"They will at once see the connexion. They know, that the Geheimerath Rödelein's house is a charming house to visit in, and that he has two daughters, of whom the whole fashionable world proclaims with enthusiasm, that they dance like goddesses, speak French like angels, and play and sing and draw like the Muses14. The Geheimerath Rödelein is a rich man. At his quarterly dinners he brings on the most delicious wines and richest dishes. All is established on a footing of the greatest elegance15; and whoever at his tea-parties does not amuse himself heavenly, has no ton, no esprit, and particularly no taste for the fine arts. It is with an eye to these, that, with the tea, punch, wine, ice-creams, etc., a little music is always served up, which, like the other refreshments16, is very quietly swallowed by the fashionable world.
"The arrangements are as follows.--After every guest has had time enough to drink as many cups of tea as he may wish, and punch and ices have been handed round twice, the servants wheel out the card-tables for the elder and more solid part of the company, who had rather play cards than any musical instrument; and, to tell the truth, this kind of playing does not make such a useless noise as others, and you hear only the clink of money.
"This is a hint for the younger part of the company to pounce17 upon the Misses Rödelein. A great tumult18 ensues; in the midst of which you can distinguish these words,--
"'Schönes Fräulein! do not refuse us the gratification of your heavenly talent! O, sing something! that's a good dear!--impossible,--bad cold,--the last ball! have not practised anything,--oh, do, do, we beg of you,' etc.
"Meanwhile Gottlieb has opened the piano-forte, and placed the well-known music-book on the stand; and from the card-table cries the respectable mamma,--
" 'Chantez donc, mes enfans!'
"That is the cue of my part. I place myself at the piano-forte, and the Rödeleins are led up to the instrument in triumph.
"And now another difficulty arises. Neither wishes to sing first.
"'Why, my dear Marie, I am as hoarse as you are.'
"'I sing so badly!--'
"'O, my dear child; do begin!'
"My suggestion, (I always make the same!) that they should both begin together with a duet, is loudly applauded;--the music-book is thumbed over, and the leaf, carefully folded down, is at length found, and away we go with Dolce dell' anima, etc.
"To tell the truth, the talent of the Misses Rödelein is not the smallest. I have been an instructer here only five years, and little short of two years in the Rödelein family. In this short time, Fräulein Nanette has made such progress, that a tune20, which she has heard at the theatre only ten times, and has played on the piano-forte, at farthest, ten times more, she will sing right off, so that you know in a moment what it is. Fräulein Marie catches it at the eighth time; and if she is sometimes a quarter of a note lower than the piano-forte, after all it is very tolerable, considering her pretty little doll-face, and very passable rosy-lips.
"After the duet, a universal chorus of applause! And now arriettas and duettinos succeed each other, and right merrily I hammer away at the thousand-times-repeated accompaniment. During the singing, the Finanzräthin Eberstein, by coughing and humming, has given to understand that she also sings. Fräulein Nanette says;
"A new tumult arises. She has a bad cold in her head,--she does not know anything by heart! Gottlieb brings straightway two armfuls of music-books; and the leaves are turned over again and again. First she thinks she will sing Der Hölle Rache, etc., then Hebe sich, etc., then Ach, Ich liebte, etc. In this embarrassment22, I propose, Ein Veilchen auf der Wiese, etc. But she is for the heroic style; she wants to make a display, and finally selects the aria13 in Constantia.
"O scream, squeak23, mew, gurgle, groan24, agonize25, quiver, quaver, just as much as you please, Madam,--I have my foot on the fortissimo pedal, and thunder myself deaf! O Satan, Satan! which of thy goblins damned has got into this throat, pinching, and kicking, and cuffing26 the tones about so! Four strings27 have snapped already, and one hammer is lamed28 for life. My ears ring again,--my head hums,--my nerves tremble! Have all the harsh notes from the cracked trumpet29 of a strolling-player been imprisoned30 in this little throat! (But this excites me,--I must drink a glass of Burgundy.)
"The applause was unbounded; and some one observed, that the Finanzräthin and Mozart had put me quite in a blaze. I smiled with downcast eyes, very stupidly. I could but acknowledge it. And now all talents, which hitherto had bloomed unseen, were in motion, wildly flitting to and fro. They were bent31 upon a surfeit32 of music; tuttis, finales, choruses must be performed. The Canonicus Kratzer sings, you know, a heavenly bass33, as was observed by the gentleman yonder, with the head of Titus Andronicus, who modestly remarked also, that he himself was properly only a second-ratetenor; but, though he said it, who should not say it, was nevertheless member of several academies of music. Forthwith preparations are made for the first chorus in the opera of Titus. It went off gloriously. The Canonicus, standing36 close behind me, thundered out the bass over my head, as if he were singing with bass-drums and trumpet obbligato in a cathedral. He struck the notes gloriously; but in his hurry he got the tempo37 just about twice too slow. However, he was true to himself at least in this, that through the whole piece he dragged along just half a beat behind the rest. The others showed a most decided38 penchant39 for the ancient Greek music, which, as is well known, having nothing to do with harmony, ran on in unison40 or monotone. They all sang treble, with slight variations, caused by accidental rising and falling of the voice, say some quarter of a note.
"This somewhat noisy affair produced a universal tragic41 state of feeling, namely a kind of terror, even at the card-tables, which for the momentcould no longer, as before, chime in melodramatic, by weaving into the music sundry42 exclamations43; as, for instance;
" 'O! I loved,--eight and forty,--was so happy,--I pass,--then I knew not,--whist,--pangs of love,--follow suit,' etc.--It has a very pretty effect. (I fill my glass.)
"That was the highest point of the musical exhibition this evening. 'Now it is all over,' thought I to myself. I shut the book, and got up from the piano-forte. But the baron44, my ancient tenor34, came up to me, and said;
" 'My dear Herr Capellmeister, they say you play the most exquisite voluntaries! Now do play us one; only a short one, I entreat45 you!'
"I answered very drily, that to-day my fantasies had all gone a wool-gathering; and, while we are talking about it, a devil, in the shape of a dandy, with two waistcoats, had smelt46 out Bach's Variations, which were lying under my hat in the next room. He thinks they are merely little variations, such as Nel cor mio non più sento, or Ah, vous dirai-je, maman, etc., and insists upon it, that I shall play them. I try to excuse myself, but they all attack me. So then, 'Listen, and burst with ennui,' think I to myself,--and begin to work away.
"When I had got to variation number three, several ladies departed, followed by the gentleman with the Titus-Andronicus head. The Rödeleins, as their teacher was playing, stood it out, though not without difficulty, to number twelve. Number fifteen made the man with two waistcoats take to his heels. Out of most excessive politeness, the Baron stayed till number thirty, and drank up all the punch, which Gottlieb placed on the piano-forte for me.
"I should have brought all to a happy conclusion, but, alas47! this number thirty,--the theme,--tore me irresistibly48 away. Suddenly the quarto leaves spread out to a gigantic folio, on which a thousand imitations and developments of the theme stood written, and I could not choose but play them. The notes became alive, and glimmered49 and hopped50 all round about me,--an electric firestreamed through the tips of my fingers into the keys,--the spirit, from which it gushed51 forth35, spread his broad wings over my soul, the whole room was filled with a thick mist, in which the candles burned dim,--and through which peered forth now a nose, and anon a pair of eyes, and then suddenly vanished away again. And thus it came to pass, that I was left alone with my Sebastian Bach, by Gottlieb attended, as by a familiar spirit. (Your good health, Sir.)
"Is an honest musician to be tormented52 with music, as I have been to-day, and am so often tormented? Verily, no art is so damnably abused, as this same glorious, holy Musica, who, in her delicate being, is so easily desecrated54. Have you real talent,--real feeling for art? Then study music;--do something worthy55 of the art,--and dedicate your whole soul to the beloved saint. If without this you have a fancy for quavers and demi-semi-quavers, practise for yourself and by yourself, and torment53 not therewith the Capellmeister Kreisler and others.
"Well, now I might go home, and put the finishing touch to my sonata56 for the piano-forte; but it is not yet eleven o'clock, and, withal, a beautiful summer night. I will lay any wager57, that, at my next-door neighbour's, (the Oberjägermeister,) the young ladies are sitting at the window, screaming down into the street, for the twentieth time, with harsh, sharp, piercing voices, 'When thine eye is beaming love,'--but only the first stanza58, over and over again. Obliquely59 across the way, some one is murdering the flute60, and has, moreover, lungs like Rameau's nephew; and, in notes of 'linked sweetness long drawn61 out,' his neighbour is trying acoustic62 experiments on the French horn. The numerous dogs of the neighbourhood are growing unquiet, and my landlord's cat, inspired by that sweet duet, is making close by my window (for, of course, my musico-poetic laboratory is an attic,) certain tender confessions,--upward through the whole chromatic63 scale, soft complaining, to the neighbour's puss, with whom he has been in love since March last! Till this is all fairly over, II think will sit quietly here. Besides, there is still blank paper and Burgundy left, of which I forthwith take a sip64.
"There is, as I have heard, an ancient law, forbidding those, who followed any noisy handicraft, from living near literary men. Should not then musical composers, poor, and hard beset65, and who, moreover, are forced to coin their inspiration into gold, to spin out the thread of life withal, be allowed to apply this law to themselves, and banish66 out of the neighbourhood all ballad-singers and bagpipers? What would a painter say, while transferring to his canvass67 a form of ideal beauty, if you should hold up before him all manner of wild faces and ugly masks? He might shut his eyes, and in this way, at least, quietly follow out the images of fancy. Cotton, in one's ears, is of no use; one still hears the dreadful massacre68. And then the idea,--the bare idea, 'Now they are going to sing,--now the horn strikes up,'--is enough to send one's sublimest69 conceptions to the very devil."
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1
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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2
gamut
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| n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识 | |
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3
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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4
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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5
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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6
rascally
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| adj. 无赖的，恶棍的 adv. 无赖地，卑鄙地 | |
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7
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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8
cipher
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| n.零；无影响力的人；密码 | |
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9
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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ciphers
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| n.密码( cipher的名词复数 )；零；不重要的人；无价值的东西 | |
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11
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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12
edify
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| v.陶冶；教化；启发 | |
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13
aria
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| n.独唱曲，咏叹调 | |
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14
muses
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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15
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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16
refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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17
pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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18
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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19
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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20
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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21
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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22
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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23
squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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24
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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25
agonize
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| v.使受苦，使苦闷 | |
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26
cuffing
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| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的现在分词 )；袖口状白血球聚集 | |
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27
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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28
lamed
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| 希伯莱语第十二个字母 | |
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29
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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30
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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32
surfeit
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| v.使饮食过度；n.(食物)过量，过度 | |
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33
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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35
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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36
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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37
tempo
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| n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度 | |
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38
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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39
penchant
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| n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向 | |
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40
unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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41
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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42
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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43
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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44
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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45
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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46
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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47
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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48
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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49
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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51
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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52
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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53
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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54
desecrated
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| 毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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56
sonata
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| n.奏鸣曲 | |
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57
wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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58
stanza
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| n.（诗）节，段 | |
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59
obliquely
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| adv.斜； 倾斜； 间接； 不光明正大 | |
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60
flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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61
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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62
acoustic
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| adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的 | |
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63
chromatic
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| adj.色彩的，颜色的 | |
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64
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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65
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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66
banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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67
canvass
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| v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论 | |
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68
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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69
sublimest
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| 伟大的( sublime的最高级 )； 令人赞叹的； 极端的； 不顾后果的 | |
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