musicians of old

Chapter 793 Dungeon
"Suspicious" heresy
Surrounded by the gazes of the monks' jury, Fanning began to mark the dedication list.

The first ones he circled were naturally the ones that had just been controversial.

But later on, the speed slowed down more and more.

"There are 40 cases now." The monk next to him passed it to Pogre.

"Are the other 23 cases the 'suspicious' targets you just identified?" Pogre narrowed his eyes and scanned the area.

"Yes."

"How suspicious?"

".It's quite suspicious." Fanning answered again after careful consideration.

Bogre glanced at the names that had not yet been circled, and from time to time he put his nose close to sniff something, as if he could smell the "devil's sulfur" in this way.

"In the 17th section of this "Blessing Sutra", why does the unprepared external sound appear directly on the strong beat?" He once again pulled out the parchment scroll at hand.

"This technique focuses on counterpoint rather than harmonic thinking. The unprepared external sound that occurs on the strong beat is called 'appoggiatura' in the Standards of Sacred Music," Fanning replied.

"Why can't the problem be solved even after a short delay?" asked the monk on the left.

“The delayed resolution symbolizes the process of repentance that the sinner goes through,” Fanning replied.

"But the fact that it is repeated seven times throughout the article does not indicate that he is hesitant and unbelieving?" asked Pogre.

Fanning was silent.

"Circle again." The other party pushed the bottle of red ink over.

The secret meeting room was silent except for the constant friction of pens.

"Why is there a mixture of modes in this motet?" The monks picked up the list that Fanning had circled for the third time. "Dorian and Phrygian modes are mixed together. Is this a confusion of faith?"

Fanning remained calm: "The work dedicated is in the Passion genre."

"so what?"

"The Passion music genre values ​​narrative function, and the alternation of modes is indeed a metaphor for the wavering of faith, which cleverly corresponds to the record of the disciple Peter 'denying the Lord three times'."

"Why are the dots added to the triple-beat rhythm in the middle section to disrupt the uniformity of the time value? Does it distort the doctrine of the equal honor of the Trinity?" asked Bogre.

Fanning was silent.

"Another circle." The other party waved his hand.

More than ten minutes passed.

"There are 84 cases so far." The monk handed over the list.

"Brother Fanning, how suspicious do you think the new 'suspicious' heresy you just added is?" Pogre asked again.

".There are some doubts." Fanning's answer changed from "relatively" to "somewhat".

"Now the Lord has given you the authority to cast out demons. Please find out even the slightest suspicion."

".Now almost all of them have been found." Fan Ning frowned as he looked at the pages full of red circles drawn by himself.

Pogre recited the lyrics on another parchment scroll expressionlessly:
"You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride. How beautiful are your feet in their shoes! The roundness of your thighs is like jewels. You are a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, streams from Lebanon."

"The lyrics are blatantly provocative." The second senior clergyman on the right asked, "Brother Fanning, why didn't you circle it in red?" "The excerpts are from the sixth, seventh, and eighth chapters of the Song of Songs in the Old Testament." Fanning continued to explain, "Augustine pointed out in Section 6 of Book 22 of On Music that the Song of Songs symbolizes the 'unity of the soul and the divinity'."

"But the piece is in the 'chanson' genre. How can a secular song be forced into a religious metaphor?" asked Pogre.

Fanning was silent.

"One more circle."

More than thirty minutes passed.

"There are a total of 144 cases of heresy so far." The monk handed over the list that Fanning had finally drawn up for Pogre.

There were a total of 224 donations, and the scope of those ultimately identified as heretical expanded eightfold.

Moreover, some of the adopted scores that were initially "determined to be clean" ended up with a reversed ending.

Pogre showed a satisfied look on his face and brought up another topic: "Master Scribe Fanning, this Easter, my monastery will hold a mass ceremony, and there will be many guests and believers from all over the world. The monastic community guarantees that you will be a holy priest and offer the Lord a spiritual sacrifice that is pleasing to Him. How are you preparing?"

"According to the promise of the Holy Spirit in my life, I will dedicate the March and Hymns in A Minor," Fanning replied.

"'March and Hymns in A Minor' is divided into four parts: 'March of Light', 'Hymns of Light', 'Love in the World', and 'The Last Days'. In the process of arranging it, I collected the examples of spiritual sparks that the Sacred Music Review Institute has collected in the past three years."

While Fan Ning was reporting, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

wrong
The examples I used to compose the "Solemn Mass in A Minor" were all what I thought were excellent and in line with divine conscience.
But this time, with the substantial expansion of the scope of "heresy" identification
Many creators have been dedicating their works for many years or have commissioned others to do so. After being identified as "heretics" this time, will their previously submitted works also face liquidation? .
But my own "March and Hymns in A Minor", a work that I have devoted three years of hard work to, is almost finished.
Fanning's heart was shrouded in a shadow of hesitation, but Bogre nodded, very satisfied with his report and ideas.

“May you hold on to your boastful hope and courage, and look forward to the Lord’s mercy.”

Then Pogre signaled the meeting to be over, and stood up to give orders -

"Today, all those who are identified as heretics will be put on the 'Purge List' and arrested. They will be examined together with the previous batches of serious criminals and will be publicly tried before Easter."

Everyone followed the order and walked out of the secret meeting room.

"Brother Fanning, please spare some time today to accompany us down there."

"This way, sir."

The monks of the Inquisition who were in charge of guarding and interrogating people met Fanning outside, and they all greeted him politely and led the way.

Under the entire Tribunal building is a huge dungeon structure with a main entrance on each side.

Fanning and the monks entered from the dungeon entrance on the east side near the cemetery, and then exited from the main gate on the west side. It was equivalent to returning by the original route, except that they went from above ground to underground.

"Your Excellency the Chief Scribe."

Before the monks could say hello, the guards guarding the dungeon had already saluted Fanning in front of him and raised their spears.

The structure of the dungeon is so tortuous that it is difficult to tell the direction even with a blueprint. The deeper you go, the darker and colder it gets. The air is filled with the smell of mold, rust, rotting blood, or the pungent smell of feces from the dungeon.

From time to time, from far away across the corridors, one or two sounds of chains clashing and crying could be heard.

Even in such a gloomy environment, the clergy of the Inquisition looked normal. However, when they arrived at an area with additional altars and guards, their expressions finally became as if they were facing a great enemy.

Looking ahead, the walls of the dungeon in front were all covered with lead-soaked sheepskin and some complicated spells.

The guards here are strict, and the prisoners held there are all "heretics" who have been screened in advance by the Sacred Music Review Room and confirmed by the joint review panel of monks to be involved in problematic scriptures or music scores!