So in the year 851 of the New Calendar, when Vienne was 25 years old, in his youth, he took up the position of full-time organist at the Royal Academy of Music, the most influential institution in Theoline.
If at this point, apart from some regrets, the main tone of his life is still "victory", the second half of his life has taken on many tragic overtones.
Judging from the tone of letters and diaries during that period, this position brought him unsatisfactory experiences, complicated interpersonal relationships, the malicious intentions of previous competitors, the psychological gap of a blind person in the spotlight, and various involuntary problems.
Performances, rehearsals, and creative tasks all made the musician feel a little at a loss, and he was even depressed on the other side of the job.
The year 855 of the New Calendar was a "year of disaster" in his autobiography. Before his 30th birthday, he fell into a deep pit while walking due to blindness, and suffered multiple comminuted fractures and tendon rupture in his right leg.
Under the medical standards at that time, there were almost only two options: amputation and death. However, he firmly refused amputation because a person with only one leg could only choose to say goodbye to the pipe organ. He said in his diary that this was "no different from death" and it was okay.
"Leave your destiny to the Lord".
After conservative treatment, Vienne was miraculously free of infection. It took him a full year and a half to recover before he could start playing again. However, he soon contracted a cold and almost died; in 858, he
His wife died of tuberculosis; Master Gilles passed away in 863, marking the end of the era of orthodoxy. He was subsequently involved in the dispute between "title music" and "pure music". A blind organist who was unsophisticated finally became
A victim of the academic struggle - for various reasons that are difficult for Fanning to analyze clearly now, he no longer served as the organist of the Royal Concert Hall, and several core figures of power at the time refused to appoint him as the academic organist for five consecutive years.
Professor's proposal.
The loneliness of a blind person is something that normal people cannot understand. Vienne was already suffering from severe depression at that time, and certain medication records can be found in letters. Being ostracized by the academic circles, he resigned angrily in 867.
Perhaps it was because Master Tarakani was an alumnus of the University of St. Lenia, or perhaps because Vienne had some contacts in the church. In short, he was introduced to Uvranser and established a position in the town of Mecklen.
The chapel secured the position of organist.
In the following period, Fanning found that there was very little information preserved, which may indicate that the first few years of Veen's arrival in Uvranser were a relatively peaceful and happy time in his life - he had saved money from his previous job,
Serve as a priest in a small village church, seek comfort in faith and worship, and play your own organ freely
According to Fanning's inference, it was probably around this time that Vienne spent money to build a mansion and settled on the original site of the Turner Art Museum, perhaps around 870 AD.
In 871, when Vienne was 45 years old, he first developed symptoms of glaucoma, which rapidly worsened over a period of time, causing his already weak and pitiful vision to be completely lost at any time.
He didn't know where he heard that an ophthalmologist in the United Principality of Feton had invented an "expensive but miraculous" new treatment. In order to have a glimmer of hope, he traveled across the ocean to the remote southern continent for five years.
years of treatment.
During this period his daughter and brother died, and when he returned to Ufranser in 876, he found that after two moves and nearly ten years of wear and tear in the chapel, the beloved organ was in a state of disrepair—
—Church funds are limited. Cathedrals may receive more donations and funding, but most small churches at the grassroots level are poor.
Vienne, who was completely destitute for the treatment of his illness, wanted to raise funds to repair the organ, so he traveled around the cities of Tioline to perform.
It was also for this reason that Professor Anton was able to hear his organ playing when he was a boy.
Fan Ning speculated from the correspondence that the two met around the year 882 of the New Calendar. At that time, Teacher Anton was only 15 years old, while Vienne was already 56 years old.
Because the information is either scattered or mixed with too many daily events, Fanning cannot know in detail what musical knowledge the old organist imparted to Anton Konar, but what is certain is that the kind of music knowledge originally created by Professor Anton
The foggy sound belt technique - which Fan Ning also borrowed at the beginning of "Symphony No. 1" - was influenced by the thinking of "simulating organ sound", and also included Professor Anton's chant-style melody writing, repeated variations and
The sublime feeling created by the superposition of textures, as well as his enthusiasm for studying ancient music... Fan Ning has all found its source.
However, Wei En, who traveled around to perform, had to take a large amount of drugs due to physical weakness, fatigue, stress, loneliness and depression, which caused serious damage to his body. While he was frugal and frugal, he paid for the medication while
After saving funds, the restoration project of the pipe organ took nearly ten years to be completed.
In the winter of 1885, his body was already overwhelmed. During the 1450th organ concert, people had to carry him to the bandstand to prevent him from heart failure while climbing the steps behind the church - he suffered from heart disease in those years.
The attacks are particularly frequent, and there are also serious diseases in blood, bones and other aspects.
The organ had been repaired at that time, and the frequency of his performances had also dropped. However, an artist always has the habit and mission of bringing works to the audience. June 12, 1986 was his 1,460th organ concert. The 19-year-old
Anton Konar acted as an assistant and carried the teacher onto the stage together with several priests.
The program that day was Viennese's own organ suite "Fourteen Poems of Bassani".
When the performance reached the last piece, Anton Konard noticed that the teacher Vienne's face was pale and his fingers were a little stiff when touching the keys, but he still insisted on playing the last chord and completed the bowing action after a moment of breath.
.
At this time, Anton Konard signaled the teacher to cancel the plan for the encore that was too long, but Vienne still wanted to perform at least one, so he began to perform the cantata "Morning Star Shines" by the late medieval master Kashunich.
"How Beautiful" to improvise on the theme.
More than a minute later, Vienne collapsed on the bandstand, and the audience only heard a continuous bass sound - the old organist's feet were still on the pedals.
Three days later was Viennese's funeral. According to his previous wishes, he was buried under his beloved organ. The organ was not played that day and was covered with a black curtain. The funeral music was a plain song, without any details.
Accompanied single-melody chant.
…
It was night, Fan Ning was sitting alone at his desk, with the doors and windows open, the summer breeze blowing in his face.
He had just returned from a walk in the small church, which had been moved several times, and admired Vienne's unpretentious copper floor tombstone under the organ.
He has read through the lives of several musicians, including teacher Anton, Dean Gould, and organist Vienne. Except for those at the top of the pyramid who are recognized as "music masters," the others
Musicians lead equally respectable lives.
Life is too short. Although these musicians have great artistic personalities and noble spiritual palaces, Fan Ning is still a little confused about their deaths.
After the funeral of Teacher Anton, he comforted Sheeran and said, "The work is the life and will of the artist. He will feel the appreciation of people all over the world and resonate with people's souls." But Fan Ning still didn't understand
The feeling after death is something that no one in the world can understand.
Will it roam in the waves? He has never heard of such a statement.
After another thirty or forty years, I will be close to this process. Even those who are lucky enough to be promoted to Suixiao will only have another twenty years.
Perhaps, that is absolute unconsciousness, absolute nothingness.
There was an impulse in his heart. It seemed to be a very simple desire for expression, but he didn't know what it was specifically expressing. "Commemorating the life of a musician"? Inaccurate... "Depicting a lofty spiritual world"? Inaccurate...
"Expressing one's sadness and emotion?" also seems inaccurate...
But Fan Ning always wanted to write an orchestral work, perhaps not a symphony, but a single movement, something similar to a symphonic poem. It was not only to mourn the dead giants in his "First Symphony", but also to satisfy this premise.
That unknown desire for expression...
He recorded some of his unsystematic thoughts in his notebook.
He felt that he wanted to write this "symphonic poem" in a form "similar to a funeral march", but it should not have the sad, heavy, lonely tone of an ordinary funeral march. It should have an "overwhelming opening temperament" and form a strong impression on the audience.
"A sense of intimidation, a sense of trial, a sense of epicness" seems to indicate that they will see "certain scenes that would have been impossible to happen". For example, from "a higher perspective", the whole life of the deceased seemed to be observed from "a higher perspective".
Reflected in a clean and flawless mirror."
Fan Ning took a deep breath and wrote a complete sentence below these broken thoughts:
"If I could see the afterlife with my own eyes, I would like to see myself lying majestically under garlands and flowers."
After the artist's sentimentality has passed, there are still substantive issues to consider.
Fanning discovered an intriguing suspicion in Viennese's life experience.
Has his eye disease been cured after he returned from seeking medical treatment in the Southern Continent?
Fan Ning feels very contradictory about this.
After Vienne returned to Ufranser in 876, he expressed many depressions in his letters and diaries, including the death of relatives, the current financial situation, the damage of his beloved organ, and the fatigue of traveling and performing...but he did not mention it again.
through your own eyes.
It can be deduced from this change that the treatment should have improved greatly. Otherwise, according to human nature, he would at least regret and complain that during the five years he went to the Southern Continent, not only did his family and wealth disappear, but he also gained nothing.
But on the other hand, Fan Ning found in the letters and records from other people's perspectives that they had expressed sympathy or encouragement for Vienne many times. For example, during Vienne's overseas tour, many people suggested him in their letters.
"Don't be discouraged." Fan Ning just saw Professor Anton sharing "information on the cutting-edge progress of imperial ophthalmology" with him several times in the letter.
This shows that the treatment does not seem to be going well. At least in the eyes of others, the old organist is still blind in his actions and life.
Moreover, these encouragements and sharings never received a positive response from Vienne. He clearly gave feedback on other greetings or business matters in his replies.
Vienne has relatively pure artist qualities and is not good at socializing and power struggles, but this does not mean that he has a eccentric personality. He has his own family and friends. Over the past forty years, he has often poured out his love to his friends.
The anguish in my heart relieves my depression.
But since returning from treatment in the Southern Continent, the eye problem seems to have become a closely guarded topic for him.
If you want to forcefully explain that it is because his subsequent experiences were more unfortunate and his depression became more severe, so he became weirder in this aspect, it would be reasonable. However, Fan Ning also keenly smelled a few strange things.
His congenital cataracts were operated on when he was young, and he was not a blind man whose world was completely dark. The reason why he later worsened was due to the so-called glaucoma symptoms in 871 New Year.
There is some imaginative coincidence between the time when this symptom appeared and when he began to settle in the former residence of the Turner Museum of Art!
In the last four years of Veen's life, in addition to Professor Anton, Fanning also noticed a woman named Hamilton who had close contacts with him. Judging from the information in various materials, this was the therapist he hired.
Depression psychiatrist.
Fan Ning tried to inquire about the detailed information of this Hamilton lady, and the result was extremely smooth, because not only was she still alive, but she also had a certain social reputation - she was born in 856 New Year, and was less than 30 years old at the time.
Already 57 years old, his public identity is Uf Lanser, a well-known pathologist, psychologist, and infectious disease specialist.
By investigating the timeline of her public resume, Fanning noticed that after the death of the old organist, the mansion on the site of the Turner Museum of Art was soon turned into a "City Hospital for the Mentally Ill", with the first director
It's Ms. Hamilton.
Two points of explanation are necessary here. First, Fan Ning speculates from the details that although Ms. Hamilton gave the old organist a lot of medical care in the last stage of his life, the plot is not a "bloody" "mansion inheritance"
"Gift" - she only played the role of matchmaking with the authorities. After the authorities converted the mansion into a hospital, they signed a sum of money in advance to the chapel under the signature of "Vien after his death" for the later use of his beloved organ.
Repair Fund.
Furthermore, this "City Hospital for the Mentally Ill" cannot be understood as a "mental hospital" in a literal sense.
It is actually the product of independence from the imperial workhouse medical system - with the exposure of deep-seated contradictions in the industrialization process of Tioline, the poor living conditions and hygienic standards of the poor in the workhouse have been increasingly criticized by all walks of life. Parliament in
In the early 1980s, the Urban Poverty Law was introduced to reform the already notorious Poor Law Amendment Act (834 edition, also known as the New Poor Law).
One of the agendas is to establish an "Urban Mental Illness Committee" to make the hospital inside the workhouse independent, increase funding, seek social funding, and widely treat the poor. This ensures that some things that were once unacceptable to society and unspeakable for the poor are guaranteed.
Medical needs, such as sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, and childbirth for unwed mothers, also include rehabilitation of disabled people, prevention and treatment of occupational diseases, and prevention and treatment of infectious diseases for mentally ill patients, which are just some of them.
According to Fan Ning's understanding, this is somewhat similar to the predecessor of a "modern public hospital".
So starting from the 1980s, first the archdioceses and large institutions took the lead in implementing the parliamentary reform requirements, and then small and medium-sized almshouses also carried out rectifications - including the construction of this hospital. Their funding sources include both government allocations and
There are donations from churches and some factory owners who are keen on philanthropy to provide funding.
But what is more strange is that the hospital on the original site of the Turner Art Museum seems to have existed for a very short time.
Sort out the timeline from the clues in the data: Vienne passed away in the summer of 886, the hospital reconstruction project was slowly started, and was only completed at the end of 888. Vincent Van Nin's work file in the Special Patrol Office ended in 889.
He was born in 890, and the Turner Museum of Art began operations later.
It will also take time to transform the hospital into an art museum again.
These events happened so closely that it seemed that the hospital was closed or moved for some reason not even a year after it was put into use.
Have no place to spend your money?
After spending so many days, Fan Ning finally traced these impressive or complicated past events from 826, the year when Vienne was born, to the year of his own birth.
As for the confusion in this, both Teacher Anton and the Vienne organist were no longer alive. He now felt that it might be time to find an opportunity to visit the elderly Ms. Hamilton.