musicians of old

Chapter 292 "Ode to Resurrection" (4K [-]-in-[-])

In the early morning of January 1, the sky was frozen and the ground was closed, and the dripping water turned into ice.

The sound of the car engine and the cracking of the ice shell intertwined in the ears, the car windows were foggy, and the sparse gas lights on the street diffused into orange fuzzy ghosts on the glass.

Fan Ning, who was sitting in the back seat, was lost in thought with a black and white photo under the dim headlights.

It is twice the size of an ordinary photo and is close to the size of a music book. However, due to the large number of people included in the shot, the location of the lens is too far, and the resolution is not ideal, only the facial features of those people we know can be seen. recognize it.

The stage, the echo wall, flowers all over the place, brass decorations and musical instrument music stands looming in the distance.

The one in the middle is Master Schillings, the one on the left and the one on the right are Master Nieman and himself;

Kaprun and Olga on the second left stand side by side, with an obvious smile on their unclear faces. Little Irene is held in his arms by his wife, without looking at the camera, her chubby little face is raised in the air, not knowing What attracts attention, they go to the left are the Marchioness of McAdam, Elizabeth, Lausanne and Virgil and other singers on stage;
The second from the right is Ms. Hamilton who was guided to stand beside her. The old lady was not supported by anyone. She leaned on crutches in one hand and held a thick stack of blessing cards in the other. Her eyes were completely squinted with a smile. Lan, Roy and other chief voices, Joan stood on tiptoe and waved the flute excitedly;

On the right are well-dressed dignitaries of the cultural department standing upright. Behind them are several bearded painters. Marley is holding a sketch of a pianist and conductor in exaggerated performance poses on his chest, just in front of officials. above their heads.

Directly behind Viadrin and several old subordinate members of his branch;
Behind the right are other musicians of the old symphony orchestra;

After that, there are choir boys and girls who lack experience in taking pictures, and there are not a few people who close their eyes;
There are a lot of familiar students from Saint Lenia University in the left rear;
Many lucky fans who I don't know;

At the end of the crowd, Lu stretched his arms upwards, and stretched out two timpani sticks...

"What's going on?" Realizing that the vehicle had been idling for a while, Fanning put away the photo and looked up.

"Sir, it's near the church, and the congestion is serious." The driver replied.

Fanning saw many black raincoats and the rear of the carriage in front of the windshield, so he realized that the car had passed the west gate of Saint Lenia University, and the Liufenus Garden Cemetery where Teacher Anton was buried was behind. .

"It's okay, Sheeran, let's get out of the car."

The ice-water mixture of the leather shoes stepped on the ground, pressing out leaden gray ripples and cracks.

Fan Ning circled from the rear of the car to the other side, opened the black umbrella, and picked up the girl from the top of the hand guard door. As the cold wind blew, the two merged into the crowd and walked along the west direction, passing through the lawn and the square , across Oak Street.

He seemed to have seen the vast blue sky, the snow-white outer wall of St. Lenia Cathedral, the white stone brick steps, and the glare of sunlight reflected on the raised sphere in the middle of the pointed arch.

But that was only a few days after graduation, when I visited here to explore the life of the old organist.

From the rain curtain to the distance, the church is full of flower bouquets from the first step, their borders have been polluted by sewage, and many petals have been blown to deviated positions by the wind, but upwards, pure The white or light yellow color blocks are gradually piled up in an orderly and unified manner, and it seems that even if they accidentally slip and fall here, they will not be stained with dirt.

Fanning handed Sheeran the umbrella and knelt down in front of the steps.

He saw that some of the bouquets had stickers with crooked handwriting and childish handwriting, with only names and time on them.

The time period is concentrated between 4:5 am and [-]:[-] am.

And now... he looked up at the big clock higher up in the archway, it was twenty past six.

In the cold early morning, they came here 1-2 hours early, put the bouquets on the steps instead of sending them into the church, and left in a hurry without stopping. There is only one possibility for these people to go now——

They are ready to enter the workshop to work.

The two started to line up, and the staff at the door directly recognized Fan Ning's identity.

Fanning chose the seat on the side of the third row, and Sheeran looked at the flowers on the altar and became absorbed: "Caroun, one of my father's few old friends has passed away."

"The organist Viern and the poet Bassani, Mr. Anton and the old lady Hamilton, yes..." Fan Ning looked far away, "That era is already old, people don't live that long, either by accident or It is aging, except for the two students of Bassani who have broken through to the masters, they can have two or three decades more."

"Ten years is a long time, and I also want to become a master in the future." Sheeran used a small curse mark spread out on his palm, indicating that he had been promoted to the middle position for the first time in the training of the Church of Enlightenment order.

"Do you wish you'd outlived me?" Fanning asked.

"Yes." The girl nodded seriously, "I came to your funeral, because this role is not easy to fill, so I don't want you to take it."

Fanning was silent.

"Caroun..." Sheeran called him again.

"how?"

"If a person dies, many people commemorate her spontaneously, her past is remembered by many people, and there is even a person who is still alive who is particularly sad for her... So, will she be more than "no one cares about, The dead who are not commemorated, unremembered are less lonely?"

"You think so, because I told you about the hidden knowledge about 'Ge' that night?"

Sheeran made a "hmm".

"I don't know." Fan Ning shook his head, "I understand 'Ge', but I don't understand how it is related to myself. Many artists who were lonely during their lifetime will not be lonely because of the memory of later generations? Suppose If so, maybe I have to worry about the end of the world even after I die, because in that way people will all die, and there is no difference between who is the dead and who is the inscriber, who will recognize and protect my 'character'... "

It was Sheeran's turn to remain silent.

"So do you believe in the Anomaly Zone or the end of the world?" Fanning looked her in the eye.

"I believe in the Abnormal Zone, but I don't believe in the end of the world." The little girl replied.

"What does it mean…"

"Death is the end of the world. All deaths are. There is no more special day."

"Including the death of the individual?"

"It refers to the death of the individual." Sheeran lowered her head. "Everyone thinks that death means taking away their special life in this world, and taking away the moments of sharing and co-existing with others... In fact, this is It’s just from the perspective of others, but to the deceased himself, taking away is the whole world, and this feeling is the end of the world.”

"Some insights from 'Desolation'?" Fan Ning thinks this is a point of view worth sharing, "But...we don't know what it feels like after death..."

"I probably know."

"You know?" Fanning asked in surprise.

Xilan said "hmm": "There is an easy way, do you want to experience it?"

"want."

"Imagine how you felt before you were born, in terms of time, space, and various senses."

"The feeling before I was born..." Fanning imagined with his eyes closed.

After opening his eyes, he saw that the girl in the seat beside him was bending over and looking at him from a close distance.

"Like the end of the world?" she asked.

"I want to write the tonality of each movement of the "Second Symphony" farther and farther, and not let it go back to C minor." Fan Ning thought for a moment.

"why?"

"A kind of rebellion, a rebellion against the nothingness that is homogeneous at both ends. If a symphony is a world, or can be regarded as a life-like organism, do you want its evolution to be free Traces of will?"

"Hope, so don't let it eventually return to its origin?" Sheeran said.

"It's hard to guarantee not to return to the origin, but there must be great power and sublimation, otherwise everything will be in vain, and nihilism will make people depressed again."

The girl nodded thoughtfully, and then said, "Caron, I don't want to attend the next funeral anymore."

Fan Ning understood what he was referring to in a blink of an eye, he let out a sigh of relief, and stretched out his hand to stroke her back.

After the funeral officially started at [-] o'clock in the morning, the two listened silently to the eulogy and the narrator's memories.

The narrator believes that the old lady Hamilton "loves every concrete person, not the abstract person", which makes Fanning can't help thinking whether abstract death is worth exploring or concrete death is more worth exploring.

Later, the organ didn't play, whether it was a coincidence or something else, the old lady's last wish seemed to have chosen the same method as Viern's.

The deceased lay solemnly under the wreaths and flowers, and the black curtain covered the high brass piano body. A small choir of 24 people took the stage and sang unaccompanied four-part plain songs.

It is easy to hear that its treble melody comes from a medieval church chant.

The sound is solemn and serene, without any impurities, and even the short stagnation moment of the music when the choir takes a breath is as natural and pure as the light intensity changes.

The lyrics filled in are a short poem by the poet Bassani with only two stanzas and eight lines.

Fanning suddenly trembled violently all over.

Listening to the chorus of this chant, it was as if an electric current had directly penetrated his heart and body!

The Bassani short poem of only two stanzas sings thus:
"Resurrection, yes, you will rise,
O my dust, after a brief respite!

The Lord who calls you to your side,

will grant you eternal life.

You are sown until it blooms again!
after we die,

The Lord came to take us in,

Reap like sheaves of corn! "

……

Fanning pursed his lips tightly, grasped the armrest with both fists, and his whole shoulders were shaking slightly.

Tears filled his eyes in an instant, and as he closed his eyes, they trickled down his cheeks.

"Caron?" Sheeran, noticing the strangeness, turned her head away, startled by his appearance.

"I was wrong, don't cry..." She had never seen Fan Ning like this before. The only time Fan Ning shed tears at the teacher's funeral last time was that she didn't notice. At this moment, she hurriedly took out her handkerchief and wiped it on his face, " It's because I shouldn't discuss heavy and depressing topics on this occasion, I know you are also reluctant to leave Mr. Kaplan..."

Fanning sniffed his nose lightly, opened his eyes, and murmured hoarsely:

"Resurrection, yes, you will be resurrected..."

What was uttered loudly at the scene of the subway accident that day, and the "living must perish, and salvation is hard to find" recorded when composing the third movement Scherzo that day...Those questioning and gray-toned explorations...

At this time, the chant chorus "Ode to Resurrection" made Fanning spiritually clear.

The final chapter that I still don't know how to answer...

All confusion and perplexity were resolved.

"All flesh and blood are like grass. This so-called life must perish..."

"The living will perish, but the perishing will be resurrected!"

"The so-called program. The program of aesthetics, the program of experience, the program of obtaining comfort"

"Look, they all contain fictitious elements that are 'hard to happen in reality'. There will be no mythological characters to take you on a historical projection, and there will be no miracles of the Lord of Witnesses to resolve the love and hatred of people in the last days. The current era is also far from "the love of all mankind", isn't it?"

That night spent at the Saint-Ophrony Manor, the discussion with Miss Roy on the "emotional formula theory" appeared in Fanning's mind from a completely different perspective.

A narrative angle that is longed for but difficult to happen in reality...

Longing but hard to get what you want? ?

"Is there any narrative angle that fits this feature better than 'resurrection'?"

"People cannot be resurrected after death... Yes! It is precisely because people cannot be resurrected after death that the narrative about resurrection is so precious, full of great comfort and great power... What is the purpose of human life? Is there any meaning to suffering in life? Is it all just a gigantic prank? No! In this fanciful emotional program, the audience will understand that the living must perish, and the perishing must be resurrected! Their birth is not in vain, nor is their existence and suffering. Not in vain!!"

The solemn voice of the choir still echoes in the church.

Fan Ning's face was still stained with tears, but his eyes became brighter and brighter, and his gaze and inspiration looked higher and higher.

"The hero's funeral, the remembrance of the past, the chaotic movement, the painful longing... And on the last day, there will be a loud noise in the wilderness, the tomb will be cracked, the dead will stand in a forest, and the mountains and plains will join the march No matter rich or poor, high or low, kings, beggars, righteous people, villains, believers in God or not, all walk forward involuntarily. And the cry of terror cries for grace and forgiveness..."

"Those cries grew louder and shook the sky, the senses deserted us, consciousness died with the approach of the eternal Spirit. In the terrible silence, the last trembling gesture of earthly life, the trumpet of revelation Calling, the voice of the nightingale from afar, the laity and the saint sang 'Resurrection, yes, you shall rise', and they were all forgiven, and then came the Aura, a strange and soft Aura..."

"There will be no judgment, no criminal, no upright, no power, no baseness, no punishment and no retribution, there will be no distinction between heaven and earth, and all will return to eternal and quiet happiness... This is my complete Symphony No. [-], "Symphony No. [-] in C Minor" 'Resurrection', the living must perish, and the perishing must be resurrected, this is the answer to the question at the current stage of my life!!"

"Clang!—" "Clang!—"

The ringing of the bell brought Fanning's thoughts back to the mundane world. He saw Xilan looking at him eagerly, with tears in his eyes, and subconsciously handed over his handkerchief.

Then realized she seemed to have done the exact same thing to herself a while ago.

Fan Ning hugged her comforting eyes, then gently pulled her sleeves to signal to stand up with everyone.

After the final farewell ceremony, the two joined the funeral procession.

"I'm glad I thought of inviting Ms. Hamilton to the New Year's Concert..."

Xilan stared at the newly erected tombstone in a daze.

In addition to the life and black-and-white portrait of the old lady, there is also the epitaph that has become the mezzo-soprano libretto of the fourth movement of Fanning's "Second Symphony"—the song was written by Viern and transcribed in her workbook "First Light" on the title page.

"...I am also glad that you convinced her when you were in the hospital. We are all the most touching senders."

"No, it's not that we sent her off with the New Year's concert." Fan Ning shook his head solemnly, then bent down to present a bouquet, and bowed slowly three times.

"She was the one who ushered us in with the 'First Light'."

(End of this chapter)