Missing: SF Short Story

[talktooloose]

In light of the previous post, I thought I'd see if anyone can help me find an SF short story I read back in the late 70s or early 80s.

In a totalitarian regime, a infant is determined to possess huge talent for music. In order to assure that everything he creates will be utterly original, he is taken from his parents and completely isolated in a cabin with a fancy keyboard. However, a voice comes to the boy from outside, singing him songs from earlier times. When his keepers hear these influences enter his music, he is savagely removed from his isolation and mutilated. He is forbidden to make music again.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I remember being very affected by it and I would love to know what it's called and who wrote it.

Comments

[painglass.livejournal.com]

I KNOW this story!! Its stuck in my head for years. Unfortunately, I can't remember the title or author either. I don't know where you read it, but I read the story in an anthology of short SF stories back in junior high.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

Arggghhh!! We must locate it!!

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

In fact, your list made me wonder if it's in the Ellison anthology.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

see Spizzy's reply below for the answer.

[spizzy.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Orson Scott Card stories...

It's Unaccompanied Sonata, by OSC. I've got it in a collection of his short stories.

[spizzy.livejournal.com]

Which you are welcome to borrow! It's an interesting collection, arranged by genre. It has horrific gory science fiction, fantasy, and quiet Mormon family stories.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

Bless you. You know, I had a feeling it might be him. I should give Ender another chance in honour of this reunion. I also remember a stunning one called Sand Kings.

Of course, the fact that he's a very bizarre breed of homophobe dampens my enthusiasm.

[spizzy.livejournal.com]

I was a big fan of his stuff in Junior High. Years later I started reading his website, and learned about his politics.

Disagreeing with his politics hasn't dampened my appreciation of his earlier stuff, but I find his new stuff to be unreadable. Perhaps he got crazier as he got older!

I hate to be a buzzkill, but…

[danthered.livejournal.com]

You do realise Card is a big, uncut, hard homophobe, right?

See here (http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2004-02-15-1.html), here (http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2008/08/gay-revolution-but-not-good-kind.html), and here (http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/20/91545/1879)…just for starters. There's lots more where that came from.

Re: I hate to be a buzzkill, but…

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

Yes, commented upon elsewhere in the thread. My knowledge that he is such and puts out hate leads to the following reactions:

1. I'm not inviting him to my house for dinner
   
2. I'm not voting for him for political office
   
3. I will try to avoid giving him money and buy his work second hand.
   
4. I will NOT stop finding value in his writing nor consider it worthless by association. I will not try to stop others from reading it nor work to have it banned in any way.

Re: I hate to be a buzzkill, but…

[danthered.livejournal.com]

Banned?! Heavens. Whoever suggested it?

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

Odd, I was thinking "this has got to be by Card." He has an earlyish novel that treads similar ground, perhaps a revision or extension of this story, but at least thematically similar.

Indeed the whole theme of special little boys who get mutilated seems to crop up in his work frequently. Once I discovered what a homo-antagonist he is, that started to REALLY creep me out. It's like, holy hell, what's getting worked out and/or sublimated and/or NOT sublimated here?

That said, his early work was well written. Can't read anything since it a) started to be badly written and b) he became so overt in his hatefulness. One might be excusable, but not both.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

Much as Spizzy said above. I would like to make a short opera of that story, actually. Hmm, do you know what the novel is called that might be the expansion?

[quirkstreet.livejournal.com]

Songmaster. Apparently based on a different short story but with a similar idea about incredible musical talent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songmaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card

[danthered.livejournal.com]

See my response directly above.