The Secret Chord

Geraldine Brooks says that her inspiration for the book came as she watched her son play Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah on the harp, so it is no surprise that music is a recurring motif in The Secret Chord. Music reveals the emotional depth of David’s character when he mourns Yonatan, expresses joy over his new city, or feels the pain of his sin. More than anything else, the recurring sound of David’s music reveals him to be more than a blood-soaked warrior and a slave to lust. The Hidden Complexity of Character comes through in the complexity of the music. Brooks lets metaphors for the music cascade across sentences. At one point, she describes David’s playing as combining the urgency of a trumpet, the awesome power of the wind, the sweetness of singing birds, the fear caused by howling beasts, the smoothness of silk, the warmth of fur, the glitter of gold, and the fierceness of lightning (130). David’s ability to convey emotion not only makes him interesting, but it also gives him a power over others, as seen in his ability to calm Shaul’s madness and to inspire warriors.

The most important aspect of music is that it reveals the truth.