw mattress every night.
There are, of course, many periods whose music has been lost to us. But more and more, academics and enthusiasts are reconstructing songs to give us an idea of how the ancient past may have sounded.
Using music to write historical fiction
How can music from a historical period help us write? It can connect us not only to a time, but a place. Think of the annual Eurovision contest and how music written at the same time can sound so different according to the tastes of different cultures. It showcases different instruments across regions and sometimes is more closely connected to poetry, while other times it contains no words at all.
Music also evokes a feeling, whether celebratory dance music, a funeral song, or love ballad. When writing scenes with a variety of tones, you can listen to songs from your historical setting to help you get into the appropriate frame of mind so that you can convey the music’s feeling in your writing.
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Anchoring songs in their own time and place
When using audio to set the tone for your historical fiction, remember that there are other elements of the experience we are missing in the present. Consider where the music might have been played – in a private chamber, on the corner of the street, in a grand hall? Would people have hummed or sang along, stamped their feet to the rhythm?
Consider also the feeling the song was intended to evoke, and whether that original intention resonates with you or not. For example, is it a religious song meant to make listeners feel closer to their gods? A battle hymn to inspire courage and possibly the last thing a soldier would hear in their lifetime? If you have difficulty connecting to the song, ask yourself whether your characters might feel differently and why.
Pay attention to the difference in the rhythm – does it meet your expectations for what a romantic, celebratory, or mournful song might sound like? If not, consider how to incorporate those differences into your writing to give a note of authenticity that is still understandable to modern readers.
The soundscapes of history
It would be impossible to curate a complete list of songs from the past, but here are a few recommendations across different periods to begin your research:
The Seikilos epitaph is one of the oldest-surviving complete songs in the world, dating from around 100 BCE. If you are writing about Ancient Greece, this song could stir your imagination while contemplating a funeral scene.
Setting your story in ancient Rome? You might take inspiration from ‘Vīvāmus’, a reconstructed love song, to write domestic or romantic scenes.
Perhaps you are looking for something to encourage a celebratory moment in ancient Egypt, in which case this reconstructed song describing a Theban banquet might be useful.
Seeking a way to musically connect with Imperial China? The guqin was a popular instrument during the Tang Dynasty and ‘Yangguan Sandie’ uses it to tell the story of two friends about to part ways forever.
Journeying to medieval Germany? Listen to the Glogauer Liederbuch from 1480, featuring a wide variety of musical styles.
Are you hoping to evoke revolutionary France? One of the most famous composers of the time, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, could help you set the scene with his ‘Violin Concerto Op.3 No.2 in G Major’.
The influence of songs from enslaved Africans cannot be underestimated on American music. ‘Follow the Drinking Gourd’ is rumored to have been used on the Underground Railroad as a map guiding the enslaved to freedom.
Is your story set in India during the second world war? If so, your characters would likely be familiar with the Hindi and Urdu songs of Bollywood, which was established in 1931. During the war, musical films like Pukar dealt with themes of resisting fascism.
Creating an immersive historical world takes a variety of research touching on different senses, and authenticity requires details to be carefully arranged so readers are not overwhelmed. Using the power of historical music can help your writing resonate with readers in an original and honest way.
K.K. O’Brien is a guest contributor to The History Quill. A writer interested in blending historical settings with the fight for social justice, she loves stories of underdogs. Until her novel is ready, you can find her latest work at https://kkobrien.net/blog
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