Ready Reference Treatise: Maestro

By Raja Sharma

“Maestro” by Peter Goldsworthy was first published in 1989. It is a coming-of-age (bildungsroman) novel that very effectively explores the themes of life and art.

Paul Crabbe, a teenage boy, is the central character. The story revolves around the relationship between Paul Crabbe and Herr Eduard Keller, his piano teacher.

It can also be called a semi-autobiographical novel that draws on multiple details from the author’s life.

The author, like the central character Paul, is originally from Southern Australia. He happens to have completed high school in Darwin before going to the University of Adelaide.

Ready Reference Treatise: Maestro
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Jun 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310648694

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

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Ready Reference Treatise: Maestro

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: Maestro

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2015 Raja Sharma

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Chapter One: Introduction

Maestro by Peter Goldsworthy was first published in 1989. It is a coming-of-age (bildungsroman) novel that very effectively explores the themes of life and art.

Paul Crabbe, a teenage boy, is the central character. The story revolves around the relationship between Paul Crabbe and Herr Eduard Keller, his piano teacher.

It can also be called a semi-autobiographical novel that draws on multiple details from the author’s life.

The author, like the central character Paul, is originally from Southern Australia. He happens to have completed high school in Darwin before going to the University of Adelaide.

The author’s daughter Anna Goldsworthy is a classical pianist. This book is dedicated to Anna Goldsworthy, the author’s parents Jan and Reuben, and Eleanora Sivan, Anna’s childhood piano teacher.

The author’s daughter used to be highly inspired by her teacher. It is assumed that their relationship probably inspired the author to develop the relationship between Paul and Keller.

When the book was published for the first time, more than 200,000 copies were sold only in Australia. The book has also been published in Germany and Austria.

The Australian Society of Authors declared Maestro one of the Top 40 Australian Books of All Time. The book was also nominated for the Miles Franklin Award for the best Australian published novel.

The author and his daughter later adapted the novel into a play. It was first performed by the State Theatre Company of South Australia in March 2099.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

Paul Crabbe is the central character of this coming-of-age story. It is written in the form of a memoir. The story revolves around Paul’s relationship with his piano teacher, Herr Eduard Keller.

At the opening of the story, Paul happens to be fifteen years old. He has just moved with his parents from Southern Australia to Darwin, in the country’s far north.

Keller is an old Austrian immigrant who lives in a room at the Swan hotel that overlooks the hotel’s beer garden.

At the beginning of the story, Paul takes his first lesson from Keller. Paul is seated at an old piano. It is a peeling upright piano. Keller himself sits at a grand piano.

Paul very carefully observes his teacher’s hands. He notices that Keller is missing most of his right little finger. However, he wears a gold ring on the stump of the finger.

During the first eight lessons, Paul is not allowed to play. Keller spends most of the time teaching his musical philosophies and instructing Paul in the personalities of the different fingers.

Paul in his light mood suspects that his teacher might be a war criminal in hiding. Keller describes his musical ancestry to Paul. He describes that Beethoven taught Czerny, Czerny taught Liszt, Liszt taught Leschetizky, and