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"Wake up the Dead"

In this second article on Akira Mizubayashi's novel Âme brisée, we will explore two activities: listening to music and performing music.   

What works does the author mention in his novel? Two works are essential to the novel: the Rosamunde string quartet by Franz Schubert and the “Gavotte en Rondeau” from J.S. Bach's third partita. They appear numerous times, providing rhythm and thematic unity to the text. There appears to be a form of dialog between the two works, or at least, a complementarity. One expresses melancholy, the other carelessness; one is performed in its entirety, the other is an extract. Readers witness this duality the very first time the works are mentioned: Schubert's music is heard in an environment of kinship and benevolence; Bach's music is heard in an atmosphere of terror and despair.  Thus, music helps to balance out the dramatic tension of the novel.

How to position oneself with regard to the repertoire in times of war is one of the main questions of the book. To whom do the works belong? Rei's father has the answer: they are part of “world heritage” (“patrimoine de l'humanité”, p. 66). Lieutenant Kurokami agrees: “The Rosamunde and the Gavotte will outlive us, that's for certain (“La Rosamunde et La Gavotte vont vivre plus longtemps que nous, c’est certain”). This idea contradicts caporal Tanaka's judgment, in which he expresses distrust for music which “isn't from around here” (“pas de chez [eux]”, p. 53). Much later in the novel, we learn about the lieutenant's hatred for military music, whose only purpose is “to transform soldiers into cattle” (“à transformer les soldats en têtes de bétail”) and to “rob a man of his individual essence” (qui « [enlève] à l’homme son essence individuelle”, p. 141).

What other musical works can we find in the text? Beethoven's third string quartet from opus 18 is performed by the Alban Berg quartet (p. 84) but Jacques doesn't listen to the work since the radio host's announcement comes on the heels of the performance, when our hero turns on the radio. In what seems to be a mere anecdote, we learn that a Japanese family on a musical pilgrimage attended Yehudi Menuhin's interpretation of the Concerto for violon and orchestra in Paris (p. 137). Thus, the author sprinkles his narration with performances of Beethoven’s music. One must wait until the rendition of the 7th symphony (p. 202) at Pleyel before Jacques gives readers his point of view on the music (p. 202). With Furtwängler’s 1943 interpretation in mind, he hears in Beethoven's music the expression of a great and ever-present affirmation of life, (“d’un immense et indéfectible désir d’affirmation de l’existence”). In the same concert program, Alban Berg's To the Memory of an Angel makes the violin our focal point once again (it is a concerto) and prepares us for Helen's words of praise at the end of the story.

What powers can music have in times of peace? It can heal survivors of war. Thus, lieutenant Kurokami spends most of his free time after the war listening to the six string quartets Mozart dedicated to Haydn or Beethoven's last string quartets (“les six quatuors dédiés à Haydn ou les derniers quatuors de Beethoven”) as well as Schubert's Rosamunde or Death and the Maiden and Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. As Hélène observes, certain types of music can “wake the dead” (“réveiller les morts”, p. 222). When a world class soloist interprets a masterpiece on an instrument with an extraordinary history, anything can happen. Why not share the experience with Jacques and Hélène at the salle Pleyel? The author has placed them in seats, which are acoustically ideal (“places acoustiquement optimales”, p. 201).

Mizubayashi, Akira, Âme brisée, Gallimard, 2019

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