Vienna, Austria
Thunder on a cold rainy night. Dreary tears falling on washed away dreams of what was and what could have been. The applause of a crowd, their nameless faces float through the forgotten memories amidst the labyrinth of life. Whispers, like curses in the twilight hours, “Play for me maestro!” One solitary voice heard above all others; her voice. As beautiful as a sunrise, as haunting as a lonely cry upon the hills, deep in the recesses of night. Yes. Play for her. One last sonata by the moonlight.
Fingers caress ebony keys; each note falling like a dagger to tear and sliver his soul. One strike begetting another while ink, like blood, flows onto parchment beheld at the end of a quill. It was the scratch to the insatiable itch of art. Inspiration was held within the candle flames he played by, wrote by and died by every time he touched his hands to an instrument.
What was it that made him bleed out this masterpiece now? Was it that he was crying over his failing sense that was being cored out of him like some horrible affliction? But was it not the affliction that was his only cure, the very essence of self redemption sought out within the seeds of his art? Was it to alleviate the pain of having to put forth such agony to an all too eager audience that filled the Opera Houses and Chamber Halls he performed in? And did they know his pain, these people who threw their gold and roses at his feet like tokens allotted at a loved ones funeral? Could they even begin to comprehend the anguish that smoldered in his eyes and burned deep within his brain?
It angered him that the aristocracy fed upon the life’s blood of the great virtuosos like refined cannibals, swallowing another’s pain without an inkling of it’s ...
... middle of paper ...
... fate with the last stroke of his quill as he penned between the lines of his composition sheets. No love of a woman did he mourn for. He grieved for his stolen sense that allowed him to revel in masterful beauty. He was deaf and now, he was truly conquered. The maestro laid his head upon the piano and wept in ear splitting silence, a silence that locked him up ruthlessly in constricting fetters he could never escape.
It was this that killed poor Beethoven in the end and she collected it like she collected so many other things; utterly and completely. To some virtuosos it was their sanity or their physical ability to maneuver the instruments they had been so blessed to wield; but to him, it was his last link to the world which left the applause of his fans and admirers to be smothered into nothing and his symphonies forever unfinished.
Works Cited
Bethoveen
In the events preceding the selected passage of Des Cannibales, Montaigne gives several situations of events in which man’s honour has been tested and proven, citing the example of the Hungarian’s merciful attitude towards their captured enemies, whom they released unharmed after having defeated them in battle. The classical reference to Seneca with the quote, “Si succiderit, de genu pugnat” foreshadows the passage in question, in which the captured Brazilians refuse to surrender or feel fear, but rather taunt their captors and remain defiant until their last breath. The passage then develops into an observation of the polygamous culture of the New World, which Montaigne praises and later goes onto defend as natural, arguing that it was customary in Biblical times and therefore should not be condemned by supposedly superior and cultured Europeans.
In final anyalysis, the work of Edgar Allan Poe has more meanings than those that meet the eye. Tragic events and gloomy details of his life are transcribed on paper, not clearly, but hidden in each of his publications. His stories can be viewed more as footprints rather than allegories: they are his footprints he left behind in the universe. His life story, all of his experiences, good and bad, influenced his writing in some way or another. Today, we can analyze this information and infer facts about Poe's life, much like detectives unveiling clues from the forgotten past, yet the past wasn't totally forgotten. Poe is gone now, but he is alive and well in our hearts today when we read his prose as well as poetry. His bold and powerful words are in essence the entire life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Claudius opens with a concession “Our dear brother’s death/the memory be green, and that it us befitted/To bear our hearts in grief”, indicating to his audience that he empathized with their feelings of pain. However, two lines later, Claudius declares “discretion fought with nature/That we with wisest sorrow think on him/Together with remembrance of ourselves.” Here Claudius introduces the idea that spending time grieving, “nature”, is at odds with practicality, “discretion”, and that for the citizen to become too absorbed in mourning would be to neglect their own well being.
The vision of the mind is easily portrayed through the art of literature, painting a picture with the stroke of words. The natural inspiration that influences the creation of these works is derived from the life and the experiences of the creator. For some, these tales become stories and those stories become novels, but for one man it meant so much more. The works of Edgar Allan Poe became his life; he expressed every feeling and every moment of his existence through ink and paper. Poe involved his entire life in his writing, leaving no element of the story untouched by his trademark of a past. His work became so unique and unorthodox, yet it did not lack the attention it deserved. The American critic, Curtis Hidden Page, suggested that “the essence of his work is logic, logic entirely divorced from reality, and seeming to arise superior to reality” (Quinn 31). The foundation of Poe’s stories seems simple enough, but beneath the surface remains unanswered questions and undiscovered truths, which have yet to be uncovered. The people and experiences throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s lifetime have influenced various themes including: insanity, revenge, death, and guilt which can be distinguished through a collection of his works.
Almost as soon as the cold cloths had been wrapped around his head, Mozart lost consciousness. He left no great last words; his final utterance was an attempt to express a drum passage in the Requiem, a sound that would haunt Sophie Haibel for the rest of her life. Perhaps, in his last semi-conscious moments, the sounds of the completed Requiem were sounding inside Mozart's head, the perfect performance of his final masterpiece and swan-song that would never be heard.
and thoughts that were overlaid into his paintings and masterpieces. He was living in a time
When she abandoned herself, a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free! (Chopin 260) It is after this reawakening that Mrs. Mallard realizes that she can now live her life the way she wants, instead of the current situation where her life is dictated by her husband.
Ludwig Van Beethoven was regarded as one of the greatest musical composers of the 19th century. Beethoven’s compositions are considered to be a watershed moment in western musical history. According to scholar Scott G. Burnham, “The overmastering coherence felt in Beethoven’s music became an imposing measure of the greatness of musical artworks.” Part of Beethoven’s greatness can be linked to the inner turmoil he dealt with throughout his life. Part of this turmoil was caused from his hearing disability which ultimately resulted in his deafness. Beethoven felt isolated due to his illness, but this isolation greatly affected the music he composed. The Fifth Symphony was a testament to that. Out of Beethoven’s nine different symphonies, the Fifth symphony is regarded as one of his greatest compositions. The Fifth Symphony is a total of 4 movements, and has a four-note opening motif in C- minor which is considered to be fate knocking at the door.
As the child is, so will the man be… So it is in music that the songs which a child assimilates in his youth will determine the musical manhood…the musical influence upon his afterlife and also that the melodies which composers evolve in their maturity are but the flowers which bloom from the fields which were sown with the seed of the folk-song in their childhood. (Barham, 9).
Although Beethoven had a rough life as a child and as he got older, he still was able to produce phenomenal compositions. He refused to conform to traditional musical standards and strived for perfection. Beethoven took composing music to a whole new level. “Beethoven opened up new realms of musical expression that profoundly influence composers throughout the nineteenth century.”
I stood up, as the loud vibrations of the church bells seem to touch my heart. I crossed the long, seemingly endless stream of soft healthy green grass to the black box, which lay just as I had left it in its own solitude. Inside of it lay the violin in which I had devoted a lot of my middle school life to. I had spent many hours practicing on this wooden contraption. Now all of my hard work, all of my hours practicing, would go into making this one piece sound amazing, spectacular, and memorable. This wasn’t something I was doing for myself. This was something I was doing for my family, friends, and most importantly the sweet, cherished soul of my dearly departed grandmother. I wanted there to be one last remarkable token of my love for someone who had made such a large impact on my life. I knew that my grandmother had absolutely loved the fact that I play a violin. She had always said that I held so much talent.
When looking out the window "she was drinking in a very elixir of life” (Chopin). The short story comes to an end with her husband walking through the door and Louise falls dead at the sight of her diminishing dreams. This well known short story is comprehended in many ways deciding the reason of Louise’s death and what “freedom” she experiences.
... to mind works written by subsequent generations of women novelists. One sees Chopin’s text straining toward, among other elements, the narrative innovations achieved in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and The Waves. One is also reminded of the “lyric” novels of the American writer Carole Maso, whose so-called experimental works typically eschew plot and conventional linear narration. In a recent book of essays, Maso admits that her erotic novel Aureole was “shaped by desire’s magical and subversive qualities,” she notes; “[desire] imposed its swellings, its ruptures, its erasures, it motions.” (Break Every Rule, 115). If contemporary authors like Maso are able to access such boundless spheres of narrative play, it may be due in part to the pioneering efforts of writers such as Chopin, who first began to articulate the need for such liberating spaces in the novel.
To start off, this short story is packed with an abundance of symbolism that further highlights the emotions that Mrs. Mallard was feeling after hearing the devastating news of her husband’s death. Although she is instantly overcome with grief upon hearing the news, there were ‘’patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds…” (Chopin 476). These patches of blue sky represent the plethora of opportunities that await Mrs. Mallard now that she has been given a fresh start, with total and unrestricted freedom. Shortly after, Louise begins to comprehend how her husband’s death has in turn completely changed her life for the better. In addition, Mrs. Mallard’s heart troubles also bear a symbolic significance. Her physical heart complications symbolize her discontent with her lack of freedom in her life and marriage. In contrast, when Mrs. Mallard initially realizes the liberty and independence that she now possesses, “her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood w...
Claudius “is the most modern character” that “has no reservations” (Hamlet, Tragedy) when he murders his own brother so that he may gain the crown and the queen. He removes of a great and honorable king to please his greed. He removes his brother, the good of the country, and the pleasure of many to satisfy his own ambition. Claudius only cares about himself. Realizing it or not, most individuals, at one point or another, will be motivated by gluttony. Most, however, will not have the willpower and anxiety that Claudius shows. This is partially because of the alterations of the times. In the historical time that Shakespeare wrote the play, killing was profoundly ...