The History of Sound (2025) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Lionel was ineligible for the draft due to his poor eyesight. This medical condition prevented him from serving in World War I, which is why he returned to Kentucky when the conservatory closed, while David was drafted and sent to Europe.

• draft
• eyesight
• world war 1
• ineligible

David invited Lionel because he wanted to rekindle their romantic and professional partnership. After returning from the war, David secured a position at a Maine college and arranged a department-funded research trip to collect folk songs. He specifically asked Lionel to join as his assistant, using the project as a way to bring them back together.

• david white
• lionel worthing
• wax cylinders
• folk songs
• invitation

The wax cylinders remained lost for decades. When Lionel visited Maine in 1925, he discovered that David's department never actually commissioned the trip, making the recordings unofficial. After David's death, his widow Belle searched for them and eventually found and sent them to Lionel in 1980.

• wax cylinders
• recordings
• folk music
• belief
• missing

David died by suicide, linked to shell shock from his experiences in World War I. Shell shock was a term used for what is now recognized as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), caused by the traumatic events he witnessed during the war. His death occurred some time after his 1919 fieldwork trip with Lionel.

• david white
• death
• shell shock
• suicide
• world war 1

David stopped writing because he was struggling with shell shock and depression after returning from the war. The psychological toll of his wartime experiences made it difficult for him to maintain connections, and he withdrew from Lionel despite their earlier bond.

• letters
• david white
• shell shock
• communication
• withdrawal

Lionel left Clarissa because memories of David suddenly overwhelmed him during a visit to her family's country manor. While he tried to move forward with his life in England, the past intruded intensely, and he abruptly returned to the United States when he learned his mother was dying.

• clarissa roux
• lionel
• david
• memories
• breakup

Shell shock was the term used during World War I to describe what is now recognized as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It resulted from prolonged exposure to combat trauma, causing symptoms like anxiety, depression, flashbacks, and emotional numbness. Many soldiers who experienced shell shock struggled to readjust to civilian life, and in severe cases, it led to suicide.

• shell shock
• ptsd
• world war 1
• trauma
• war

The final recording, made on the day of David's death, contained him apologizing to Lionel for not writing back and thanking him for their time together. He then sang "Silver Dagger," the same folk song Lionel had sung to David when they first met in 1917. This recording served as David's final goodbye and a poignant confirmation of his enduring feelings.

• silver dagger
• final recording
• apology
• david
• cylinders

Lionel returned to the United States because his mother was dying. He abruptly ended his relationship with Clarissa Roux and his work at Oxford to travel home and comfort his dying mother, Molly Price.

• lionel
• mother
• molly price
• return
• death

Belle became David's wife after he returned from the war. While the summary does not provide exact details of their meeting, Belle explains to Lionel that she and David became involved after his return from Europe, eventually marrying before his death.

• belle
• widow
• david
• marriage
• meeting

"The Unquiet Grave" was a folk song that held deep meaning for both Lionel and David. After learning of David's death, Lionel mourned by revisiting his favorite places and recounting the songs that connected them, with "The Unquiet Grave" being particularly significant as a symbol of their enduring bond and Lionel's grief.

• unquiet grave
• folk song
• mourning
• symbol
• lionel
• david

After living in Rome and singing in a local choir, Lionel became dissatisfied with his situation. He accepted a teaching position as a conductor at the University of Oxford, marking a significant career shift from performing to academic work in ethnomusicology.

• rome
• oxford
• lionel
• career
• conductor

Lionel returned to Kentucky because his father died suddenly, leaving him to help run the family farm. This loss coincided with the conservatory closing due to America's entry into World War I, forcing Lionel to put his music studies aside and take on family responsibilities.

• father
• death
• kentucky
• family farm
• lionel

The department-funded trip to collect folk songs on wax cylinders was never actually commissioned by David's college. When Lionel visited Maine in 1925, a colleague revealed that the trip was not officially sanctioned, which explains why the recordings were never catalogued or preserved by the institution.

• department
• commission
• official
• cylinders
• research