The History of Sound

In 1917, Lionel Worthing, a Boston Conservatory student, meets fellow student David White at a pub. They instantly bond over their love of folk music. They return to David's apartment, where they begin a romantic relationship.

With America entering World War I, Lionel is ineligible due to his eyesight and returns to Kentucky when the conservatory closes. He puts music aside to help run the family farm after his father's sudden death. The separation foreshadows long years apart.

In 1919, Lionel receives a letter from David announcing his return from Europe and a job at a Maine college. David invites Lionel to accompany him on a department-funded trip to collect folk songs on wax cylinders. The invitation rekindles their bond and sets the plans in motion.

The two reunite and travel around Maine, recording folk songs from diverse communities on wax cylinders. The work deepens their shared love of music and their relationship. They push forward with the project until practical commitments pull them apart.

David returns to his duties in academia, while Lionel contemplates traveling to Europe. The two part ways, preserving the possibility of future collaboration but acknowledging growing distance. Their romance remains a quiet, intermittent thread across the years.

By 1923, Lionel is living in Rome and tells his lover Luca about his dissatisfaction with singing in a local choir. He takes a teaching position at the University of Oxford, signaling a major shift in his career. The relationship with Luca ends on bad terms as distances widen.

A year after arriving in Europe, Lionel conducts the school's choir and becomes involved with student socialite Clarissa Roux. She invites him to meet her family at their country manor, a setting that triggers memories of David. The relationship offers a distraction but destabilizes as soon as the past intrudes.

Lionel must return to the United States to comfort his dying mother, abruptly ending his involvement with Clarissa. He arranges his personal affairs before resuming travels and commitments. The move marks a return to his family for support.

After sorting family matters, Lionel travels to Maine to locate David. A colleague reveals that David died some time after their trip and that the wax-cylinder project was never commissioned. David's widow Belle explains how she and David became involved, and offers to help locate the cylinders.

Lionel learns that David died by suicide as a result of war-related shell shock. He mourns by revisiting David's favorite places and recounting songs that connected them, especially The Unquiet Grave. The mystery of the cylinders lingers with his memories.

In 1980, Lionel, now an ethnomusicologist, is promoting a new book when a package of wax cylinders arrives at his doorstep. One recording is made on the day of David's death, and David's voice apologizes and thanks Lionel before singing Silver Dagger, the song they first shared.