Xiao Weng Talks About Joy - Selected Essays and Critiques on Music by Xiao Bosna

Author: George Bernard Shaw
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Publishing Date: Not available
Features: Handel has his own charm. Once his music places God in the eternal position, atheists are rendered speechless; even if you disdain such superstition, God is still there, and through Handel's hands, He becomes eternal. When he tells the story of the Israelites escaping Egypt, "the whole nation is on its toes, not a single one falls"; if you were to say that there must have been someone with a cold, it's all in vain, Handel would never allow such doubt. The simple, urgent chord accompaniment of the orchestra is even more compelling, leaving you speechless and compelled to submit. This is why every British person now believes Handel holds a high position in heaven. In the realm of music involving extreme elements like heroism, passion, and violence, all other music is so agitated and intense, except for Mozart, who shows complete composure and calm. While other composers grab the railing with an iron grip and strike it with the heavy blows of a one-eyed giant, Mozart always treats it with the gentle taps of a soft rain. Under similar inspirational pressure, other composers would make the Titans go wild, but Mozart can consider everything with ease, writing the behemoths with the grace of spring rain and clarity. If music to you is merely a glorious dream, a strange language that transcends all poetry, an angelic hymn, or a storm of thunderous harmonies shooting lightning from the clouds into the depths of your soul, then especially for you, Liszt, whatever he plays—whether it's improvising variations on popular songs or faithfully recreating Bach's half-tone fugue—will make you feel that there is a voice of the sacred will of the human heart speaking within. —George Bernard Shaw