Humor and Monologue - Music Essays. Selected Prose

Author: Ju Qihong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: The texts collected in this volume are the author's music essays and prose published in newspapers and magazines over the past decade, with essays being the main focus. The book is organized into major categories by genre, with essays preceding prose. Some believe that music is the language of the heart, the key that unlocks the door to human souls. Tolstoy called it "the highest art in the world." It can express subtle emotions that are difficult to convey in words. Chopin's heartbroken melodies evoked a longing for his homeland, Poland, among his friends; the German composer Mayabel used a tranquil and elegant "Nocturne" to dispel his wife's anger; the song "On the Songhua River" inspired the people's patriotic fervor against Japan; Debussy's "The Spring Rondo," Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony," and the classical "Spring River Flower Moon Night" transport listeners into a world of birdsong, fragrant flowers, babbling brooks, and the birth of all things, bringing joy and contentment.