Old-time musicians

Chapter 258: Like a new life (8K two-in-one)

The laborer Boles was eating potatoes boiled in salt water nearby.

The facial muscles of this middle-aged man moved cyclically like a machine. Although he did not stop chewing food, his haggard brows furrowed deeply because he heard his son ask, "Would it be easier and more cost-effective to die?"

But as Boles's story unfolded, his expression gradually relaxed.

But his eyes became more and more blank, and his eating became slower.

"Twenty or thirty years, five hundred pounds?"

Yes, this is the value, result, or meaning of a person's life.

And it is a hopeful and optimistic preview of a teenager: for every 14 hours of work, every 29 days of work, every year of work, you can earn close to 50 pounds, and if there is no illness or accident, you only need to spend 30 pounds of it to survive. pound, so wait twenty or thirty years later

Don't be so slow, pull it faster, pull it directly from beginning to end, isn't it Lianka?

It made me excited to say that if I didn't "pull it to the end", there would be a huge risk of not being able to do this.

Seems a bit ridiculous?

Sheeran subconsciously looked at Fan Ning for help. She didn't know how to answer Boles' question.

There seemed to be a picture in front of Fan Ning's eyes. It was a collection of scenes from a day's life. It was not too complicated. By "copying and stacking" it thousands of times, and then embellishing it with reproduction and aging ailments several times, the basic prototype of life came out.

A very happy life - compared to the homeless in the slums, the criminals or the day laborers in the workhouse - they have a home to go to, a job to do, a family and food, and no precarious life.

"No, that's not the case. You have worked too long in exchange for too low wages because the factory owner has taken too much of your surplus value, and you have been exposed to too high risks of illness and accidents. It is also because the employer Or collude with evil organizations, or fail to fulfill basic protection obligations. If you have the opportunity to receive a better education and are among those who are studious and thoughtful, there are still many opportunities to join the middle class in this industrial age, so that you can experience more. There is definitely a difference between living for twenty or thirty years longer and dying directly.”

This was the answer that Fan Ning subconsciously rehearsed in his mind when faced with Boles' blank expression.

But he didn't say anything, because he quickly realized that the question was wrong. The teenager was not asking "why is this so", and a series of "if then" assumptions did not make sense to him.

Regardless of the fact that this is an old industrial world where extraordinary power can be demonstrated to be effective.

Suppose that pragmatists propose a certain set of methods to improve society, and then after implementation, the proportion of refugees, criminals, and poor laborers decreases, then they will feel that they have successfully answered this question:

"Hey, we have found a solution. The number of unlucky people like that used to be 50%, but now the latest statistics show that it is only 30%. There will be fewer and fewer people in society in the future."

But it’s already happened, what should I do?

The concept of an era is too far away from the concept of an individual.

The questioners are always those specific people who are already on the path of alienated labor destiny - in other words, the subject of such questions is not how to "from 50% to 30%", but every specific "100%" What to do.

Besides, does this young man really want to know what to do? I'm afraid not necessarily. He also estimates that his life is like this. He is just confused about how to understand all this. If the labor income and reproduction consumption in life are converted into a pile of net savings, does this mean the whole meaning of death?

If so, if 500 pounds is replaced by 100 pounds, which corresponds to the refugees, or if it is replaced by 5,000 pounds, which corresponds to the middle class, does that also mean the death of these classes?

Fan Ning didn't understand and couldn't answer.

He changed to a relaxed smile, got up and walked to the door.

In Sheeran's view, it was a subtle, compromised, helpless, relaxed smile that meant some kind of substitution.

"The investigation and collection are over, the next step is" Fan Ning took out the thing that he had leaned on the back of the wooden door when he entered.

A classical guitar.

"Can you sing?" Fan Ning sat back down holding the guitar.

The young man nodded subconsciously.

"Do you know how to sing scales? That's hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm." Fan Ning first hummed upwards to indicate 12345671, and then sang downwards using the most common vowel "ah".

The young man continued to nod his head.

"Caron, it turns out you are serious about asking Dupont to donate a spare guitar?" Sheeran looked at Fan Ning holding the piano and tuning the strings, and suddenly felt an unusual sense of elegance, sitting with him at the piano. Compared to standing in front of or on the podium.

"As a conductor, I still know too few types of musical instruments." Fan Ning, who was listening to the pitch, said.

He clearly remembered the conductor who took him to play in the comprehensive university student symphony orchestra in his previous life. He had reached advanced or even proficient levels in six or seven instruments, and many masters said that they "took away the musicians to demonstrate their instruments during rehearsals." "The anecdote is that for a conductor, every additional instrument he masters is a valuable asset in his artistic career.

With Fan Ning's current artistic accomplishment and intensity of inspiration, it does not take much effort to practice an instrument to the threshold level of a music major, but mastery still requires years of study and accumulation.

"Then you continue to learn violin from me." Sheeran said.

Many funny scenes of the two swapping piano and violin positions and stumbling through the ensemble pieces flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but smile on her face: "After all, the guitar is relatively rarely used in orchestral music, and many of its acoustic functions have been replaced by the harp. "

"Practice has proven that while waiting downstairs in the dormitory, you can hold a guitar, but it is difficult to bring a piano or harp. It makes sense in this situation." Fan Ning's mood after making another joke I gradually became more relaxed, but Sheeran didn’t quite understand.

"I play, you sing." Fan Ning played a gentle, soft, and richly layered A minor seventh chord.

Just like the gray and white filter has been removed, the world has returned to the colorful colors it should have. As his left hand quickly switches between frets, Fan Ning dials a series of third-degree double-note chromatic prelude cadenza, which warms every moment in the cabin. A withered corner.

The reserved boy who stared at Fan Ning's fingers seriously suddenly had a natural reaction of tears. Just when he didn't know how to start, the cadenza changed into an undercurrent of chord background, and Fan Ning sang the small character group with the rhythm of whole notes. The do sound, and continue to sing the re sound.

The young man realized that this was just an upward scale, and he immediately followed it. At first, his throat was not clear and his voice was a little trembling, but after singing the fifth sol note, the deep and pure voice characteristics were initially revealed. come out.

Although the melody is only a whole-note scale with one note per measure, under Fan Ning's improvisational level of "forging a lion", the accompaniment is by no means a regular accumulation of harmony, and the connection between each part is delicate and delicate. , and faintly contains two lines as contrasting melodies, which makes the originally boring vocal training appear extremely beautiful and interesting.

Little Boles concentrated on singing in the order of ascending - descending - ascending. He felt that he had never experienced such a feeling in his life. This was not a scale exercise. He felt that he had performed a master-level work of art.

"The current suitable vocal range ranges from D in large letters to E1 in small letters." Fan Ning motioned to Xilan to record it, "You are a good bass boy, so now you remember the melody I play, and then imitate the singing, using You can pronounce any of the regular syllables in Hoffmann."

Fan Ning played several sets of singing excerpts about four measures in length. After confirming that Boles' ability to remember musical materials, imitate pitch and rhythm, and even his ability to grasp emotions were still satisfactory, he decided from the official document A folded leaf and a small card were handed over in the bag.

"If you are interested, you are welcome to report on the 'Old Symphony Orchestra Affiliated Choir' in early October according to the time and location above. The foldout is the information introduction, and the card is the reporting voucher."

The young man came back from his immersion and took the card with trembling hands: "Mr. Turner Art Hall, is this a job?"

"That kind of noble, elegant, music-related performance professional job?"

"Can I have a career like this?"

"If a person like me doesn't try my luck again, how can I enter a place like the concert hall? Can I have such a career?"

His parents were also wide-eyed in disbelief.

"To be precise, it's not a job." Fan Ning shook his head. "Although you have potential, you can't directly engage in performance without formal chorus training."

"This is a learning opportunity similar to entering school. If you accept it, it means you need to quit your current job and follow the choir's schedule for rigorous professional training. In addition to music courses 6 days a week times 8 hours, extracurricular time It also requires you to devote yourself to practice and gradually take on the performance tasks.”

"The opportunity to study in school and strict professional training, so this requires" Boles' eyes lit up, but he lowered his head again.

Seeing the young man's expression of eagerness to try but hesitant to speak, Fan Ning smiled and added: "Of course, since this is a part-time job and considering the actual family situation, the members will receive 1 gold pound every week. It’s not employment salary, let’s think of it as a ‘living allowance’.”

"What!?" The middle-aged man suspected that he had heard wrongly. Even his taciturn wife was shocked and spoke.

"1 pound per week, is it earned? Not paid?"

"There is no tuition fee to study in school, and there is also a living allowance? 4 pounds a month?"

This is the salary level he achieved in the early years when his physical condition and operational proficiency were at their peak and he worked intensively day and night in the workshop!

Fan Ning nodded: "If your talent and performance are good, you will also have the opportunity to be officially hired by the symphony orchestra."

"Officially hired by the symphony orchestra?" Boles' body was shaking more and more uncontrollably.

He had heard of such a profession, and it was said that he could earn at least close to 10 pounds a week!

It’s not a month, it’s a week! !

Moreover, what kind of noble work is that? Isn’t that an artist? Yes, that’s an artist! !

Looking at the expressions of this family, even Ms. Hamilton, who had always been stern and unsmiling, was moved for a moment.

"It's getting late, and we still have a very heavy visit mission in the near future." Fan Ning put his guitar on his back and signaled everyone to leave. Before leaving, he emphasized, "You just have to think about it and report according to the card requirements. Then, that folding page, The promotional information related to this recruitment activity has no other use. You can pass it on to your friends after reading it. "

Before parting, Boles held the card tightly with his thumb and index finger stiffly, unable to say a word.

More than an hour later, in another house, a young male worker living alone was wrapped in an old blanket and huddled on a chair. The trash basket next to him was filled with bloody waste paper.

"The disease is progressing stably. The previously estimated three-year life expectancy will not be lowered. After the compensation is paid, we will supplement food and nutrition as instructed." After collecting all the information, Ms. Hamilton informed the young man in a calm and rational tone. .

This is also Fan Ning's second visit. This laborer named Lindsay is three years older than him. In his early years, he ran a handicraft furniture workshop and had an income close to the middle class. However, with the merger of large factories, He went bankrupt due to competition, his two children died, and his wife soon died of illness.

The watch factory was his last job. Fortunately, his work station was not a painting operation and the exposure time was short. The blood disease he suffered from did not take away his life faster. He could receive about 200 yuan. Many pounds of compensation.

"Well, there's more than half, right?" Lindsay smiled bitterly, "It's good for a lonely person like me. Originally, I might have to work to death for the rest of my life to ensure that I don't starve to death. Now I have a small amount of money. , but I have a year or two of my own time.”

Although his words seemed to be self-deprecating and free and easy, in fact his face was extremely pale and his body was trembling with fear and cold.

Gradually watch your body die without anyone around you.

"Is the trumpet mentioned last time still being played?" Fan Ning asked.

"Hey, when I was a child, I studied with a neighbor's teacher for a few years, and even formed an amateur wind band. It was great at that time. My parents and siblings were still alive. Although my family was ordinary, I had no worries about food and clothing, and I also dreamed about my future love. With my artistic career, I don’t know since when, the box has been hidden under the bed, and there are only a few times a year when I blow it.”

Lindsay took the old box to the table, opened it, and found the number oil in the small storage box.

"Try it? If there is any ditty that you can remember." Fan Ning, who was sitting across from him with his guitar in his arms, asked with a smile.

A melancholy and desolate aria melody with the characteristics of Tioleon's northern nation was played by Lindsay.

The six strings under Fan Ning's fingertips are accompanied by simple and cold natural minor harmonic progressions.

The music stopped two minutes later, and bright red blood seeped out from the end of Lindsay's nose. After it was wiped away with waste paper, he apologized repeatedly, but tears were shining in his eyes.

"A higher level among amateurs." Fan Ning handed over the folded page and card, "If you are interested, you are welcome to report on the 'Youth Symphony Orchestra Affiliated to the Old Symphony Orchestra' according to the time and place above."

He briefly introduced the situation again, explaining the study discipline and subsidy standards, as well as his outlook for the future.

When Lindsay came back to her senses, the simple hut had returned to loneliness and darkness.

"A trainee trumpet player in an orchestra?" He hugged his instrument tightly.

The incomplete and alternative ensemble experience just now made him recall the past events of his boyhood one after another. Those faded pictures rippled and faded out like water ripples, and finally the lost relatives, empty rooms and the gradual disappearance. body.

It's like having a dream, but the noble, comforting, and nostalgic things will always be in this world.

If music had any substance, I would lie at her feet and cry deeply.

Late at night, in the back seat of the bumpy car on the way back, Sheeran confirmed to Fanning, who was beside him with his eyes closed and concentrating: "Caron, it seems that you are indeed forming a staff according to the idea of ​​a three-part team, right?"

"Well, the old symphony orchestra is a professional body that aims to hit the world rankings. The mid-term goal of the affiliated choir is the "Second Symphony", while the affiliated youth symphony orchestra has a different set of training repertoire and performance plans. The latter two They are all important carriers of my 'Music Rescue' and 'Art Popularization' plans."

On the first night, during a three-hour visit, he and Ms. Hamilton completed the collection of workers from 23 households and selected five candidates for inclusion in the "Music Relief" program.

Sheeran nodded and asked softly: "Actually, you answered the original question in this way, right? Even if you give them an extra few hundred gold pounds, it's just a question of converting the price of life. , you answered with a monthly subsidy of 4 pounds.”

"A very small part." Fan Ning covered his face with his hands and took a deep breath. "You have to know, it's too small. The number of 'music aid' I can provide is too small. A large choir can only have 70 or 80 people at most. A teenager with double control There are at most sixty people in the symphony orchestra, and there are too many people who have died. The world is filled with a sadness that I cannot understand. This is not an answer. Strictly speaking, I still got nothing. After finally finding the "Second Symphony" direction before.”

"This does require a process, but you don't get nothing. Although their death outcome will not change, in the last period of time from now on" Sheeran reached out and gently put his shoulder.

"You gave them new life."