Peter Goldsworthy

Student Resources for 'Maestro'

Against the backdrop of Darwin - that small, tropical hothouse of a port, half outback, half oriental, lying at the tip of northern Australia - a young and newly arrived southerner, Paul Crabbe, encounters the 'maestro', a Viennese refugee with a shadowy past. The occasion is a piano lesson, the first of many.
Over the next two years, Paul learns more than he wishes to know about his teacher, and more than he wishes to know about himself.

Background Information

Darwin

Austria

Hitler & Nazism

The Persecution of the Jews

Historical Timeline

Chapter Questions

Themes

Essay Questions

1. Do you think Peter Goldsworthy succeeds in bringing his myriad of characters and places to life in Maestro? How does he do this?

2. What do we learn about Australian lifestyles in Maestro? Consider both the characters and the setting of the novel.

3. Compare and contrast the different cities that are the settings of Maestro. How do the different places he lives in affect Paul's life?

4. What role does music play in the development of Paul's character?

5. 'In this sense Keller was bad for me, the worst possible teacher: revealing perfection to me, and at the same time snatching it away' (p.148a). Discuss what you think Paul means by this statement. Do you think he is right?

6. 'Can I know that mine was a foolish, innocent world, a world of delusion and feeling and ridiculous dreams - a world of music - and still love it? Endlessly, effortlessly.' (p.149a). What has Paul learnt about life, love and music for him to reach this conclusion at the end of the novel?

7. Paul's relationships with his friends reveal other aspects of his character and growing maturity. Examing these relationships and discuss their impact on Paul's growth as a person.

8. 'First impressions? Misleading of course. As always.' (p. 3a). What were your first impressions of Paul and Keller, and how do they change by the end of the novel?

9. What role do Paul's parents play in shaping his attitudes to life?

10. After Keller's death, Paul says '...a Great Man had died, whatever the crimes he felt he had committed.' (p.146b). Why do you think Paul referred to him as 'great'? Do you agree with Paul's statement? What crimes do you think he was referring to?

Reviews

"Emotional Account of Master & Student" by Katherine England

"The Write Stuff: Crafted Opus Plays Mystery of a Maestro" by Giles Hugo

"Dark Secrets of Pianist in Near Perfect Pitch" by D.J. O'Hearn

Resources

Biographical Information about Peter Goldsworthy

Dowse, Sara, ‘Creating gods in our own image’, The Canberra Times,
14 October 1990, p. 27.

Lewis, Berwyn, ‘The Poet of Penola: Dr. Goldsworthy Takes his Scalpel to the Middle Class’, The Australian Weekend, 14-15 May 1988, p. 9.

Page, Michael, ‘The Pen as Scalpel’, The Advertiser, 13 March 1982,
p. 27.

Maestro Criticism/Reviews

Chenery, Susan, ‘A Success to Rival the Short Story Trophies’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 November 1989, p. 86.

Eldridge, Marion, ‘Few Faltering Notes from Goldsworthy’, The Canberra Times, 25 November 1989, p. 14.

England, Katharine, ‘Emotional Account of Master and Student’, The Advertiser, 18 November 1989, p. 14.

Garner, Helen, ‘A Cheeky Triumph’, The Sydney Review and The Adelaide Review, no. 18, November 1989, p. 13.

Hanrahan, John, ‘First Novels in the First Person Full of Wisdom’, The Weekend Australian, 2-3 December 1989, p. 12.

Hugo, Giles, ‘The Write Stuff’, The Mercury, 21 October 1989.
McKernan, Susan, ‘Worlds Out of Key’, The Bulletin, 12 December 1989, pp. 116-7.

O’Hearn, D.J., ‘Dark Secrets of Pianist in Near Perfect Pitch’, The Age Saturday Extra, 25 November 1989, p. 10.

Riemer, A.P., ‘Contemporary Writing: the Mark of Quality’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 December 1989, pp. 116-7.

Riemer, A.P., The Ironic Eye, Angus & Robertson, 1994.

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