Summary

In “The History of Sound,” Lionel is living in Cambridge, Massachusetts when he receives a mysterious package in the mail. Inside, he is shocked to find the 25 phonograph cylinders that he and his late lover David made during the summer of 1919. A stranger from Maine found them in their house, discovered they were Lionel’s, and sent them to him.

Lionel remembers his relationship with David. They met in 1916 at the New England Conservatory, where David was studying piano and Lionel was studying voice. At a bar one evening, Lionel sang along to song after song while David accompanied him. They went back to David’s apartment that night. Over the following weeks, they repeated the same pattern. Then, in 1917, David left for the war. Because of his bad eyes, Lionel did not join and “returned to Harrow, to the farm...