Postlude

Summary

The Postlude offers a brief discussion of Forster’s listening to Hugo Wolf’s lieder in 1935 and a reflection on the limits of past gay discussion of Forster’s contribution to the opera Billy Budd. It suggests that a renewed close investigation into the relation between text and its historical context enables us to uncover the complexity in Forster’s ideology and generate fresh readings of his work. If the political energy of his comment on Hugo Wolf’s music reminds us of the political suggestiveness of his references to music, the revelation of the whiteness of Billy Budd is a timely signal, for readers in the twenty-first century, to reach beyond existing critical parameters and stay alert to the conditioning forces of our own perspectives. At the heart of Forster’s engagement with and representations of music is his protean interest in a broad range of topical subjects and political issues. The Postlude suggests that it is necessary to acknowledge and interpret the multiple frontiers of Forster’s ideological exploration and the many concerns he registers and raises in his writing.