Old-time musicians

“The appearance of the world is a prison, and art is the shortcut to freedom.”

"Anyone who has worked with me for a period of time will feel this. At those times, I was full of enthusiasm, I couldn't help myself, but I belonged to myself. Several times late at night, I was lying in bed while creating, and inspiration came to me. I didn't know it. How the notes filled the paper had just been written, but when I looked at them, I was convinced that they were all of my own free will and reflected the essence of summer at Saint-Overney..."

""We are not creating, we are being created." Music is an involuntary expression from the depths of the human soul. Behind it seems to be the unknowable invisible force of the "candle" that is driving it. When the candle is lit, everything changes. When all the lights are on, no shadow can be tolerated there, and everyone and everything has to take a back seat..."

"From the above meanings, creators must endure long periods of silence and isolation, must be immersed in themselves, and completely isolated from the world. But from the current situation, this is whimsical..."

"The school study activity is a big event, and the time is very suitable for you. In the last semester of the graduation season, most people live in mediocrity after deciding where to go in the future, but I completed the most important thing in my life so far at that time. The important "First Symphony", and the Marquis's expectations for your future will not stop at a high level... I don't know the length of your recent outdoor activities. I think there is still a long time before the temperature rises. , because the one-hour walk every day while sitting at the desk is an unbreakable arrangement, the scenery of the streets and hills near Turner Hall has been experienced, and they are still lingering in the cold weather of early spring..."

“Walking is good for dispersing or summarizing inspiration, but many times when I have a good idea, I can’t wait to put it down, but I can only record fragments of it temporarily because of rehearsal work, teaching work or a bunch of administrative signs. The submission is still waiting for me. This is based on the fact that the number of concerts I personally conduct has been greatly reduced... Yesterday, Mr. Kaplan jokingly called me the "midnight composer". I immediately retorted, "From 6:30 in the morning to "Eight o'clock is also my time to compose music." Indeed, since I insisted on getting up on time at six o'clock and taking half an hour to wash and eat, the time available to me has become a little looser..."

"The performance schedule after the New Year covers symphonies conducted by guest conductors, piano solos, choruses and chamber music with several combinations of musicians. For the Old Symphony Orchestra, which has risen to the top of the first-class echelon, external resources for cooperation invitations The choice is in our hands... And in the few concerts where I went on stage in person, the fans' appreciation for me was still overwhelming. It is no exaggeration to say that the cheers were like a storm. After every curtain call, the entire audience shouted You won’t give up until I reappear..."

"This is not a tone of showing off or sharing pleasure. In fact, when I find again and again that there is so little time to write and create, I am really a little irritated... A person who is tied to administrative work and performing arts chores has confirmed that it is difficult to be like several people. As prolific as those composing masters of an era ago, only at midnight and early in the morning can all my spirituality be concentrated on hard work and creation. This is also the reason why I am slow to reply to you..."

"Fortunately, the awe of that unknowable tower will be fully expressed in this song for the first time - "The living must be destroyed, but the destroyed must be resurrected", "You were hit with a stick Knocked down to the ground, and then soared high on the wings of angels" - these answers that were once unavailable have been revealed. Human beings will still struggle to pursue the flash of eternal salvation amid endless doubts and confusion. The moment..."

“Sometimes I also think that the success of my conducting career should allow me to exchange money for the precious time and freedom needed for a large number of creations. The most urgent thing is to put this idea into practice, but I still have hundreds of dollars to bear. The livelihood and career dreams of the people, the large-scale implementation of the 'theater chain' and the 'music aid' plan also require more than this financial resources..."

"In short, the original plan is to wait for the whole year of this year, when Turner Hall has accumulated enough loyal fans and sponsor partners, when the sales volume of the released records is enough, when the performance of the old symphony orchestra When my skills reach another level, I will begin to gradually withdraw into the pure world..."

“I live by conducting, but I live by composing.”

"Ms. Loyin McAdam personally"

The tip of the classical quill pen jumped out of the paper, and there was a slight rustling sound in the office.

The night of early spring came still early, and it was already gray and black outside the window.

Fan Ning sometimes raised his wrist and meditated, and sometimes wrote furiously. After a long time, he gently stuffed the letter into the envelope, made the last stroke on the cover, and then leaned on the seat and held his forehead for a while, thinking for a while.

After being struck by the spark of inspiration of "Resurrection", what comes next will be extremely difficult and complicated work, including the breakdown and dismantling of the initial inspiration, the investigation of a large number of examples of the combination of literature and music, and the purely rational work. , technical difficulties need to be overcome. From time to time, they will draw a gap on the road of creation, leaving people unable to find hope of crossing for days and nights.

Take the first problem Fan Ning encountered before: Although the text of the original poem of Bassani's "Ode to the Resurrection" is brilliant, it is too short.

It has only two verses, and according to Fan Ning's idea, the musical vocabulary of the chorus part needs at least eight verses to be carried. Naturally, the lyrics cannot be repeated over and over again, and the cadence of the syllables must also be consistent with the music. Emotions match.

The adaptation and expansion of poetic texts ran through Fan Ning's entire composition process, and a large amount of previous thinking and accumulation played a role. He was once grateful that "musicology majors seem to have better literary literacy than other music majors."

This work sometimes made progress and sometimes had to be overturned. It is only now that two months have passed that the lyrics and texts of the eight verses/sings have been basically determined.

In the imagination, they will be matched with several connecting band intermezzos to carry different inspiration fragments disassembled by Fan Ning, such as "Declaration Motive", "Resurrection Hymn", "Pleading Motive", "Ascension Motive" and Its transformation and counterpoint... constitute the entire chorus.

But it should be noted that after all this, the chorus is only the recapitulation of the fifth movement!

They also need to complete the foreshadowing through the introduction, presentation and development parts like the "C Minor Choral Fantasy", and then they can be sublimated in the last part of the journey.

Then the length of the finale alone will far exceed that of the Choral Fantasy, reaching a performance time of more than 30 minutes. In addition to the first four movements, plus the huge arrangement and complex sound...

According to Fanning's understanding of the Church of St. Janingo in front of Marquis MacAdam that day..."the sublimity of quantity" and "the sublimity of power", the "Second Symphony" must have both, so that it can be a magnificent and powerful symphony. A large-scale epic that will make you cry.

Otherwise, how can we "defeat" the "ninth" peak and obsession in the hearts of every later composer?

"Dang...dang...dang..." The clock announced six o'clock in the afternoon, interrupting Fan Ning's meditation.

He suddenly thought of something and said, "Sorry, come here."

On the sofa on the other side of the partition screen, several employees who were sitting and waiting stood up holding a pile of signatures.

Following closely behind was the chef carrying the dinner plate.

"It's already cooled down. Do I need to give you another serving?"

"Need not."

Fan Ning quickly flipped through the signatures one by one, and selectively read or asked questions. At 6:20, everyone dispersed. Fan Ning moved the plate in front of him, raised his knife and fork and started to devour.

After filling his stomach, he entered the door of the living room, stretched out on the soft bed, and stared at the ceiling for five minutes.

He got up and moved for another five minutes, and finally played two pieces of Bach's Well-Tempered that he liked in front of the piano. After relaxing, he picked up a few music books and went out.

At 7 p.m., most of the 32 small piano classrooms on the first floor were lit up, and 2 of the 3 large music classrooms were also in use.

There is a class schedule hanging on their door plate, or the name + number of the instrument is marked, and intermittent music or singing comes from inside.

At the door of the large rehearsal hall, Fan Ning vaguely heard Kaplan leading everyone to do "sample pre-processing" on the first movement of "Second Symphony".

He walked around without disturbing anyone, and then opened the door of a medium-sized rehearsal hall.

The thirty or so boys and girls here cast their gaze over. The positions where they were sitting were probably arranged like the parts of a symphony orchestra, but it was obvious that the scale was less than half of the three-piece orchestra.

There are only six people in the first violin, only four in the second violin, and only two or even one person in the wind section.

"Good evening, Mr. Fanning." Lausanne, a young musician who is currently the guest conductor, greeted him happily.

"The Youth Symphony Orchestra's first stage appearance is scheduled for April 15th, so, Miss Lausanne, the arrangement work can begin in a month." Fan Ning handed over three thick scores in his hand.

"That's exactly what I thought." She responded after taking it, "Because members with a good foundation, or members with strong understanding after two months of training, can already put together the parts and meet the small sound balance requirements. ”

Fan Ning said "hmm".

These people are lined up first, and other members who are still taking the above small lessons are then qualified one by one to join the group. This not only takes care of the actual learning needs of musicians at different levels, but also ensures the maximum rehearsal efficiency.

"10 pieces, 3 books, that's 30 pieces?" Lausanne opened the catalog and exclaimed immediately, "All new works? Mr. Fanning, aren't you writing the "Second Symphony"? What are you doing... We can do it...and although they all seem to be short pieces that are not too difficult, we can’t eat so much at one time.”

"It's just a repertoire library." Fan Ning explained with a smile, "When we had this plan a long time ago, we started preparing in advance. Aren't the songs you heard before included in it?"

"Besides, I don't want you to premiere them all at once. My idea is to fill the second half of the first concert, about six or seven songs, and then premiere two or three songs at each concert."

“As for what to rank first and what to rank next, it depends on your personal preference. It’s also up to you to choose the repertoire of other composers. Just follow the principles of pleasing melody, short length, and low appreciation threshold. At the same time, the repertoire should also be taken into consideration. As it is not too difficult and easy to produce results, a simple symphony in classical style is selected for each concert, plus a series of small works.”

"Remember, our goal is to 'popularize art', both for players and listeners." Finally, Fan Ning emphasized, "For you, experience will make the level of an orchestra from scratch." The process of bringing them up is very helpful to improve the commanding ability. Commanding is not only a skill, but also a working method of communication and communication. ”

"Hmm..." Luo Sang lowered his head and flipped through the pages, his eyes lingering on a few music scores at random, and he imagined the general hearing in his heart.

Then she found out that although these works were "entry-level" skits, they were all at the level of masterpieces in terms of the moving degree of melody, maturity of technique, distinct character, and elegance of temperament!

The repertoire selected by Fanning for the Youth Symphony Orchestra Concert this time was basically 30 carefully selected from the "100 Classical Masterpieces" in the previous life!

For example, the first score in Lausanne's hand, in addition to the previously performed "The Blue Danube", "Thunder Polka", "Radetzky March", and "Flight of the Bumblebee", also includes the second act scene of Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake", Dvorak's "Slavonic Dances" No. 8, Johann Strauss II's operetta "The Bat" overture, "Chatting Fast Polka", "Peasant Polka", and Waldtfeld's "Ice Waltz".

"Oh, Miss Luosang, I forgot to tell you." Fanning, who was about to step out of the door, stopped again. "By the end of this month, we can start selling tickets and promoting. You can take some time to contact the senior tea artist in the comprehensive operation department."

"Okay." Luosang replied, "By the way, how do you set the ticket price for the performance? Should our Art Committee make the request, or should Mr. Congreve do it himself?"

"You can make the request, about 2 shillings." Fanning made a gesture casually.

"Okay, isn't 2 pounds a bit too low?" Luosang's first attention was mainly on Fanning's gestures rather than her voice, and then she said to herself, "Well, it's reasonable. After all, it's a youth symphony orchestra. The level and depth of the repertoire cannot be compared with the old symphony orchestras..."

"2 shillings." Fanning repeated helplessly.

"Ah..." Luosang was surprised, "Sorry for the preconceived notion, mainly this currency unit, maybe... seems... seems... I feel... that no one in the entertainment industry has used it before?"

She carefully confirmed: "Is it so cheap? That means 2\\/4\\/6\\/8 upwards, the maximum price of the VIP ticket is 10 shillings, will it not even recover the cost?"

"2 shillings is a VIP ticket." Fanning was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, "That is, going down, it can be about 2 shillings\\/1 shilling\\/8 pence\\/4 pence..."

"Pah——" "Ka Da."

The score in the female composer's hand fell to the ground with the baton.

"Mr. Fanning, this time I am sure that this currency unit is really not used by anyone..."