The Last Chord

Text 1: The Quiet Hall, by Mara Fenwick

An original novel extract.

The hall was empty, but it did not feel unoccupied. Rows of red seats climbed into the darkness, waiting. Niall sat at the grand piano with his shoulders raised and pressed the same key for the seventh time. The note came back thin and sour. It seemed to hang above him, accusingly, until the silence swallowed it.

He had tuned hundreds of pianos. Even so, this one had made him doubt his own ears. He fitted the small metal lever to the tuning pin and turned it by less than the width of a pencil line. Press, listen, turn. Press, listen, turn. The clock on the far wall clicked through each attempt. Somewhere in the building a door slammed, and Niall’s hand jumped. The next note was worse.

He shut his eyes. Instead of forcing the sound towards where he wanted it, he listened to where it was. Then he made one final adjustment.

This time, the note rose cleanly. It was fine as a thread, but it held. Niall played the neighbouring key and the two sounds met without fighting. He moved along the keyboard. Gradually, the instrument stopped arguing and began to answer him. Press, listen, turn. The words were no longer an order. They had become a rhythm.

He forgot the cold tea beneath the stool and the ache between his shoulders. Note by note, he stitched the scattered sounds together until only the lowest keys remained. When he finally played a chord, it travelled through the empty hall, climbed towards the balcony and returned softened, as if the building itself had breathed out.

Niall kept his hands on the keys until the last vibration disappeared. Then he placed the lever carefully in its case.

‘There you are,’ he whispered, and the smile arrived before he could stop it.

How does Mara Fenwick use language and structure to show how Niall’s feelings about his work change?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.