shadow of britain

Chapter 552 Project Hope
The morning sun shines into the hall through the windows, and dust particles float in the air, bringing a slightly peaceful atmosphere.

Arthur was wearing a dark blue robe and pacing in the wide corridor of the teaching building.

On the surface, he was performing his duties as a school supervisor, monitoring and checking whether these students who were rushing to class had drunk again last night. In fact, his mind was still pondering the musical notation of "Jasmine Flower" and "Nessun Dorma".

After deciding to adapt Turandot, Arthur and others quickly determined the division of labor.

Mendelssohn and Schumann were mainly responsible for most of the choruses and arias in the whole play, and the fashion literary giant Mr. Disraeli was responsible for secondary processing of the plot based on Goethe's original work.

As for Arthur's mission...

In everyone's opinion, he got the hardest part.

Because Arthur will compose both the overture that introduces the audience into the mysterious oriental atmosphere and the monologue aria in which the male protagonist Calaf expresses his firm determination to marry the princess.

But for Arthur, who knew what he was doing, these two pieces were not difficult at all. The overture was "Jasmine Flower" and Calaf's monologue aria was "Nessun Dorma".

In fact, if Arthur had not been afraid of overshadowing the main theme, he would have included the chorus part of the final confrontation between Turandot and Calaf at the same time.

However, the ultimate purpose of adapting "Turandot" is to facilitate the relationship between Mr. Schumann and his girlfriend.

In the final battle, the chorus itself is meant to show Turandot's cold heart being melted by Calaf's love.

This part should be left to Schumann to solve anyway. Although the cold heart he wanted to melt was not that of the beautiful princess, but that of the future father-in-law who refused to marry his daughter to him.

But even though he only had two pieces of music to compose, and even though he already had a draft in mind, it was still quite difficult to actually compose the music. After all, this was not a solo piano performance, and when composing the music, he also had to consider whether the entire band could maintain coordination with each other.

In order to present the best stage effect, Arthur also has to carefully consider which musical instruments should be used.

For the song "Nessun Dorma", the string group must be mobilized collectively, including violins, violas, and cellos. In the climax, the double bass is also needed to provide a deep tone.

In terms of wind instruments, woodwind and brass instruments must also be played together, with flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon providing warm colors, and French horn, trombone, and trumpet used to enhance the dramatic and emotional climax.

In addition, percussion instruments should be introduced. Only timpani can provide shocking power at the most exciting moments.

Of course, the harp, a good friend of classical opera, cannot be left out. Can an opera without the harp still be called a romantic opera?
As for whether the piano and organ will appear, it depends on whether Mr. Giovanni Rubini, the tenor whom Mendelssohn highly respected, can handle the situation.

If his vocal condition was really as Mendelssohn said, and he could easily reach F5, then there would be no need for piano and organ to provide harmonic support. But if his physical condition was not good, then Mendelssohn would probably have to take the stage himself and use the piano to back him up.

Just arranging the performance of "Nessun Dorma" had already consumed most of Arthur's energy.

But compared to the opening overture "Jasmine Flower", "Nessun Dorma" is already simple.

How to show as much oriental atmosphere as possible under the existing conditions is a big question.

After all, there are no erhu, guzheng, pipa and bamboo flute in European symphony orchestras.

Arthur has been thinking about these days, such as how to use the English flute to imitate the bamboo flute, whether the harp can imitate the timbre of the guzheng and pipa, and so on.

It’s annoying enough just to think about these things, but if you have a devil around you who claims to have artistic authority and likes to talk too much, the arranging process is simply torture.

Every time Arthur felt that the arrangement was appropriate enough, the Red Devil standing aside and watching with interest would jump out to find fault.

Although Arthur wanted to refute him, when he put Agares' idea into practice, he found that such a change seemed to be more appropriate.

If the Duke of Hell was just offering suggestions for composing the music, it wouldn't be so annoying. What was annoying was that Agares would only make a few half-sarcastic comments when the music was about to be completed.

And every time he made a comment, it meant that Arthur had to rewrite the finalized piece.

During this time, Arthur once questioned the Red Devil why he didn't finish his words at once.

As for the furious Arthur, Mr. Agares just lay leisurely on the piano stand, and took up his small file that he had used for who knows how many years to file his nails calmly: "My dear Arthur, there is no deal between us. Without a soul, any word I say can be defined as pity."

Of course Arthur understood what this guy meant, but based on his understanding of the Red Devil, the more he said such things, the more he could not do business with him.

Because Agares is now obviously enjoying the process of watching him arranging the music over and over again. If he continues to contribute his soul obediently at this time, the Red Devils will most likely set a trap for him in the transaction, and then enjoy his painful mood of regret and remorse once again.

How did Arthur know this, you ask?

That was of course because he had been fooled in a similar way before. That was how Agares sent him to the University of London.

However, it is better for Agares to help than to say nothing. Although the progress is a bit slow and the process is quite torturous, the arrangement work is always progressing at the speed of ants moving house.

Arthur wandered all the way to the school gate in a trance. He came out to relax when he had nothing to do. In addition to adjusting his mood, he could also supervise the enrollment work of Mr. Ohm, the new lecturer at the University of Göttingen.

In front of the school gate, Ohm was sweating profusely and working hard to explain how interesting his courses were.

After seven days of free lab class promotion, about 20 students officially registered and paid for classes at Ohm.

Perhaps compared with university classrooms in later generations, 20 students is not a very outstanding number, but you have to know that there were only more than 20 students in the University of Göttingen at that time. It was already a very good achievement for Ohm to attract students to pay for classes within a week.

The reason why his admissions results were so good was also related to his rough life experiences in his early years.

As a teacher who has been working on the front line of secondary education for many years, Ohm's teaching level is far superior to most professors of natural philosophy at the University of Göttingen. After all, for secondary school teachers, teaching ability is the most important. As for the level of theoretical research, it is icing on the cake. It is good to have it, but it does not affect the work if it is not.

Of course, there is another reason why Ohm's enrollment went so smoothly.

That is, Arthur secretly arranged a few students to act as his assistants.

Arthur knew that with Ohm's academic level, it was absolutely no problem for him to be appointed as a professor of experimental physics at the University of Göttingen. But there was no other way. The school's regulations were there, and if he wanted to be appointed as a professor, he had to go through this process.

After all, not everyone can do special things like him, and go through the old professors of the Academic Committee all the way with the Great Seal Bull signed by the King and the administrative order of the Kingdom of Hanover.

In order to allow Ohm to stay in Göttingen peacefully before being appointed as a professor, Arthur specifically asked Bismarck to bring a few classmates who were on good terms with him to register for Ohm's class. As for the tuition fees, Arthur reimbursed them privately at double the amount.

Bismarck, a poor man with a lot of debts, naturally would not let go of such money that was delivered to his door for free.

But the boy had few friends and many enemies in Göttingen. Bismarck led his wolfhound around Göttingen for a long time, but only found five heads for Arthur.

Fortunately, Ohm himself was capable. Even without the incompetent Bismarck, he still managed to recruit fifteen students on his own.

Arthur saw Ohm standing on a wooden box he got from somewhere and passionately promoting his courses from half a street away. However, perhaps because the students' enthusiasm had worn off, there were obviously fewer students watching his lecture today than in the past.

Or to be more precise, there was only one student standing in front of the wooden box listening to his lecture attentively.

"Um..." The student hesitated and said, "Mr. Ohm..."

When Ohm heard the only listener speak, he smiled and walked down from the box: "What's wrong? Is there something you don't understand?"

"No, no, all your courses are easy to understand. If possible, I really hope to follow in your footsteps and receive your teachings, but..."

The student grabbed the corner of his wrinkled shirt, his hair slightly brownish red in the sunlight. "But there's nothing I can do. We have to be realistic. I'm here to say goodbye to you today. I'm going back. Although I can't enroll in Göttingen, it's good to be able to take a look. As a Hanoverian, I've finally seen what the best university in the country is like. It can be considered a wish come true."

When Ohm heard this, his smile gradually faded, and he put on a serious face: "Werner, are you going to drop out of school?"

"It's not like I'm dropping out of school..." The poor student scratched his head. "I should be able to study for another year. My father sent my brother and me to Katrin School in Lübeck last year. I was in the fifth grade and my brother was in the fourth grade. When I go back this year, I will be in the sixth grade. If nothing goes wrong, I will have a high school diploma by this time next year."

"Aren't you going to college?"

Ohm tried to encourage him. He pointed to the Göttingen campus behind him and said, "Look, what a great place this is! You know, I'm just a lecturer in Göttingen. You think even a teacher like me is very good. Don't you want to go a step further and receive the careful guidance of geniuses like Gauss and Weber? Oh, yes, there is also Sir Arthur Hastings. If you enroll next year, you may have the opportunity to become his first student."

The poor student looked a little embarrassed. He buried his head and looked unconfident. "Mr. Ohm, I also want to go to college, but... you know, my family is not very wealthy, and there are many children in my family, as many as 12. Although I want to go to college, the tuition here is too high. If I cause my brothers to drop out of school because of me, it would be too selfish."

Although he had only been with the young man for seven days, Ohm had already guessed that his family situation was probably not good. If you want to observe the environment a person grew up in, just invite him to dinner. And Ohm took him to dinner almost every day this week, so even if he was slow, he could still see some clues.

However, what he didn't expect was that this young man not only came from an ordinary family, but also had so many sisters and brothers.

If his family was like Ohm's, with only two boys and one girl, then his parents could grit their teeth and he could work part-time to earn money for his studies, and he might be able to complete his university studies.

But there are twelve brothers and sisters, this...

However, even though he knew the situation was not optimistic, Ohm still held a glimmer of hope in his heart: "I remember you told me before that your father had received higher education and participated in the Napoleonic Wars. Didn't he save any money over the years?"

The poor student sighed, "Yes, my father did participate in the Napoleonic Wars. He was a cavalryman in the Royal German Corps of the Kingdom of Hanover. But after retiring from the army, he used all his retirement money to rent a farm. Life on the farm was not rich and was very hard, but my parents attached great importance to our education.

They wanted us to receive formal school education, but because the school was too far from home and my brothers and sisters were too young, they were worried about letting their children go far away, so they gritted their teeth and hired a tutor. However, the tutor died of illness within two years, so they sent us two oldest children to school in Lübeck.

But you also know that the cost of studying abroad is completely different from studying at home. When I was at home, I ate and drank from the farm, and I lived in my own house without paying for anything. But when I went to school abroad, the cost of food and accommodation alone was a considerable amount every year, not to mention the high tuition fees. "

Ohm felt sorry for the other person when he heard this. He also came from a poor family and could empathize with the other person's situation.

Ohm asked, "Have you thought about what to do next?"

The student looked at the sky in confusion: "I... I don't know. To be honest, I don't like my current school at all. Katrin School is a liberal arts high school, and the main course is to study ancient languages. Although I am very interested in the works of classical writers, learning boring grammar is meaningless.

When I was studying with a tutor, I was most interested in mathematics. The mathematics class at Katrin School was very shallow. Although I am in the fifth grade now, I always go to the sixth grade math class. But even so, in my opinion, the sixth grade math class is still too shallow.

These days, you took me to Göttingen to sit in on mathematics classes, and I also attended yesterday's lecture by Professor Dirichlet of Berlin University. After seeing these real mathematics courses, I don't know what the point is of returning to Katrin High School? Maybe it's just to get a high school diploma?"

Ohm originally wanted to say something to comfort the other person, but when he heard these words, he just felt like someone was stabbing him in the heart with a knife.

He knew very well that any words of comfort at this moment would sound hypocritical and would be of no use other than making him feel better and satisfying his pathetic moral vanity.

As a responsible teacher, there is nothing more painful than seeing a talented student who is eager to continue learning fall out of school.

Ohm's body trembled. He took a deep breath and then reached into his pocket.

His pockets were as clean as his clothes, but that did not prevent the presence of a few thalers in them. They were the registration fees he had just received this morning.

Ohm held the thalers in his palms, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then suddenly opened his eyes, as if he had made a great decision, grabbed the other person's hand, and put the warm thalers in the student's hand.

"Werner, let me tell you something. There is no difficulty in this world that cannot be overcome. As long as you are determined enough, the problem will always be solved. I hope this is not your last visit to Göttingen. If you want to study here, I can lend you the tuition. But please understand that my ability is limited, so you still need to raise your living expenses and rent by working. However, I think this is not a big problem for someone who is determined to make further progress in the career of natural philosophy, because I also worked to earn my living expenses in the past."

The student was obviously frightened by Ohm's behavior. He was stunned at first, staring blankly at the thaler in his hand, and then raised his head to look at Ohm in front of him: "Mr. Ohm, you...you gave me all the money, what are you going to do with yourself?"

"I..." Ohm was speechless for a moment. He avoided her gaze and said, "Don't worry about me. I still have some savings."

"Really?" At this moment, a gentle laugh sounded from the tree-lined avenue on campus: "Why didn't I know about this?"

Ohm and the students all turned their heads and saw Arthur, wearing a blue robe, walking slowly out of the campus holding a book.

He glanced at the student, then turned his gaze to Ohm: "Mr. Ohm, financial aid is not something you, as a lecturer, should be responsible for. But I forgive you, because you have not been in the school for long, so you probably don't know that the school has set up special tuition subsidies for the descendants of soldiers who have served in the army, especially the children of soldiers from the Royal German Legion, a unit with glorious military achievements."

(End of this chapter)