Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Face the music

In my newest Silver Rush novel MORTAL MUSIC, several characters—including prima donna Theia Carrington Drake—must face the music as the story unfolds.

Since I'm exploring music-related slang this month, this seems like the perfect time to dig into the origins of this idiom. On the surface, to face the music sounds enjoyable—what's not to like about experiencing a musical interlude? (Unless it's really loud or not to your liking, of course.) But the definition of this phrase is anything but pleasant: to meet, take, or accept the consequences of one's mistakes, actions. 

So, what's the origin, and why isn't facing the music a more welcome prospect?
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PhraseFinder's thorough entry reflects my musing before giving a shrug:

The phrase 'face the music' has an agreeable imagery. We feel that we can picture who was facing what and what music was playing at the time. Regrettably, the documentary records don't point to any clear source for the phrase and we are, as so often, at the mercy of plausible speculation...

 Two possibilities offered up are:

1. It reflects the tradition of disgraced officers being "drummed out" of their regiment
2. It originated in the theater world: Actors "face the music" when they go onstage and face the orchestra pit.

The PhraseFinder notes the phrase first popped up in U.S., with one of its earliest appearances in The New Hampshire Statesman & State Journal in August 1834:

Will the editor of the Courier explain this black affair. We want no equivocation - 'face the music' this time.

My copy of American Slang: Second Edition, edited by Robert L. Chapman, has the phrase in use by 1850 and offers two possible sources:

1. It might have come about from the necessity of forcing a cavalry horse to steadily face the regimental band.
2. It refers to the plight of a performer on stage.

I'm going to go with the second suggestions in both cases. For me and MORTAL MUSIC, it hits the right note!

Unlike some of my characters, this singer is prepared to face the music.
By Ivan Kramskoi - The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6359697

POSTSCRIPT: In the comments to this post, Liz V notes she found another "origin story" for face the music on the World Wide Words blog site. Theory: That it comes from contra dancing (which I also had to look up... :-) ). Thank you, Liz!