Old-time musicians

"You know me?" Hearing this, Fan Ning turned to look.

This is a middle-aged man wearing a simple and neat priest uniform. He looks a few years younger than Teacher Anton. His skin has some wrinkles, but his eyes and hair are still dark and bright.

"The most famous young composer in Uvranser in 913, he was mentioned many times in the commendation notices of the government's special inspection department. He solved many mysterious incidents concocted by secret organizations. Mr. Fanning is now known in this city. There are more of you than you think.”

This person did not shy away from words of praise, but judging from his expression and tone, he expressed a candid attitude.

Fan Ning looked normal and began to respond to the middle-aged man's initial question: "Four-part harmony is the simplest and most perfect form of music. As long as it is written properly, it is not boring at any time, not to mention the thickening of the organ. Sound effect: The four-part harmony of this work is a very old open arrangement. The second part in the bass area and the second part in the treble area are far apart, mostly in octaves and fifths. The contrast levels are obvious, the sound effect is clear and clear, and the music It mostly stays at a sublime level and doesn't try to reflect the literal emotion of the lyrics, which is a very unique experience for me. And what's interesting is that the melodies of each part have many similar interval structures, which I can see in future generations. The shadow of the overall thinking of multi-movement works”

Surprise flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes: "Have you ever heard of Ma Xiao's "Missa Gloria" before?"

Compared with other human art forms, music is subject to the characteristics of "on-site" and "temporary", and the time span of circulation is the shortest. Most of the works that people in this world can hear are two to three hundred years old. Written inside, this is very similar to the situation in Fan Ning's previous life.

Ma Xiao's active years were more than four hundred years ago. Fan Ning's analysis was so familiar, it's no wonder that he asked such a question.

"No, I only saw a fragment of the Newcom score manuscript in the library a few years ago, which should be a passage from the Creed." Fan Ning shook his head and said, "What impressed me most at the time was that the composer asked the singer to sing on certain sentences. A sudden slowing down to form a more lasting chord, making the lyrics carrying the central metaphor stand out. This may seem unworthy of mention now, but it is an important budding trace of the medieval period, which will be of great significance to later composers. The Mass and even other vocal works have had a profound impact."

After hearing a few words, the middle-aged man looked a little awe-struck. He stood up and stretched out his hands: "John Christopher, nice to meet you."

"It turns out to be Mr. Bishop. Nice to meet you." As soon as he announced his name, Fan Ning immediately knew his identity.

This Bishop Christopher is the chief person in charge of the Holy Sun Church in Uvranser. As an official organization of knowledgeable people, his status is equivalent to President Viadlin and Principal Sternikai.

At least a powerful and knowledgeable person of high rank.

This way of getting acquainted is quite conducive to the content of my next request for help.

Christopher said: "The works of Master Kashunich in the late Middle Ages and earlier are not well preserved, and there are very few opportunities to listen to them. You can tell by just the impression of some Newm score fragments and the first appreciation. Quickly summarizing its style characteristics shows his musical accomplishment."

Fan Ning smiled and nodded: "Indeed, the notation method, singing method, and types of musical instruments are all very different from those of today. To reproduce them requires tedious research and clever adaptation."

His words implicitly praise the musical attainments of the church choir and organist.

Christopher took Fan Ning slowly through the corridors, stopping from time to time to admire the reliefs and murals on the church dome.

"Your late teacher, Professor Anton Konard, believed in the 'Unfallen Fire' and had a pleasant cooperation experience with the church on commissioned creations. His "Mass in F minor" has a far-reaching status among the church and believers. It is higher than the previous evaluation of his other late works by music scholars."

"Thank you for the bronze statue you erected in the cemetery." Fan Ning stood on the armrests and looked up at the painting: "I conducted the introduction to this mass, "The Sutra," during the encore of the graduation concert. Afterwards, many people asked me about its origin, and its influence has spread among the world.”

"You're like him, right?"

"Huh?" Fan Ning was a little confused.

He naturally knew that the "he" Christopher mentioned was Professor Anton, a musician with whom he had a teacher-student relationship, but he didn't know which aspect he was referring to specifically.

"Only faith can preserve the echo of His high-level 'Candle'." Christopher said with a smile.

…What's the meaning? What's going on? Fan Ning remained calm on the surface, but began to think rapidly in his heart.

The first thing he understood was that the previous action of destroying the Happy Listening meeting point and the fighting situation had been reported internally among the official organizations with knowledge. As a bishop, it was not difficult for Christopher to know that he had studied "Candle". And made and used the "Fire Sun Guidance" curse seal.

But…

The echo of the high-level "Candle" of "Unfallen Fire" can only be stored by faith?

No wonder Qiong said before that the Holy Sun Church definitely has the special curse seal production carrier "Shining Golden Spark".

President Viadrin did tell himself at first that the Lords of Witnesses are not personified, have random preferences, and are difficult to understand. However, the Lords of Witnesses of the three major Orthodox churches are relatively mild from a human perspective, and their rules are "Belief"!

But why was he able to successfully create the "Fire Sun Guidance"?

Fanning is very sure that whether it is studying hidden knowledge or treating music, his attitude is the "drilling" of the school rather than the "faith" of the church.

Some people in the empire believe in the "Eternal Fire", while others do not. This is normal. It does not conflict with the fact that "humanities and arts are deeply influenced by church culture" in the empire, nor does it prevent people from appreciating music - serious music, whether secular or religious, is religious in the past. This is the same as in the previous life.

"Drilling" does not mean there is no "emotion", and "faith" does not mean there is no "rationality" - there is no difference between the two in terms of mystery, but every knowledgeable person has his own way of practice.

Facing this question about his teacher and faith, Fanning naturally did not reveal his inner doubts. He smiled noncommittally and said carefully: "Bishop Christopher, my purpose today is to inquire about the information of an old organist who once worked in the church in the town of Mecklen. His name is Vien."

"Vien?... I remember this name..." Christopher thought for more than ten seconds, "It seems to be Professor Anton Konar's teacher when he was young, right?"

"... Yes." Fanning said calmly.

He had already exclaimed in his heart.

Anton's own teacher when he was young! ? ?

Fanning now suppressed his expression and acted as if he knew it, just because he wanted to take advantage of this unexpected relationship to cover up his real purpose of asking the church about Vien.

Originally, he prepared some other excuses, such as studying music or organ, but none of them was as useful as this sudden reason, especially in case the subsequent investigation work was more time-consuming and laborious, only in this way could he better explain why he was so focused.

A knowledgeable person who is at least of a high rank is not so easy to fool.

"I have heard the performance of this blind organist." Christopher said, "Well... I have heard it more than dozens of times in a period of time many years ago."

... Blind organist? Fan Ning's heart moved, "Do you know where he is now?"

"I am afraid he has died many years ago."

"Dead? Well... That's right." Fan Ning finally reacted while being excited.

If Teacher Anton is still alive, he should be about the same age as Christopher, both of them are middle-aged and elderly people in their forties or fifties, and the old organist may have reached this age when Teacher Anton was young, and now he is most likely dead.

In this imperfect world, the average life expectancy is 60 years old. Unfortunate people die earlier, and those who live in luxury will die later. Time is always fair to people, even those who know. Some knowledgeable people who study "cocoon" or "pool" may live a little longer. Even if they are promoted to the level of knowledge, it is easier to reach the level of longevity that the world thinks, but few people can live to a hundred years.

Christopher recalled: "... His polyphonic improvisation skills have been famous since the middle of the last century, and it also left a deep impression on me when I was young... During those dozens of times I listened to him, I gave him flowers, but he couldn't see me and there was no verbal communication... My intersection with him was limited to the scope of performers and audiences..."

"Limited to... performers and audiences?" Fanning's eyes were also a little far away.

During his four years at the Conservatory of Music, he had said very few words to Dean Gould. At that New Year's concert, he entered at the beginning and left at the end. Apart from listening and applauding, there was no communication, not even a greeting. When it was his turn to premiere his Symphony No. 1 in D major, Dean Gould also stood silently in the crowd, and finally said "I listened".

The relationship between performers and appreciators sounds superficial, but isn't it the purest and most sacred relationship in art...

"What do you want to know about him?"

"Everything possible, his life experience, his musical career..." Fanning said.

Christopher walked to a nearby confessional, took out a piece of letter paper and a pen, wrote a few words, put it in a white envelope, and handed it to Fanning.

"In the past few decades, the urbanization of Ufransel has been too rapid. The administrative division of the small town of Mecklen has long been abolished, and many small churches have also experienced several relocations and reorganizations... I suggest you take this letter and go to several churches in the East Mecklen area to check. The information must exist, but how detailed it can be requires some luck. May you be bathed in light all day, Mr. Composer."

Fanning thanked him and took it, and then Christopher sent him out of St. Lenya's Cathedral.

The atmosphere of this first meeting with the Holy Sun Church was generally good. They are the state religion of the Western Continent, the birthplace of serious music, and they have a connection with Professor Anton. In addition, Fanning has also studied some hidden knowledge about the "Unfallen Fire"... Although the two sides did not have an in-depth discussion on mysticism, the communication on music was sincere and frank, and there was substantial progress.

The existence of this letter made Fanning's subsequent visits and explorations smoother. All the clergy of the churches in the East Mecklen District provided him with the convenience of free access to the archives to check the files.

As the files were taken out from the silence and dust, Fanning began a long reading and screening. This process was naturally complicated and trivial, but he did not expect to make progress in a short time. Instead, he read a lot of things he was interested in with the mentality of a knowledgeable person, including music scores, doctrines, biographies, and history...

Fan Ning did not find the required information immediately, but what he didn't expect was that just an hour later, he made an unexpected discovery.

This discovery does not come from some secret archives. On the contrary, it is something that has been widely spread among believers and has been clearly recorded in history books for a more general public.

What he is holding in his hand at the moment is a book similar to a local chronicle. The book introduces the origins of place names in the northern continent that are well-known by people and have deep historical roots in the church, including Uvranser's. Santa Lenia' is the name of the place.

In fact, as a former student with excellent academic performance, Fan Ning already knew something about it: Lenia is a very famous one among the previous archbishops of the Holy Sun Church. Its use as a place name has been traced back at least to the predecessor of the Theoline Empire. ——The Hoffmann Empire began at the beginning of the third history.

When people read such books, they will take a few extra glances at the content they are familiar with. It was Fan Ning who unintentionally scanned and discovered that this book that was dusty in the archives of the chapel contained a detail that he had not known before. The archbishop’s full name turned out to be:

"Banshwa Lenya."

This person turned out to be the opera singer and spiritual practitioner "Banshua" mentioned in the "Illusion Man" occult document in the late Tulungalia Dynasty!

This detail may not even be clear to Xilan, who has a strong interest in history and ancient languages. The three of them have been studying it for so long, but they have never heard her mention it before.

Since "Banchuva" is related to the secret technique of "Illusion Man", it is also related to the vicious incident concocted by the Harmony School at that graduation concert, and it is also related to the deep-seated motivations of Sylvia and the Special Patrol Office. It was a point that was as important as investigating the information about the secret door of the art gallery, so Fan Ning temporarily focused his attention on Archbishop "Banchois Lenia".

The interesting thing happened, he then discovered in the archives a certain opera material worthy of the name of this "opera artist".

The title of this work consists of three words. The first word is an article with no specific meaning, which is equivalent to the English word "the". The second word is the word "huge" that is extended and deformed from the Noahic language. It is One of the few adjectives in the Tulungarian language, and the third word is "Tulungalia" itself.

When Fanning translated the title of Benchois's work, he referred to Sheeran's ambiguous interpretation of the word "Tulungaria" and took into account stylistic issues, and finally adopted the title of "Love" and "Giant". The third meaning of the word outside.

He translated it as: "The Great Terror."