musicians of old

Chapter 834 Declaration
The disciplined monks on the steps were approaching, and Fan Ning was still gesturing.

The piece then moves into its development section.

The lyrical sentiment of the sub-theme "worldly love" was not further developed here. Soon, the theme's "dark march" burst forth again, transforming into a sinister howl that descends nine degrees!
"So why are you all still praying for miracles?" Fan Ning shook his head with a smile. "Those who do not believe did not believe in the time when Moses parted the sea, and those who are blind were blind in the time when manna fell from heaven."

“The Book of Proverbs says, ‘Speak up for the mute, and seek justice for all the lonely.’ I see you all piling up firewood and paper scrolls today, trying to perform some kind of ‘purification miracle.’ But perhaps the real miracle can be found in the spiritual sparks of these things waiting to be burned.”

What? This pile of heretical musical scores? A miracle? Some in the crowd were shocked, while others were skeptical.

Clearly, the miracle of judgment has already occurred.

As the figure of the disciplined monk ascended the stage, it drew ever closer to Fanning. Bogre remained standing with his hands behind his back, staring at the edges of the sheet music that were gradually turning black and curling up.

Flames were already visible beneath the cross-shaped stake.

Fanning's left fist suddenly clenched in mid-air, unveiling the second part of the opening section, with the sub-theme "Earthly Love" bursting forth in D minor in march form!

Suddenly, some dazzling spots of light that were dancing on the ground seemed to become shifty and uncertain!
Hmm? The two bishops were the first to notice something amiss.

"The Holy Spirit, through the tongues of men, distributes new wine, leading the mystery of the Trinity to unrevealed dimensions, paving the theological rainbow to infinite glory. Though you do not accept it, I will still speak prophecies here—"

“A new age of humanistic and artistic revival will surely come! For the law of the order, chapter 48, grants the monks the right to serve the Lord with songs and prayers, and for the psalms say, ‘Bless him with the sound of the trumpet, and with the harp and the lyre; let everything that has breath praise the Lord!’”

Fan Ning felt that this long-awaited and heartfelt declaration gradually brought his entire state to a higher level!

At this moment, the music is at its most intense and complex point in the development section.

In the midst of the declaration, Fanning suddenly turned around, drawing out a wisp of the spiritual energy that was trembling throughout the church, and thrusting it directly at the tip of the bow of the harp-bearing angel on the west side of the mural "The Day of Wrath"!

"Since you are conducting judgment through so-called 'miracles,' then let us see whose cry reaches the Most High!" Fan Ning's voice echoed throughout the church!

“Since you are all concerned about the charitable cause of the Empire, please take a look at the publicly available figures recorded in Volume VI of the Vienna Arts Foundation’s annual report.” Nancy’s voice echoed throughout the Van der Schaaf Collection.

"Who?!" The assembled guests were waiting for the second half of the collection to emerge from the stage when they suddenly heard a girl's voice.

His voice was weak and tired, but clear and distinct, carrying an almost declarative firmness.

Where did that sound come from?
They looked up and around, and the sound seemed to be coming from a higher floor, or some more pivotal resonant amplification point!
"Last year, in 1789, the foundation spent 8.9 florins under the guise of 'restoration and conservation,' of which 7.2 were used for the 'maintenance of the thermostatic cellars for the works of art' by the Leridge Construction Company, while the winter supplies for nearly ten workhouses amounted to 800 florins—one percent of the cost of materials for the cellar project."

"That's the one that's publicly known. In reality, there might be more. For example, the batch of low-quality wool blankets we donated to the Langevni poorhouse today might be an extra expense beyond the 800 florins?"

"Who's talking up there?! Where are the guards?!" Curator Leirich was accompanying the royal envoy when the sudden voice made his smile turn to a grim one.

The sound was clearly resonating from the ceiling above the entire collection. Leridge immediately realized that the problem might be in the direction of the musicians' stage on the top floor!
In just one minute, even as a non-technical senior staff member, Leridge couldn't immediately imagine that there was some old device like a "pneumatic sound transmission control console" in the attic above the top floor.
That place is used far too infrequently! Having musicians perform like today is already quite rare!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Suddenly, the timpani began to play a prelude as black as ink.

Just then, the band performance commissioned by the auctioneer of the "Scherzo" manuscript also began.

The deep, repetitive 3/8 time signature doesn't feel like a simple rhythmic declaration; it's more like the counting of a winch's gears turning.

"Where have I heard a piece of music with similar qualities before?"

The cylindrical passage continued to rise slowly in the latter half, and Fanning stared blankly at the auction hammer in his hand.

It is not large in size and looks like it is made of wood, but it is actually quite heavy in the hand, with the tip gradually transitioning to a dark gold texture.

He heard Nancy's voice as she ascended the platform, the faint commotion from the auction hall above, and the scherzo introductory section played by the band. It had begun.

But Fanning's thoughts were temporarily pulled into a vortex of an unknown time and space.

"Dark March"

The introduction to this "Scherzo" movement, with its heavy bass lines drawn by the strings, is very similar to the bass lines of a certain "dark march" I had heard before.

It's just a change from 4/4 time signature to 3/8 time signature.

Repeated striking of the same sound carries the same painstaking stubbornness, the same rigidity, and the same deliberate rejection of change.

The development of the "Scherzo" melody is full of mockery. It appears and develops five times in the latter half of Fanning's ascent in the passageway alone. Each time it appears, it vividly reminds Fanning of the familiar "Dark March" theme.

“Ting-ting-ting-ting-ting!.”

As the celesta rapidly strikes out a descending scale of sixteenth notes, the orchestra advances the beat with a top-heavy dynamic distribution, intensifying the sense of panic in the melody.

"Assemble! Team, assemble!"

"What are you all standing there for? Head towards the rooftop performance stage, find the person quickly and bring them down!"

"The other teams, maintain order at the scene!"

In the auction hall above, the guard leader looked extremely grim. After issuing a series of orders, the guards around the guest seats and in the nearby aisles quickly sprang into action.

"No, no, that's not the stage in the venue."

The team leader thought it over and over again. If something unexpected happened up there, could there be another place that would appear soon after?
wrong! !
"The passage! Is the passage for the hammer-wielder already rising? Send another group of people to check over there!" he suddenly shouted.

This person's belated realization stemmed primarily from their professional instinct that "the risks are greater once the collection enters the market," but by then it was too late.

“Friends, some of you were at the workhouse during the day and saw or touched those blankets filled with black, inferior stuffing.” Nancy’s voice continued to echo in the air.

"In a sense, they share the same origin as the Sacred Heart emblem on the chest of our Lord Leridge, both woven from the gold thread of the Imperial Arts Foundation!"

“I have imagined this scene: perhaps one night, the children in the workhouse are repeatedly wrapping themselves up in the cold, while Lord Lord’s staff are writing an editorial for the Humanist Observer under the warm light, ‘Rational charity requires restraint from unnecessary empathy.’”

The symphony overhead, Nancy's declaration, and the guests' commotion and clamor became increasingly clear.

"The last five meters."

With one hand holding the hammer and the other hand pointing, Fanning pressed a light brown button next to the display stand of the collection.

"Swoosh!!!"

A sound, blending the textures of flowing water and air, rang out.

Deep within the unseen walls, the water tank's drive gears whirred rapidly.

On the ground outside the circular exhibition stand, bright yellow warning areas were marked. First, sections of mercury-plated steel rails extended out, and then a special transparent panel, resembling crystal, unfolded between the sections of the rails.
Just as Fanning's head was about to peek out of the auction room, a sealed, transparent dodecagonal security shield had been fully formed!
"Wow!——"

As the circular platform lifted the artifacts as usual, but a completely unfamiliar young man stood in the center, all the guests were stunned!