musicians of old

Chapter 927 The Church Rises!
Fan Ning's curled-up body gently stretched out at this moment.

The closed eyes slowly opened.

The body was still broken, with bones scattered throughout.

But in those open eyes, divinity and true knowledge seemed to have reached an almost pure level.

Thank you.

Fanning silently looked around at his former teachers, companions, colleagues, confidants, close friends, and children.

Those who had redeemed him, and those he later redeemed.

His theater chain, his band, his leading lady.

He surveyed the more than one thousand choralists inside the magnificent church.

“I wished that your clothes would always be clean, that your bellies would be full, and that your heads would never lack oil.”

"The young man's life is a blessing in itself, eating, drinking and singing under the sun of God; all that is left is vanity and a chasing after the wind."

“But truly I tell you, the years of your wandering through emptiness are still the years of emptiness under the sun of God.”

Fanning's hands moved.

It draws an arc very slowly, much like the drawing of a bow before releasing a "whirlwind arrow".

The last two lines recited by the choir were suddenly drawn out by Fanning.

The plucked string accompaniment disappeared, and the peaceful chanting returned, but this time it was not a fleeting moment, but a continuous illumination.

After the strange narrative of the landscape ends, the chorus enters the first stage of the formal introductory ascent, "The Valley"!
Mountains and rivers are just like flat land.

A crack suddenly appeared in the dark and precipitous landscape, letting in the faint light of heaven!

"The eternal flame of joy,"

A rope of burning love,
A boiling pain in my chest,
Overflowing with divine joy!

Inside the spacious and towering church, masters such as Handel, Haydn, and Liszt, who were "senior" or "have clergy experience," sang a "dazed and trance-like" aria, somewhere between tenor and baritone.

"Arrows, please pierce me!"
Spears, please beat me up!

Clubs, please smash me to pieces!

Lightning, please pierce me!

The melody and lyrics of this song convey a very clear artistic conception.

Therefore, the term indicated by Fanning above the score is "very enthusiastically"!
The original text in Faust is "the priest, in a trance, floated up and down," indicating that through secret meditation, they could achieve a state of temporary detachment from themselves, or in other words, they could overcome the weight of the physical body of ordinary beings and "float up and down" in the valley.

If one can truly achieve this in the appearance of the world, their level of understanding is probably even higher than that of the enlightened one who has "descended into the chariot".

"So that all illusions may be destroyed as soon as possible."

Let the stars illuminate the core of eternal love!

Even Wagner, a master with a lower vocal range, was deeply moved and joined the chorus in the latter part of the lyrics.

Because this melody prominently references his yearning musical ideas from Tristan und Isolde. After a series of exhilarating descending scales, the trumpet once again clearly plays the "Illumination Theme," which is no longer a somber variation but has regained the glory and sanctity of the first part.

However, in response to the “dazed priest,” another heavy, despairing bass voice, “the priest in the abyss,” immediately came from the earth’s veins at the bottom of the church—from the extremely low valley that was about to fall out of the sacred space and into the endless collapse outside.

"Like the sheer cliff beneath my feet, heavily overlooking a bottomless abyss;
Like a thousand crystal-clear streams cascading down, forming a terrifyingly rapid torrent with splashing foam.

The figure that had just materialized below vaguely resembled Caplun's face!

Caplund, playing the role of "the priest in the abyss," hunched over, gazes intently upwards at "the priest lost in reverie," uttering a desperate cry.

A long, passionate yet poignant interlude swept through the band, seemingly echoing the incurable pain of past life, and the coldness and weariness of drifting through the virtual world all night.

"My heart is burning with pain, tormented by the limitations of my weary senses, as if bound by chains of agony!"
Please ease the confusion in my mind, O Creator! Please ignite my weary heart!

Caplund stretched his long hand upwards.

The voice part of "The priest in the abyss" gradually merges into the counterpoint of "The priest in a trance" above.

Kaprun's figure gradually drifted towards the masters in the church seats.

A miracle occurred simultaneously.

The massive "mass" that makes up the magnificent church began to tremble slowly without any external force pulling it up, and it even seemed to be lifting off the ground!

"Hmm? There's such a variable!?"

For a long time, Pogrerich's reaction was no different from everyone else's; they were all drawn into a kind of static gaze at this miraculous process of creation.

Today, His figure, holding the blade in reverse, remains stable, but for the first time, a consideration beyond "purification" or "control" has appeared in His eternally indifferent gaze!

"If that's the case..."

In this Symphony No. 8, this "concert of creation," Fanning first created a sacred space in the first part, and then stripped away and returned all the "dimensions" that did not belong to him, creating the secret miracle of "thousands" singing together. As a result, the second part actually had the effect of elevating this "seed of a new world"!

So what happens?
The enormous price that must be paid at a high level is always there.

In that case, is it possible to pay this cost in a way that is more reliable?
A glint of precise and ruthless consideration seemed to flash in Pogrerich's eyes.

The trumpet concluded Caprum's "Father in the Abyss" section with the theme of "light," the latter's figure rising from the bottom to finally join the choir as the "Dazed Father" played by the masters.

The French horn and viola take these materials and develop them, entering a captivating connecting section. The magnificent physical structure of the cathedral trembles slightly as if it has begun to further adjust and stabilize itself!
The music reached a decisive allegro, and the chorus entered the second, ascending phase, "in the air"!
Since it is "in the air," it indicates that the process has initially broken away from the material realm of the valley.

Then, the children's choir, dressed as angels, came on stage—

"The noble members have been transferred and saved from evil:"

Only through the continuous efforts of ordinary people can we save humanity!

The lyrics are almost prophetic, especially the last line.

This is one of the most famous lines from Faust, a proverb known to every educated native German speaker in the era of History 0! At this moment, a host of German and Austrian masters, including Beethoven and Schubert, were deeply moved, and even Goethe himself in his seat nodded slightly!

This young pilgrim named Fanning tied his lyrics to the "theme of illumination," fully grasping what Goethe intended to express—that mortals must strive to see the light and reach the kingdom of freedom!

Then, the slowly trembling church began to move further.

It actually detached itself from the former top plane of the tower and began to rise slowly!