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Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Part 7. Chapter 5.

Part 7. Chapter 5.

At the concert in the afternoon two very interesting things were performed. One was a fantasia, King Lear; the other was a quartette dedicated to the memory of Bach. Both were new and in the new style, and Levin was eager to form an opinion of them. After escorting his sister-in-law to her stall, he stood against a column and tried to listen as attentively and conscientiously as possible. He tried not to let his attention be distracted, and not to spoil his impression by looking at the conductor in a white tie, waving his arms, which always disturbed his enjoyment of music so much, or the ladies in bonnets, with strings carefully tied over their ears, and all these people either thinking of nothing at all or thinking of all sorts of things except the music. He tried to avoid meeting musical connoisseurs or talkative acquaintances, and stood looking at the floor straight before him, listening.

But the more he listened to the fantasia of King Lear the further he felt from forming any definite opinion of it. There was, as it were, a continual beginning, a preparation of the musical expression of some feeling, but it fell to pieces again directly, breaking into new musical motives, or simply nothing but the whims of the composer, exceedingly complex but disconnected sounds. And these fragmentary musical expressions, though sometimes beautiful, were disagreeable, because they were utterly unexpected and not led up to by anything. Gaiety and grief and despair and tenderness and triumph followed one another without any connection, like the emotions of a madman. And those emotions, like a madman's, sprang up quite unexpectedly. During the whole of the performance Levin felt like a deaf man watching people dancing, and was in a state of complete bewilderment when the fantasia was over, and felt a great weariness from the fruitless strain on his attention. Loud applause resounded on all sides. Everyone got up, moved about, and began talking. Anxious to throw some light on his own perplexity from the impressions of others, Levin began to walk about, looking for connoisseurs, and was glad to see a well-known musical amateur in conversation with Pestsov, whom he knew.

"Marvelous!" Pestsov was saying in his mellow bass. "How are you, Konstantin Dmitrievitch? Particularly sculpturesque and plastic, so to say, and richly colored is that passage where you feel Cordelia's approach, where woman, das ewig Weibliche, enters into conflict with fate. Isn't it?" "You mean…what has Cordelia to do with it?" Levin asked timidly, forgetting that the fantasia was supposed to represent King Lear.

"Cordelia comes in…see here!" said Pestsov, tapping his finger on the satiny surface of the program he held in his hand and passing it to Levin.

Only then Levin recollected the title of the fantasia, and made haste to read in the Russian translation the lines from Shakespeare that were printed on the back of the program.

"You can't follow it without that," said Pestsov, addressing Levin, as the person he had been speaking to had gone away, and he had no one to talk to. In the entr'acte Levin and Pestsov fell into an argument upon the merits and defects of music of the Wagner school. Levin maintained that the mistake of Wagner and all his followers lay in their trying to take music into the sphere of another art, just as poetry goes wrong when it tries to paint a face as the art of painting ought to do, and as an instance of this mistake he cited the sculptor who carved in marble certain poetic phantasms flitting round the figure of the poet on the pedestal. "These phantoms were so far from being phantoms that they were positively clinging on the ladder," said Levin. The comparison pleased him, but he could not remember whether he had not used the same phrase before, and to Pestsov, too, and as he said it he felt confused.

Pestsov maintained that art is one, and that it can attain its highest manifestations only by conjunction with all kinds of art.

The second piece that was performed Levin could not hear. Pestsov, who was standing beside him, was talking to him almost all the time, condemning the music for its excessive affected assumption of simplicity, and comparing it with the simplicity of the Pre-Raphaelites in painting. As he went out Levin met many more acquaintances, with whom he talked of politics, of music, and of common acquaintances. Among others he met Count Bol, whom he had utterly forgotten to call upon.

"Well, go at once then," Madame Lvova said, when he told her; "perhaps they'll not be at home, and then you can come to the meeting to fetch me. You'll find me still there."

Part 7. Chapter 5. Bölüm 7. Bölüm 5.

At the concert in the afternoon two very interesting things were performed. Au concert de l'après-midi, deux choses très intéressantes ont été jouées. One was a fantasia, King Lear; the other was a quartette dedicated to the memory of Bach. Een daarvan was een fantasia, King Lear; het andere was een kwartet gewijd aan de nagedachtenis van Bach. Both were new and in the new style, and Levin was eager to form an opinion of them. After escorting his sister-in-law to her stall, he stood against a column and tried to listen as attentively and conscientiously as possible. He tried not to let his attention be distracted, and not to spoil his impression by looking at the conductor in a white tie, waving his arms, which always disturbed his enjoyment of music so much, or the ladies in bonnets, with strings carefully tied over their ears, and all these people either thinking of nothing at all or thinking of all sorts of things except the music. He tried to avoid meeting musical connoisseurs or talkative acquaintances, and stood looking at the floor straight before him, listening. Il essaya d'éviter de rencontrer des connaisseurs musicaux ou des connaissances bavardes, et se tint à regarder le sol juste devant lui, écoutant.

But the more he listened to the fantasia of King Lear the further he felt from forming any definite opinion of it. There was, as it were, a continual beginning, a preparation of the musical expression of some feeling, but it fell to pieces again directly, breaking into new musical motives, or simply nothing but the whims of the composer, exceedingly complex but disconnected sounds. And these fragmentary musical expressions, though sometimes beautiful, were disagreeable, because they were utterly unexpected and not led up to by anything. Gaiety and grief and despair and tenderness and triumph followed one another without any connection, like the emotions of a madman. Gaieté et chagrin et désespoir et tendresse et triomphe se succédaient sans aucun lien, comme les émotions d'un fou. And those emotions, like a madman's, sprang up quite unexpectedly. Et ces émotions, comme celles d'un fou, ont surgi de façon assez inattendue. During the whole of the performance Levin felt like a deaf man watching people dancing, and was in a state of complete bewilderment when the fantasia was over, and felt a great weariness from the fruitless strain on his attention. Pendant toute la représentation, Levin se sentit comme un homme sourd regardant les gens danser, et était dans un état de confusion totale lorsque la fantaisie était terminée, et ressentit une grande lassitude à cause de la tension infructueuse sur son attention. Loud applause resounded on all sides. Everyone got up, moved about, and began talking. Anxious to throw some light on his own perplexity from the impressions of others, Levin began to walk about, looking for connoisseurs, and was glad to see a well-known musical amateur in conversation with Pestsov, whom he knew.

"Marvelous!" Pestsov was saying in his mellow bass. "How are you, Konstantin Dmitrievitch? Particularly sculpturesque and plastic, so to say, and richly colored is that passage where you feel Cordelia's approach, where woman, das ewig Weibliche, enters into conflict with fate. Particulièrement sculpturale et plastique, pour ainsi dire, et richement colorée est ce passage où l'on ressent l'approche de Cordelia, où la femme, das ewig Weibliche, entre en conflit avec le destin. Isn't it?" "You mean…what has Cordelia to do with it?" Levin asked timidly, forgetting that the fantasia was supposed to represent King Lear.

"Cordelia comes in…see here!" said Pestsov, tapping his finger on the satiny surface of the program he held in his hand and passing it to Levin.

Only then Levin recollected the title of the fantasia, and made haste to read in the Russian translation the lines from Shakespeare that were printed on the back of the program.

"You can't follow it without that," said Pestsov, addressing Levin, as the person he had been speaking to had gone away, and he had no one to talk to. In the entr'acte Levin and Pestsov fell into an argument upon the merits and defects of music of the Wagner school. Dans l'entr'acte, Levin et Pestsov se disputèrent les mérites et les défauts de la musique de l'école Wagner. Levin maintained that the mistake of Wagner and all his followers lay in their trying to take music into the sphere of another art, just as poetry goes wrong when it tries to paint a face as the art of painting ought to do, and as an instance of this mistake he cited the sculptor who carved in marble certain poetic phantasms flitting round the figure of the poet on the pedestal. Levin a soutenu que l'erreur de Wagner et de tous ses disciples résidait dans leur tentative d'amener la musique dans la sphère d'un autre art, tout comme la poésie va mal quand elle essaie de peindre un visage comme l'art de la peinture devrait le faire, et par exemple. de cette erreur, il cite le sculpteur qui a sculpté dans le marbre certains fantasmes poétiques flottant autour de la figure du poète sur le piédestal. Levinas teigė, kad Wagnerio ir visų jo pasekėjų klaida slypi bandant perkelti muziką į kito meno sferą, lygiai taip pat, kaip poezija klysta, kai bandoma nupiešti veidą, kaip turėtų daryti tapybos menas, ir kaip pavyzdį apie šią klaidą jis paminėjo skulptorių, kuris marmure iškalė tam tikrus poetinius fantazmus, sukančius poeto figūrą ant postamento. Levin beweerde dat de fout van Wagner en al zijn volgelingen lag in hun pogingen om muziek in de sfeer van een andere kunst te brengen, net zoals poëzie fout gaat wanneer ze probeert een gezicht te schilderen zoals de schilderkunst zou moeten doen, en als een voorbeeld van deze fout haalde hij de beeldhouwer aan die in marmer bepaalde poëtische fantasmen hakte die rond de figuur van de dichter op de sokkel fladderden. "These phantoms were so far from being phantoms that they were positively clinging on the ladder," said Levin. "Ces fantômes étaient si loin d'être des fantômes qu'ils s'accrochaient positivement à l'échelle", a déclaré Levin. The comparison pleased him, but he could not remember whether he had not used the same phrase before, and to Pestsov, too, and as he said it he felt confused.

Pestsov maintained that art is one, and that it can attain its highest manifestations only by conjunction with all kinds of art.

The second piece that was performed Levin could not hear. Pestsov, who was standing beside him, was talking to him almost all the time, condemning the music for its excessive affected assumption of simplicity, and comparing it with the simplicity of the Pre-Raphaelites in painting. Pestsov, qui se tenait à côté de lui, lui parlait presque tout le temps, condamnant la musique pour son assomption excessivement affectée de simplicité, et la comparant à la simplicité des préraphaélites en peinture. Pestsov, die naast hem stond, was bijna de hele tijd met hem aan het praten, waarbij hij de muziek veroordeelde vanwege zijn overdreven aangedane aanname van eenvoud, en het vergeleek met de eenvoud van de prerafaëlieten in de schilderkunst. As he went out Levin met many more acquaintances, with whom he talked of politics, of music, and of common acquaintances. Among others he met Count Bol, whom he had utterly forgotten to call upon. Entre autres, il rencontra le comte Bol, auquel il avait complètement oublié de faire appel. Be kitų, jis sutiko grafą Bolą, kurį visiškai pamiršo pasikviesti.

"Well, go at once then," Madame Lvova said, when he told her; "perhaps they'll not be at home, and then you can come to the meeting to fetch me. You'll find me still there."