Maestro

FORM IV MAESTRO Quotes Analysis 2. 'In a sense Keller was bad for me, the worst possible teacher.' Is this an accurate assessment? What has Keller taught Paul? This statement is inaccurate. Even though Paul does not realise at first that Keller is teaching him a lot, Keller sees a young him in Paul. Like Keller, Paul is very arrogant, thinking he is better than everyone. Keller tries to teach Paul, that this arrogance can lead to his downfall. Keller teaches him that without experience of an event, no-one can really know what it feels like, despite all the factual details, he may read. "No-one can be ... you the music", here Keller is referring Paul to play the Children's Bach, instead of going straight to the original Bach. Even though Paul has finished the Children's Bach, many years ago, Keller tries to get Paul to realise that there
The significance of title
“Maestro”   is a term usually reserved for musicians of the highest accomplishment. It seems unlikely to apply to an unprepossessing, alcohol-sodden piano teacher living above a beer garden in a “town of drunks” (p.8). Paul’s early impressions of Keller are not favourable, and Keller is, likewise, unimpressed by Paul. “the boy is too given to self-satisfaction”, as he states, “the self satisfied go no further”(p.43). It is gradually revealed, however, that Keller has a most respectable musical pedigree and was, at one time, a pianist of distinction. Keller attempts to impart his knowledge to Paul but Paul strikes out on his own prematurely, preferring to his the European competition circuit rather than spend extra time refining his skills. At the end of the novel Paul is dismissive of his own ability, suggesting that his playing falls short of the very best: “a second-rate perfection is all I have any hope of attaining” (p.148). Paul never achieves the status of maestro. Keller’s pre-eminence remains uncontested.
Maestro takes the form of a retrospective narrative which both begins and ends with a focus...