Countermelodies: A Memoir in Sonata Form

by Ernestine Whitman

Overview

Offering a uniquely musical perspective on the #MeToo experience, this is the story of a talented and fiercely determined musician—a young woman with everything to gain and, ultimately, nothing left to lose—who finds a way through despite multiple betrayals by the men in her life.

Jealous of her brilliant older sister, Ernestine longs for her father’s approval as a little girl but is never good enough. When she discovers a talent for the flute, she meets a charismatic teacher who gives her the encouragement she craves and becomes her surrogate father. After winning several competitions, she dreams of being a professional musician, but her stern father ridicules the idea and forces her to attend Emory University as a math major like her sister.

Ernestine doesn’t give up on her musical dreams, however, and halfway through college she wins the second flute chair in the Atlanta Symphony. There, she sits beside her former teacher, the principal flute. At first, she loves working with him, but after one successful season he turns on her and does everything in his power to get her fired. Devastated by her idol’s merciless harassment, she’s driven into a spiral of suicidal depression. As she tries to recover, her vulnerability is exploited, again and again, by the very men she turns to for help.

A harrowing account of one woman’s battle with twentieth-century misogyny, Countermelodies follows Ernestine as, through the darkness, she clings to her love for the flute and her unshakable dream of making it in the cutthroat world of classical music.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647427320
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	09/24/2024
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ernestine Whitman began her career as a professional flutist at age twenty, making her the youngest member of the Atlanta Symphony. Her passion for teaching brought her to Lawrence University, where she was professor of flute for thirty-three years. A passionate advocate for restorative justice, she volunteers frequently in programs at several Wisconsin prisons. Ernestine and her husband, Howard Niblock, divide their time between their condo in midtown Atlanta and their longtime residence in Appleton.

Editorial Reviews

2024 NYC Big Book Awards Winner in Memoir

“A disturbing and compelling tale of resilience, determination, and musical passion.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Whitman has composed a remarkable work, a musical memoir that is symphonic in scope, emotional range, and musical nuance . . . she expertly weaves together themes of heart wrenching tragedy and despair with themes of uplifting joy and triumph. And pulsing beneath each word, sentence, and melodic phrase, the undeniable transformational power of courage, resilience, and hope. Once I began the musical journey, I couldn’t put it down. Brava!"—Brian Pertl, Dean, Lawrence Conservatory of Music

“. . . In this memoir you will learn about the inner workings of professional orchestras and brush shoulders with luminaries, but the most important lesson it delivers is how to overcome pernicious self-doubt.”—Jean Feraca, author of I Hear Voices: A Memoir of Love, Death, and the Radio

“In her candid and courageous memoir, flutist Ernestine Whitman traces the long term impact of psychological abuse encountered within a dysfunctional family . . . will be of great interest to music lovers curious about the professional music world and the need for steely determination in order to survive and succeed.”—Leone Buyse, Professor Emerita, The Shepherd School of Music, Rice University; former principal flutist, Boston Pops Orchestra and acting principal flutist, Boston Symphony Orchestra

“When Ernestine Whitman became a professional flutist, classical music was a man’s world. Opposed by her judgmental father, she learned to fight for her art, navigating encounters with dangerously insecure men and holding fast to her flute until it became the means of her transcendence. At turns funny and frightening, Countermelodies is a glorious masterclass in music history, feminist resilience, and memory.”—David McGlynn, author of The End of the Straight and Narrow and One Day You’ll Thank Me

“What was it like to forge a path as a woman in a male-dominated field generations before the #MeToo movement? . . . a courageous, engrossing, and exquisitely written portrait of the artist as a young woman. Part coming of age, part coming to terms, Countermelodies is the story of a gifted flutist making her way in classical music at a time when men got away with unimaginable abuses of power. Like the most sophisticated sonatas, it’s stirring, unsettling, and, in the end, triumphant.”—Eleanor Henderson, professor at Ithaca College and author of Ten Thousand Saints and Everything I Have Is Yours: A Marriage

From the Publisher

What was it like to forge a path as a woman in a male-dominated field generations before the #MeToo movement? . . . a courageous, engrossing, and exquisitely written portrait of the artist as a young woman. Part coming of age, part coming to terms, Countermelodies is the story of a gifted flutist making her way in classical music at a time when men got away with unimaginable abuses of power. Like the most sophisticated sonatas, it’s stirring, unsettling, and, in the end, triumphant.

Eleanor Henderson

When Ernestine Whitman became a professional flutist, classical music was a man’s world. Opposed by her judgmental father, she learned to fight for her art, navigating encounters with dangerously insecure men and holding fast to her flute until it became the means of her transcendence. At turns funny and frightening, Countermelodies is a glorious masterclass in music history, feminist resilience, and memory.

David McGlynn

In her candid and courageous memoir, flutist Ernestine Whitman traces the long term impact of psychological abuse encountered within a dysfunctional family . . . will be of great interest to music lovers curious about the professional music world and the need for steely determination in order to survive and succeed.

Leone Buyse

. . . In this memoir you will learn about the inner workings of professional orchestras and brush shoulders with luminaries, but the most important lesson it delivers is how to overcome pernicious self-doubt.

Jean Feraca

2024-08-08
Whitman, an accomplished flutist, shares her struggles to overcome abuse from male authority figures to establish her career in the cutthroat world of classical music.

Born in 1946, the author grew up in Atlanta in the shadow of the older sister she idolized, Melinda. Four years Whitman’s senior, Melinda was the family’s overachieving superstar. Whitman spent her childhood and early adulthood seeking the same approbation from her father that he showered upon Melinda. Per the author, his cruel dismissiveness regarding her many accomplishments and her career aspirations in classical music instilled in her an insecurity that would be reinforced by the abusive behavior of a series of men she trusted. Her friend Anne encouraged her to join the junior high school band with her, where both of them could learn to play the flute. It was a turning point in Whitman’s life; the flute spoke to her soul. In eighth grade, she began taking private flute lessons with the perpetually scowling high school band conductor Warren Little, considered to be Atlanta’s best flutist. To her surprise, he was warmly supportive during their private lessons. Thus began “the quick transformation of Mr. Little from strange band director to beloved teacher and father figure.” In 1966, while in her sophomore year at Emory University (where her father was a tenured professor), Whitman was invited to audition for, and was offered, the position of second flute in the prestigious Atlanta Symphony, becoming its youngest full-time member. It was a major professional achievement that would simultaneously present one of the greatest psychological challenges of her young life. The acclaimed Little was the Atlanta Symphony’s first flutist, sitting next to her in the orchestra. The author describes an inexplicable transformation from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde, reporting that Little spent five years denigrating her performance, grimacing, and threatening to have her fired. Several years later, after leaving Atlanta, she sought counseling from a Freudian psychoanalyst in training, who, Whitman asserts, betrayed her trust and his professional ethics. After an especially egregious therapy session, she made her second attempt at suicide.

Classical music forms the structure and provides the energy for this beautifully composed and occasionally heart-wrenching memoir. The author’s passion for the subtleties and mechanical complexities of great orchestral productions flows from her pages. Although the copious minutiae about individual pieces and conductors will be best appreciated by those already well versed in orchestral music, there are passages here that soar, and even the uninitiated (whose eyes may occasionally glaze over a bit) are likely to be intrigued by this behind-the-curtain portrait of the highly competitive classical music arena. Engaging details concerning pitch, range, and techniques of mastering the flute are descriptive enough to fine-tune the attention of the most casual concert attendees. There are incidents in this personal saga that would qualify for inclusion in any compendium of “Me Too” accounts; still, this is a robust story of remarkable perseverance and success in the face of many obstacles.

A disturbing and compelling tale of resilience, determination, and musical passion.

Kirkus Reviews