Old-time musicians

On July 23, 914 in the New Calendar, it rained moderately.

There was brief sunshine at dawn three days ago, but such weather is the norm during the thunderstorm season in Ufranser.

In the courtyard behind Turner Art Hall, in a deep corner where flowers bloom, raindrops patter on the branches and leaves like a sieve.

"Cuck, cuck, cuck"

Pairs of leather shoes grinding through the mud temporarily disturbed the tranquility of the place.

[Writing this, I hope readers will remember our domain name Taiwan Novel Network→𝙩𝙬𝙠𝙖𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢]

Nearly a hundred black figures in solemn attire were walking.

They walked through the withered fences, flower bushes and lawn paths, took off their top hats with dripping water, bent down in front of the newly built marble pedestal to place bouquets of flowers, and then lined up one by one, standing in silence.

On the third day after the premiere of "Second Symphony", the funeral had just been held. According to the conductor Kaplan's instructions before his death, "the number of people should be small, the scale should be simple, and the ceremony should be short. The mother needs to keep the body, and the ashes of the world can be used." It’s a little closer to the place that I cared about during my lifetime, but the matter will be settled in such a way that the living people are not disturbed.”

Taking into account the strong respect and remembrance of the people, the Blessed Sacrament Church was open to the public all night the night before.

However, the artist's will comes first. The announcement from the funeral director said: "It is recommended that those who express their condolences from all walks of life should stop and leave immediately. Flowers and messages will not be rejected by anyone who comes. Those who stay for a long time to express their condolences or make solemn tributes should not be polite to express their gratitude."

Therefore, although there is an endless stream of people coming to pay their respects, in fact, in the end, there were less than a hundred people attending the formal early morning funeral and the funeral and monument erection.

Except for the slight discrepancy between relatives of the deceased and representatives of the delegation, the rest of the people are all artists. Those from the media, political figures, businessmen, publishing circles or critics are not allowed to attend. The funeral organizers will arrange them in the hall to wait for the follow-up.

This quiet corner of the courtyard is about 300 steps away from the nearest entrance to Turner Art Hall. Trees and stone railings divide the view just right, and exotic flowers and plants bloom in the stepped flowerbeds.

Next to it is a clear pool full of lotus flowers, and further back through the branches, you can vaguely see a small gravel road leading to the back mountain.

It is said that when the former music director Carolyn Van Ning was conceiving the Second Symphony, she often walked along this small gravel road and took a shortcut to climb a hill to look at the city and find inspiration.

The artists bowed flowers in turn, and Olga and her daughter put the black and white photo frame into the stone trough.

In the photo, Capron is wearing high-end gold-rimmed glasses, a straight tie, holding a precious pen in his hand, his arms pressing paper covered with operators and formula charts, sitting in front of a big desk and smiling at the camera, as if he is a handsome man. The appearance of a deputy business elite.

From the time he officially resigned from the Santa Ramburg financial circle to now, he has been studying music day and night, but he has not had time to leave a photo of conducting an orchestra or playing the piano.

Xilan, the leader of the group, pursed her lips tightly. At this time, he took a step forward and wiped the marble surfaces of the tombstone and the base with a white silk towel.

In particular, the rainwater and soil in the grooves of the epitaph were wiped away.

That sentence is said to be a key inspiration when the composer conceived the "Second Symphony". Although it was not directly quoted in the continuation of the chorus in the final movement, he included it when he presented the score to the deceased. Written on the title page as a message.

The uncommon second-person pronouns make it difficult to tell whether you are learning about the deceased or the deceased is sending messages to the living——

“You were struck down with rods and fell to the ground, and you soared high on the wings of angels.”

The process of erecting the monument was as brief as a funeral ceremony.

After settling matters related to the deceased, the artists moved back to the ticket-checking lobby of Turner Art Hall.

There are so many people from all walks of life waiting here, and even the corridor on the second floor is full of solemnly dressed figures.

Everyone's eyes first focused on the wall on the left side of the door.

"Wall of Past Conductors of the Symphony Orchestra"

The entire marble surface is wide and smooth, with two dark horizontal lines symbolizing the time axis running parallel through it.

Olga, who had the dual identities of the group's administrative manager and the deceased's wife, stepped forward with a simple and dignified figure, and lifted the metal square engraved with black and gold inscriptions to the height of a timeline below.

This is the location of successive permanent commanders.

"Ting." The crisp and cold sound of the buckle inserting into the groove.

"Gilbert Capron, September 5, 913 New Calendar - July 20, 914 New Calendar."

The second person to step forward was the tall and burly Lee Viadlin. The inscription square in his hand was aligned with the horizontal line of the timeline above. This is the position of the previous music director and chief conductor.

Anton Konard has passed away, and Fan Ning has unilaterally withdrawn from the association. He did this as Fan Ning's current music teacher, not as a member of the official extraordinary organization.

"Ting." The cold voice sounded again.

"Carolne Van Ning, August 25, 913 New Calendar - July 20, 914 New Calendar."

Xilan, Luo Yin and others stared at the names above for a long time.

It's been three days.

One of the original number one and number two figures in the orchestra eventually fell on the conductor's podium, and the other's life or death is unknown.

There has been no word from the Special Inspection Office, and there has been no news from Joan after saying goodbye.

“Many knowledgeable people visited the back of Turner Hall on the opening day and stayed for at least 36 hours.”

The tenure inscription square had just been inserted when a low and serious male voice came from behind.

The two chiefs turned their heads, and Marquis MacAdam was standing behind them at some point.

"Thank you, Dad."

Luo Yin knew her father's mysterious and invisible power of "Yan", and she frowned and thought about it.

What does the combination of these three revelations, a number of people, a location, and a duration, mean?

"Back mountain?" Xilan's attention was focused more on the location.

She naturally remembered the place where the three of them lay down after they entered the secret door to explore last year and finally woke up from the nightmare.

It is almost certain that this is another action team from the Special Inspection Department, and its purpose of visiting the back mountain is almost certain to guard Fan Ning, who was kidnapped into the well.

But why does it take so long beyond 36 hours?

If we start counting from shortly after dawn, it will be about 12 hours until the premiere ends, and then it will continue until this time the next day?

As the two of them were thinking, they began to be moved towards the other direction of the hall by the crowd.

The funeral director once stated in the announcement that after the funeral of the deceased, the delegation had an important matter that needed to be publicly announced to all walks of life.

This has undoubtedly attracted great attention from all parties. Everyone is speculating whether this is related to Director Fanning's sudden resignation or to conductor Kaplan's funeral.

The brightly lit event hall was not only full of seats, but also the aisles were full of people and racks of camera equipment.

[A book-chasing app recommended to me by an old book friend who I have known for ten years, change the source app! It’s so easy to use. I rely on it to pass the time while driving or before going to bed by reading and listening to books. You can download it here]

In the middle of the stage is a long wooden table, with a white curtain covering something similar to a picture frame.

Minister Noel of the Ministry of Culture and Media came on stage together with Olga, the administrative manager of the delegation, and slowly unveiled it.

"Kaplan Arts Fund Committee"

"Kacha." "Kacha." The sound of the shutter of the camera equipment kept coming and going.

Judging from the name alone, it seems to be the unveiling ceremony of a newly established public welfare project.

Olga, who was guided to the stage by the host, Minister Noel, explained in a calm tone——

According to the will of the conductor Mr. Kaplan, the "Kaplan Art Foundation" is now established in the name of himself and his wife.

As Mr. Fanning has announced in his resignation letter, all copyrights of Turner Art Hall's businesses and his personal works will be permanently and free of charge donated to Miss Sheeran...

After consultation with the latter, the operation and development of the "Capron Art Fund" will be entrusted to Turner Art Hall with full responsibility. Its purpose is only for the two major projects of "Art Popularization" and "Music Aid" initiated by the former director Fan Ning. .

As for the source of funding, initially it was two parts:

One is the net income from the financial industry investments made by Mr. Kaplan during his lifetime;

The second is the net income of the group related to the copyright of "Resurrection Symphony", including but not limited to the box office of self-operated commercial performances, copyright fees of other commercial performances, share of score sales, record sales, etc.

In fact, in the past few days after the performance, pre-sale orders from all over the world have exceeded 100,000.

Comparing it to the Recording Industry Association's four-star rating threshold of 5,000 first orders, or comparing the data of Turner Hall albums released in the past ranging from 5,000 to first order, this is simply a miraculous thing, directly breaking the history of the human recording industry. sales records.

The "Kaplan Art Fund Committee" takes about a week to prepare.

The "Second Symphony" record that was produced at full speed will probably take this long to be released.

Therefore, there will be two major events on August 1st. One is the official sale and delivery of the record, and the other is the formal operation of the Art Fund. At that time, a trusteeship handover ceremony will be held with Turner Art Hall and the first batch of donations from all walks of life will be accepted.

The inflow and outflow of funds belonging to social donations are subject to the supervision of the cultural department throughout the process, and are regularly disclosed to all walks of life.

After Olga announced the establishment of the "Kaplan Art Fund", Minister Noel made a concluding speech.

First he expressed his gratitude, and then his deep remembrance, and then he summarized the core views of several representative art reviews after the premiere of the "Resurrection Symphony":

The wording of "Voice of Janus" is concise and concise but shocking. This old mainstream media from the Western Continent, the birthplace of serious music, directly said that Carolne Van Ning had broken through the category of "great", and even called " Symphony No. 2 in C minor is "one of the most important symphonies in the history of human art."

"Tioline Cultural Weekly" pointed out from a more pragmatic perspective that the "Symphony No. 2 in C minor" performed by the great conductor Kaplan is a spiritual wealth that belongs to all music lovers. "Everything that lives must perish. Don't be arrogant when you are in good times, for those who perish will be resurrected, and there is no need to be depressed when faced with setbacks. Everything is just the ups and downs of dust. After a short rest, death is also a new life. "

The record producer deeply praised that feat in a special article in "Hoffmann's Gramophone"——

"Now he will be the light in our phonograph, greater than before. Every art pilgrim will tremble to pick up this last sound, just like erecting a lighthouse in the dead night."

In seventy-eight art reviews, the word "great" appears frequently in descriptions of Kaplan, and for the composer himself, this word has begun to break through.

Everything came to an end, the current affairs process also came to an end for the time being, and everyone dispersed one after another.

The old symphony orchestra must continue to bring music to the public, and there is still an endless stream of well-known conductors and soloists from various countries to cooperate with it. Some musicians rehearse orchestral music under the leadership of the conductor, and some prepare solos and solos in groups. Chamber music or concerts with vocal music.

Sheeran returned to Fanning's former music director's office.

She didn't want to go anywhere except for necessary outings, and she stayed here almost all the time these days.

He also goes to bed in his living room.

When she was sitting at her desk in a daze, there was a gentle knock on the door twice. Olga walked in with a stack of documents, followed by little Irene and whispered "Sister Xilan" in a low voice.

"As I said last time, you should call me teacher, honey." Olga's voice was soft and gentle.

"Just rest for a few more days, it's okay." Xilan still held his chin in his hands, staring at the oil painting in front of him in a daze.

"Thank you, but I have been resting for almost twenty days."

"It's okay."

"I need you to sign the employee salary deduction form."

"Reducing the order?" Xilan turned his head in surprise.

"...He is no longer here, and the permanent commander's salary needs to stop from next month, as well as the personnel procedures." The administrative manager's tone remained calm.

The girl lowered her eyelashes and closed the unscrewed pen cap again.

"He's still here."

Olga's body shook slightly.

"Or another way, let's automatically pay it to the art fund account every month." A smile appeared on Sheeran's cheeks.

"Don't he like to work hard? Let him keep working hard to earn money for the music relief project."

That night, Olga returned home with her daughter. The maid carried little Irene into the bathroom as usual. Several other servants were about to start cleaning and tidying up the room, but she temporarily stopped them.

"Just wait a little longer."

She stood in front of the grand piano in the living room. There was still an open book on the music stand. The conductor's baton and the unclosed pen were lying aside, as if the user had temporarily left.

It is indeed a temporary departure. In the past few years, it has been normal to go to the hospital, every time before going out.

A considerable portion of the records in the library had been removed, leaving many gaps.

The corner next to the green plants was empty, and the gramophone that had been moved to the sanatorium had not yet been retrieved.

"Now he will be the light in our phonograph, greater than before. Every art pilgrim will tremble to pick up this last sound, just like erecting a lighthouse in the dead night."

If you put it that way, he will be going home in a few days.

She walked into the bedroom where the gas light was not turned on, used her last strength in the darkness, slightly arranged her daughter's small hammock beside her, and then lay down with all her clothes on.

I don’t know how long it took, but my consciousness was slightly bumpy while wandering.

There seems to be the sound of music in the world.

The bumpy feeling seemed to come from riding in a carriage. I had received conducting lessons from Mr. Fanning many times very late. Little Irene was sitting in her arms, and Kaplan across from me repeatedly shared with me the latest gains of the day. , he hummed the carefree ballad and played leisurely triple time with his bare hands.

The second movement's "Leanderer" dance has the theme of "A Moment of Recollection".

The turn when passing the intersection was a bit sharp, and when I looked again, there was nothing on the other side.

The light and transparent sound of stringed instruments is playing, and the single brass pipe and flute blow out the long sound of horns.

"There's no one around, so you're practicing in the air?"

Fan Ning's voice was full of helplessness.

"Call him up during tea time in the future. Why is this guy so stubborn and doesn't know how to relax?"

Congreve was making tea, Luo Yin was playing with the roses and platycodon in the flower pot, Sheeran and Joan were arguing about "should the Earl Gray black tea be added with milk or tea first?" There should be someone sitting next to Lu, obviously He couldn't see clearly, but everyone was talking to him from time to time.

"You are the midnight composer, and your whole family is the midnight composer." The yuyu ring squeaked in Fan Ning's mouth.

The white lace of the hand-embroidered tablecloth is so delicate. There are teacups, teaspoons, tea dregs bowls, sugar bowls and milk bottles. You can even see the orange satin flowers tied to the paper towels, but you can't see clearly what's on the other side. people.

The simple and innocent dance steps and the warm and song-like melody sounded again.

The cello group used their soulful breathing to tell another touching counterpoint melody.

"I am still there after death, I can hear, and I will respond to the person I care about in the dark."

I could finally see clearly that he was waving the beat. This was a familiar stage, but the auditorium was empty, and the outline of his figure was slightly pale.

Like a ray of bright morning light, a refreshing breeze, without any clouds or fog.

"Dreams are all fake, right?" Olga shouted loudly.

"Of course both waking and dreaming are real!" Kaplan turned his head and smiled at himself.

A more intense carpet triplet sounded, and the wind instruments sang lowly under the starry night sky.

"A gift, this is a gift! New Year's gift!!"

He picked up a red colored ball and threw it directly over the audience.

"Please accept our New Year wishes!"

He stretched out his hands like a trumpet, raised his head and shouted loudly, while retreating continuously.

"Yeah!" "Happy New Year!!!"

The bright smiles of many, many people were captured on film.

Colorful, gold and silver shiny papers of various colors rotate and dance under the reflection of the crystal chandelier.

It was the theme of "Leander" again, played too peacefully, without any weight.

The colors of the papers began to fade, everything gradually peeled off, and finally there was a vast expanse of white.

Dawn brought, and the vision was blinding light.

I was able to encounter the rare sunshine again in the thunderstorm season, and the air was so quiet that there was not a trace of wind.

There was not a trace of wind.

"Mom, I asked Dad last night." Little Irene was already sitting on the hammock next to her.

"Really? What did you ask?" Olga said softly.

There was a large wet spot on the pillow.

"During the day, when the uncles and aunts talked, they all said that he was still there. I asked him if this was true or false, and whether it didn't count in dreams? He said that being awake and dreaming were both true."

"Yes, being awake and dreaming were both true." Olga smiled softly and sat up.

"So, when I talk or play the violin, he can hear it?" Little Irene's eyes lit up.

"He knows."

She picked up her daughter from the hammock, sat in front of the mirror, and began to tie her daughter's hair.

She then inserted the records that had not been put back in place into the gaps in the bookcase one by one.

"Ding Dong~"

The wind chimes hanging on the door were ringing.

Melodious and ethereal, like the bells imitated by the carillon or celesta in the "First Light" movement.

Sparse and slender dust floated in the light, and the floor shone like glass.

He knew that this was the second dawn.

(End of Volume 2)