The celebrated musician reflects on family, illness, and a bygone era of glamour in this poignant memoir.
Peter Duchin is among the great American bandleaders. His six decades of performing have taken him to the world's most exclusive dance floors and concert halls. He has played for presidents, kings, and queens, as well as for civil rights and cultural organizations. But in 2013, Duchin suffered a stroke that left him with limited use of his left hand, severely impacting his career.
Days of recuperating from his stroke-and later from a critical case of COVID-19-inspired Duchin to consider his complicated past. His father, the legendary bandleader Eddy Duchin, died when Peter was twelve; his mother, Marjorie Oelrichs Duchin, died when Peter was just six-days-old. In the succeeding decades, Duchin would follow his father as a bandleader, becoming the epitome of mid-20th Century glamour. But it was only half a century later, in the aftermath of his sudden illnesses, that he began to see his mother and father not just as the parents he never had, but as the individuals he never got to know.
More than a memoir, Face the Music offers a window into a bygone era of debutantes and white-tie balls, when such events made national headlines. Duchin explores what "glamour" and "society" once meant, and what they mean now. With sincerity and humor, Face the Music offers a moving portrait of an extraordinary life, its disruptions, and a revitalization.
