musicians of old

Chapter 911 The So-Called "Pioneers"

"Perhaps," Fan Ning chuckled as well, "but what exactly are you trying to say?"

The flame of the first musical score was finally dying out.

Mr. F reached out and poked around in the dark green ash.

A key, its surface slightly blackened and adorned with spear-shaped reliefs, lay quietly amidst curled-up charcoal and sparks.

The former museum key, the key to the timeline of "snakes", number 1.

“I would like to explain.” Mr. F then took out the manuscript of “The Theme of God”, Bach’s “The Art of Fugue”.

This is something that Fanning painstakingly obtained in the "Lighthouse" of the Aberration Zone.

“Oh, right, this manuscript was originally in your possession.” Mr. F caught the fleeting glint in Fanning’s eyes. “Later, after some foolish and presumptuous things happened at ‘noon,’ I temporarily entrusted it to your care. But it doesn’t matter. If time were to rewind, perhaps it could hang around your neck for a little while longer.”

He then ignited the flame of this second sheet music: "As for what I wanted to say—well, not really say—I just wanted to suggest that Maestro Fanning consider it."

"I wonder if Master Fanning thinks there is any personal grudge between me and Pogrerich that I should hate so much?"

“Perhaps not.” Fan Ning shook his head. “Who knows? I always say no to things I don’t know. However, since that ‘director’ so highly values ​​control and order, it’s hard to say whether he hates chaos to the core.”

"As far as the 'New World' is concerned, order does not necessarily represent 'goodness,' and chaos does not necessarily represent 'ugliness.' I mean, not necessarily," Mr. F said. "Order and chaos are merely means, or rather, processes, not universal methods for distinguishing the attributes of things."

"Do you agree?" he asked.

“Verbal debate—” Fanning commented, “For someone well-versed in 'scholastic philosophy,' once they make a fatal mistake, it’s a basic error. Such a person would not pass any seminary exam. You avoided that, so you can say that your logic is correct.”

Mr. F nodded, took out another slender cigarette, and lit it on the embers of the still-warm "Apocalypse Secret Realm".

"Therefore, from this perspective, Pogrerich's concept of 'order' is misleading." He took a drag. "He excessively places 'chaos' at the extreme of confrontation, unaware that chaos is merely the growing pains before the birth of a new order."

"Take 'worms' for example. They are scavengers, feeding on dead and decaying flesh and tissue. Pain is inevitable, but it is ultimately for the sake of new life."

"For example, when I later wrote 'The Poem of Fire,' breaking the shackles of harmony also caused me pain, but fortunately the color of truth did not betray me."

"But regardless, the above is certainly not a matter of personal grudges, right?"

"If you really have to put it that way, then it doesn't really count," Fan Ning said.

"Then, is there any personal grudge or enmity between me and Master Fan Ning that I should hate so deeply?" Mr. F asked again.

Fan Ning watched as the bright green flames licked at "The Art of Fugue," and watched as the aphoristic "theme of God," the complex counterpoint, and the rigorous and magnificent acoustic hall slowly melted into ash like snow.

“I understand the conceptual boundaries of this question, and what you mean,” he replied with a half-smile.

“Expressing a shared understanding of the issue is itself a very good form of communication.” Mr. F nodded, flicking some of the curled-up sheet music towards the center of the flames. “And if we were to ask again about the feud between Maestro Fanning and Pogorelich…”

"It might be more complicated, but it might not be as complicated as you think, especially after the worldview of 'noon' has diluted the so-called 'major life and death matters' of those mortal beings. In general, what about Master Fanning's evaluation of Pogrerich's desires, pleasures, character, or morality, or the evaluations he has heard from others who have worked with him?"

“There are no flaws,” Fan Ning said.

The concepts of despotism and tyranny seem to differ somewhat from those of selfishness, pleasure, conduct, or morality. "Look," Mr. F said, standing up, "this is what pioneers are like, this is how they coexist."

“Master Fan Ning, when you first visited ‘Heaven’s Kingdom’ at the foot of the ‘Lighthouse’, I called you and expressed three points at that time—”

"First, I said that art and mysticism are closely related, but art is not an appendage of mysticism, but a true and essential summary from a higher level, something that is even higher than mysticism."

"You wholeheartedly agree with this point, and later you did indeed come up with a more essential expression for it: 'Mystery is mystery, and art is art'—in fact, it has enough beauty, but the power could be further improved. Of course, this is also due to your humble nature."

"Secondly, I said that the knowledgeable groups of later generations generally made their fortunes by monopolizing hidden knowledge, but art is never hidden. The tickets for the top art exhibitions or concerts cost at most a dozen pounds, a violin that can perfectly play the 'Chaconne' costs about three to five pounds, and the materials needed to copy a Monet painting are about a shilling. The same applies to creating a similar painting. Everything is out there. It is only people who are foolish."

"They gain no inspiration whatsoever. Even with your so-called popularization and rescue, their understanding of art has only evolved from a single-celled organism to that of a frog, or, for those with a little more talent, a monkey. The most dangerous thing is that they haven't even realized the desperate situation they face, laughing and crying every day amidst base desires and aesthetics."

"Third, I say that only people like us—whose thoughts have almost nothing to do with the world that living people can imagine, and are not even comprehensible to them, but whose pursuits are related to the vast and terrifying universe—from this perspective, there is a kind of urgent obligation, a fateful, moral, and inescapable obligation, that compels us to elevate this world and reveal the true divinity and truth to these poor people."

"In fact, that's exactly what I did."

"Actually, so are you, and so is Pogrelici."

Mr. F then observed Fanning's reaction and waved his hand with a faint smile.

“Master Fan Ning, I know what you want to say right now—”

“You want to quote some proverbs, perhaps from the scriptures of Mithraism, or perhaps from some philosophical sayings from the ancient East, such as ‘Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together.’”

“Look, this is what pioneers are like,” he repeated.

"In first-rate and even third-rate adventure novels, a key factor driving the course of fate is 'hatred'—personal greed, lust for power, lust for passion, the arrogance of one generation, or the timid cowardice of another. Characters always like to cover up their small ignorance with bigger mistakes. Evil accompanies the growth of human nature, and youthful passion overlaps with new and old grudges, ultimately forming a vulgar climax of important events. But the pioneers are not like that."

"The disputes among pioneers are noble."

"Perhaps there is still a human element, but at crucial moments, human nature does not play a key role. What plays a role is always a certain quality in the lonely heart, 'God's blessing in solitude'."

"Loneliness is the first thing that propels us on our journey through this world."

Fan Ning applauded the other party's "heartfelt words" and sincerely praised him: "You have embellished the gambling table to an almost sacred level, satisfying both yourself and your opponents. Objectively speaking, this really requires a very high level of skill. No wonder the God's Descent Society's 'popularity' has been rising in recent years."

“It has now been renamed back to ‘Mithraism’.” Mr. F thanked him for the praise and smiled as he corrected him again.

The second copy of "The Art of Fugue" that I submitted also burned out.

The ashes were brushed aside, and wisps of smoke drifted out.

In stark contrast to the dull, black "1", the handle of key 0 presents a perfect, almost ethereal ring. Its pale gold interior is empty except for the halo, yet it seems to contain the possibilities of all structures, radiating the potential power to make everything find its place.

Mr. F's gaze briefly fell on the keys before returning to Fanning, and he gestured for her to proceed.

"Your turn, Master Fanning."

"You brought the score for Symphony No. 6 in A minor, right?"