Hello readers
Today is March 23, 2022
Wednesday
The 21st day of the second month of the lunar calendar
In this issue of the microcast, editor Zhou Mo will share with you an excerpt from Zweig's "When the Stars Of Humanity Shine": "Handel's Resurrection".
Hello everyone, I am Zhou Mo, the seventh anchor of the micro-broadcast column of the Literary and Art Newspaper after its inception. Today is the sixth birthday of the microcast. It is a pleasure to share today an excerpt from an article from the book "When the Stars Of Humanity Shine" about the story of the Western music master George Friedrick Handel.
Handel's Resurrection
Wen 丨 Stephen Zweig
George Friedrich Handel lived powerlessly for four months, and strength was his life. His right half of his body felt as if he were dead. He couldn't walk, he couldn't write, he couldn't play the keys with his right hand. He could not speak either, and since his right half was paralyzed from head to toe, his lips were horribly tilted to one side, and he could only utter a few words vaguely from his mouth. When his friends played music for him, one of his eyes would glow a little, and then his uncontrollably heavy body would move like a patient in a nightmare. He wanted to move with his hands to the beat, but his limbs seemed to freeze, and his muscles were no longer at his disposal—a terrible insensitivity: the man, who had been burly in the past, felt trapped in an invisible grave with his hands tied. And as soon as the music ended, his eyelids closed heavily, like a corpse lying there.
In order to get rid of the apparently incurable plight of the music master, Dr. Jenkins finally suggested that the patient be sent to the hot springs in Aachen, where the boiling hot water might make the condition slightly better.
Yet, just as there was the mysterious hot spring beneath the strata, there was an elusive force in his stiff shell: Handel's will, the driving force of his life. The power of this will is not shaken by the devastating blow, and the power of this will does not want the spirit of immortality to be lost in the flesh that is not immortal. The mighty man did not admit that he had failed; he had to live and to create, and it was this will that created miracles that went against the laws of nature. In Aachen, the doctors repeatedly solemnly warned him not to stay in the hot springs for more than three hours, otherwise his heart would not be able to stand it; he would be put to death. But, in order to live, for the sake of his own most irrepressible desire, the will to restore health, he dared to risk death. Handel spends nine hours a day in the piping hot springs. This surprised the doctors, and his endurance increased with his will. A week later, he was able to drag himself back to the ground. Two weeks later, his right arm began to move. Will and confidence have finally triumphed. Once again, he broke free from the trap that Death had paralyzed him and regained his life. His victory this time is more glorious and exciting than any previous victory. His indescribable joy was known only to him, a man who had just recovered from a long illness.
On the last day of Handel's departure, he was fully mobile. He stopped in front of the main church in Aachen. He had never shown particular piety before, but now he was thrilled when he walked up to the orchestra with the organ at the pace of freedom that Providence had re-granted him. He pressed the keyboard with his left hand, and the organ made a clear, pure musical sound that echoed through the hall; now he tried again with his right hand—his right hand had been hidden in his sleeve for a long time, and it had become stiff. But lo and behold: at the touch of the right hand, the organ also emits a pleasant sound like a silver bell. He began to play slowly, and as he played his reverie, his feelings rose and fell. The sound of the organ, like an invisible ashlar, erects layers of towers, wonderfully towering to the invisible peak, this is the building of genius, it is beautiful, rising higher and higher, but it is so invisible, just an invisible, bright light emitted by sound. Some unknown nuns and devouts eavesdropped under the choir. They had never heard a mortal play like that. Handel, on the other hand, bowed his head humbly. He found his language again. He wants to use this language to speak to The Lord, to mankind, to eternity. He was able to play instruments and compose music again. At this moment, he felt that he was truly healed.
Anchor of the Day: Zhou Mo (Editor)
Zhou Mo is a reporter and editor of China Writers Network. He has written a number of articles such as interviews with people and reports on literary topics.
WeChat Editor: Lv Yimeng
Second Instance: Cong Ziyu
Third trial: Ren Jingjing
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