Borod-In class: The Strings of Sisterhood

By Ashley Rescot

Cellist Jerry Chang is bored in class due to the repetitive nature of his music. What's the point in playing an instrument if he's stuck accompanying Franklin, the uppity first violinist? Even the second violinist and violist, the pretty Pearson sisters, seem ready for a change in tune. When Jerry suggests they play a song by the Romantic composer Borodin, the girls jump at the opportunity. Can the trio overthrow Franklin from his musical throne as first chair? Or will he subject them to ongoing musical servitude for the rest of their collegiate career?

 

This musical short story is a prequel to Ashley Rescot's music fiction novel A Change in Tune.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rescot Creative
• Release date: Feb 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201402877

Ashley Rescot

Ashley Rescot is a professional violinist, educator, writer, and Fulbright Scholar. An aficionado of music, pedagogy, family, faith, and language, she writes about her life as a musician. Stay tuned for her music novel!

Book preview

Cover Design:

Robert Rescot

Jerry Chang flicked his bow over the cello strings to Haydn String Quartet Number Five Million, Two Hundred, and Whatever. For the next several lines, or pages, all he could see were repeated notes, with an occasional rest or slow note thrown in for good measure. Could this song get any more boring?

A flourish of fast notes jolted Jerry from his stupor. Well, maybe it wasn’t boring for Mr. I’m-better-than-everyone Franklin Curtis, the pale guy in skinny jeans and a beanie sitting opposite him. Why did Hadyn give all the fast lines to the first violinist, leaving the monotonous accompaniment part to the remainder of the string quartet? Couldn’t the composer share the love with the other instrumentalists every once in a while? This year, his junior year of college, all he’d played in chamber music class were Mozart and Haydn String Quartets,