shadow of britain

Chapter 218 The Stage and Offstage Are Musicals (4K6)
Arthur turned his head and saw Lionel and Mendelsohn standing behind him, and immediately picked up the white gloves placed by the piano stand and greeted them with a smile.

"I never thought I would be so lucky to see you here, Lionel."

Lionel joked: "Although I may not really care about art collection, I really appreciate music. Not to mention that this concert has gathered so many top pianists. I am absent from all the grand events at the national level, so I am afraid I will not have the face to declare that I love music.”

Having said that, Lionel introduced Mendelssohn next to Arthur: "This is Mr. Felix Mendelssohn, who is as young as you and has the same talent that ordinary people cannot match. You must have heard the overture he wrote for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Arthur dared to try the piano at the Coburg Theater today, so naturally he had done a background check on the musicians who might be present.

But even if he wasn't prepared, the name Mendelssohn was familiar enough to him.

The most perfect master of musical form since Mozart is well-known in Britain today and in later generations.

However, Lionel had such a close relationship with him, which was beyond Arthur's expectation.It can only be said that Rothschild's social scope is much larger than he expected.

Arthur extended his hand to Mendelssohn in a friendly manner, expressing his original intention of kindness, but also a bit of superstitious psychology of wanting to borrow some musical cells from the pianist.

However, Mendelsohn frowned, and his eyes were fixed on Arthur's face, as if he was in a daze.

"Mr. Mendelssohn?"

It wasn't until Arthur reminded Mendelssohn that he realized his impoliteness, and he quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, Mr. Hastings, I have felt that your playing style seems to have a familiar feeling from just now. But I can’t explain clearly, you and Mr. Clementi also pursue high and difficult skills, but they are not exactly the same. I... I always feel that there is someone’s shadow in you..."

Speaking of this, Mendelssohn had a flash of inspiration, and he said in surprise: "Liszt! By the way, I said, how can you be so familiar? Your crazy energy is exactly the same as Liszt's style."

Arthur originally thought that he was just quietly listening to a piano piece. No one would have thought that this could be seen by an expert.

Fortunately, this piece "The Bell" was originally Liszt's adaptation of Paganini. To be honest, both he and Liszt performed artistic processing on the basis of the original work.

If you insist on pursuing it, at least he is one year earlier than Liszt. Paganini's European concert tour will not visit Paris until next year.

Arthur said cheekily: "I didn't expect you to have a relationship with Mr. Liszt. Although I haven't heard Mr. Liszt play with my own ears, I still heard that he came to London to play when he was 14 years old. The deeds of the reception of the late King George IV.

Although my playing was so-so, it was still passable.But compared with you and Mr. Liszt, a music prodigy who performed on stage at the age of nine, I am still far behind.When I was nine years old, I didn’t even know what a piano was. "

When Mendelssohn heard this, he thought he had accidentally touched Arthur's poor childhood memories, so he quickly comforted him.

"Mr. Hastings, a genius is a genius, and it has nothing to do with the age at which he was introduced to the piano. Have you forgotten Mr. Clementi's experience? He did not learn piano until he was 14 years old under the sponsorship of Sir Beckford, and he did not study piano until he was 23 He had his first public performance at the age of [-], but this did not prevent him from becoming a great monument in the history of piano.

And you started your debut at the age of 20, I believe your development will be quite smooth in the future.To be able to write a piece like "The Bell" and to play it with such passion.Maybe we will really gain a Paganini in the piano world. "

Lionel also spoke at the right time to change the atmosphere. He asked with a smile: "Everyone says that Paganini made a deal with the devil to have such a pair of nimble hands. Arthur, do you do the same?"

Arthur smiled and said, "That's right, at least this song "The Clock" is like that."

Everyone laughed when they heard the words, and the red devil on the side also pushed his glasses with a smirk: "Oh! My dear Arthur, look at these stupid human beings! When you tell lies, they believe them to be true. You say To tell the truth, they think it’s fake. Tsk tsk tsk, thousands of years have passed, and human beings are still like this, they only believe what they believe.”

Everyone exchanged pleasantries for a while, and soon, Mendelssohn, who felt itchy, stretched his arms suddenly, and said, "I played all morning today, and it's time to practice the piano. This is just a good time to preview for tomorrow's performance."

Unexpectedly, before he got on the stage, he was stopped by Arthur behind him: "Mr. Mendelssohn, I think you'd better wait for a while. When I tried the piano just now, there seemed to be some problems with the pitch."

"Is there a problem?" Mendelssohn was dubious: "But... when I heard you play just now, everything seemed to be perfect. This piano was specially shipped from Mr. Clementi's piano, even if it is there The man is not careful, and the theater staff shouldn't be so careless."

When Arthur heard Mendelssohn's question, he just laughed: "You guys came late just now, and you are standing far away, so you may not hear clearly. But it's not a big deal. I have already informed the theater staff. Let’s change the piano. Counting the time, people should be here soon.”

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, he saw the curtain of the theater being lifted, and several staff members with red faces were gently moving a heavy piano from the backstage to the front hall.

They couldn't help cursing as they moved: "No, the weight of the piano should not be so heavy in the past, right?"

"Is there something stuffed in here?"

"Damn it, this one feels like it's almost twice as heavy as most pianos."

Behind the staff was Wheatstone, who was full of embarrassment, and apologized with embarrassment: "Thank you for your hard work, this piano is an improved version of our Wheatstone Musical Instrument Store. It's a little heavier."

Arthur found out that Wheatstone was present and hurriedly said goodbye to Lionel and others. Then he walked up quickly and asked in a low voice to Wheatstone: "Are you sure you didn't bring the wrong piano? This is The one I used before, the piano that can be connected to a gramophone with a long pole to record songs?”

Wheatstone was sweating. After all, he was not like Arthur. This was really the first time for the honest Wheatstone to do such a thing.

"Arthur, isn't it good for us to do this?"

Arthur just lit the pipe and exhaled smoke: "If you think it's not good, you can directly send the sales profits to the pianists who participated in the recording today after the record is released. In addition, don't think about it, these people They're all from the very top of the British music scene, and the old school musicians are usually very conservative. If you don't use this method, you probably don't want to record their records for the rest of your life."

Wheatstone wanted to say more, but before he opened his mouth, Arthur took a document from the inside pocket of his tuxedo and threw it into his hand.

Wheatstone looked down, suddenly dizzy with excitement.

Only a few unremarkable words were written on the document - "Patent Grant Document of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland".

"Oh! my God! No, Mr. Hastings! No, it's Arthur, my dear friend Arthur! You've done me a favor."

Arthur looked at Wheatstone who was so excited that he wanted to punch him twice, and just shook his head: "Everyone has a price, but Mr. Wheatstone, please don't show your price too much." Cheap. You claim to be afraid of social interaction, but if you continue to be like this, I will start to be afraid of you." Whetstone grinned and rubbed his stomach to calm down: "Yes, Arthur, you are right. I should be more presentable, but I'm just too happy about this. How the hell did you get this done in a week?"

"How was it done?" Arthur patted the piano beside him: "It was done in a not so good way like this. So, do you still have any objections to burning records?"

"This……"

Wheatstone struggled for a long time, but when Arthur put his hand on the patent document, he was jolted like an electric shock: "I have no objection, I have no objection at all. And I will do what you said, in the They pay their share of the profits on time after the record is released."

Arthur couldn't help showing a smile when he heard this. He leaned against the piano and hugged his hands: "Mocheles, Mendelssohn, Porter, etc., these top pianists in Britain should all come this afternoon and tonight Audition. How much do you think there are so many records from top masters worth?"

"Uh……"

Whetstone frowned slightly and thought about it for a long time. Just when he was about to give a specific number, Arthur suddenly spoke again.

"This concert gathers so many celebrities and musicians, it is almost inevitable that it will cause a sensation. If you release a collection of musicians' performances on this stall, how much income will you bring?"

When Wheatstone heard this, his breathing almost stopped.He seemed to see God opening his trouser pocket and stuffing money into it.

Arthur said again: "And with so many people buying records, they must buy a machine that can play them, right? Besides, you are the only workshop in London that can manufacture phonographs. You happened to get the patent document again..."

Hearing this, Wheatstone panted heavily. He interrupted Arthur's speech with his hand, and said, "Arthur, you are my dear friend. If you need my help, just tell me."

Arthur smiled slightly, and said, "It's really not a big deal. I just think that the phonograph is good, and it should be enough for ordinary leisure and entertainment, but for some more secretive special work, the phonograph is not only bad for radio reception, but also the size It's too eye-catching.

So, I have a relatively preliminary idea, I wonder if you are interested in participating?By the way, out of our friendship, I can let you in on a little bit of information that this project is from a government organization that doesn't like to mention names. "

Wheatstone's eyes lit up when he heard this.

The project comes from a government organization. This sentence alone has a fatal appeal to Wheatstone, who was originally a businessman.

Because this often represents a stable large-volume purchase scale and guaranteed payment delivery.Even if the project can attract enough attention, a large amount of scientific research funds can be obtained.Babbage's Difference Engine, which cost more than 1 pounds, is a typical case.

With the support of the British Pound, in Wheatstone's eyes, even Arthur, who had always made him hateful, immediately became handsome.

Wheatstone suppressed his ecstasy and asked in a low voice: "May I be lucky enough to know... no, am I lucky enough to be able to participate in this project?"

Seeing that he had been dazzled by money, Arthur boldly proposed a research project that LPS wanted to set up without a penny of office funds.

"Mr. Wheatstone, you have done a lot of research on acoustics, and now we have figured out that the principle of sound is vibration. Then, maybe we should consider connecting this with electromagnetism. I heard that you recently I often go to Mr. Faraday to discuss electromagnetism, is there such a thing?"

Wheatstone nodded and said, "Mr. Faraday treated me very well. With his help, I got an introduction to electromagnetism."

Arthur smiled and said, "That's easy. Now that you've already started, you must know Mr. Faraday's shocking electromagnetic induction experiment this year, right?"

"Of course. The electromagnetic induction experiment proved that electricity and magnetism can be transformed into each other. This is the most important scientific discovery this year. But..."

Wheatstone scratched his head: "But what does this have to do with acoustics?"

Arthur said: "As we all know, if a common sewing needle is wound with a copper wire, and the copper wire is energized, the needle will become a magnetic needle. Then, if a steel wire is slowly passed through, there will be a change in current. What interesting changes will occur in the coil?"

When Wheatstone heard this, the hairs on his body stood up: "If you do this, as the intensity of the current changes, several small magnets with different strengths will be formed on this steel wire. If we can make this By linking this change with the vibration changes of the sound, the storage of the sound can be achieved."

Arthur smiled and nodded: "Fortunately, something like electric current is much more sensitive than a mechanized phonograph. So, it must be very suitable for recording human voices."

Wheatstone took a deep breath: "Arthur..."

"what happened?"

Wheatstone swallowed violently: "How on earth did you come up with these things? You can come up with such a genius idea, you can do it yourself! If you have this, the gramophone will probably be beaten for nothing. There is no power to fight back.”

Arthur shook his finger lightly: "No, Mr. Wheatstone, I don't have your skills, nor do I have the thinking of a serious engineer. All I have are worthless ideas.

And most importantly, this technology cannot be used for profit, it must be controlled within a certain range to exert its maximum power.So you can rest assured that the gramophone market will not be affected.

After all, even from a cost point of view, the wind-up mechanical phonograph is more suitable for this era than the one I mentioned just because it does not need electricity. "

Speaking of this, Arthur suddenly paused, and he smiled and looked at Wheatstone: "So, when do you think I can get the samples?"

Wheatstone took a deep breath, patted his chest and assured: "Although this thing sounds quite difficult, at least the direction is clear. I have no obstacles in terms of acoustics and manual production. As for electromagnetism, The best I can do is make a few more trips to the Royal Society to find Mr. Faraday. As long as the principle is smooth, production will only take a month at most and two or three weeks at least."

"Two or three weeks?"

Arthur couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard this. It seems that even if Wheatstone is asked to work overtime, he does have a limit.At least during the London meeting, he had no hope of doing things through the tape recorder.

Wheatstone didn't see Arthur's disappointment. He said happily: "Arthur, go back and ask the department that must not be named to prepare the money. Sooner or later, I will be able to put this kind of directional thing into use." Get it out.”

When Arthur heard this, he just pursed his lips subtly, nodded and said, "Okay, definitely next time."

(End of this chapter)