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A Wagner Matinée
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| Forfatter: |
Audun Vaalerl |
| Lagt ut: |
12.09.04 |
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Aunt Georgiana was originally from a middle class family and probably wasn't
used to working hard physically. She had gotten herself a good education, and if
she hadn't met Howard Carpenter, she would probably have married a man from
her own class. The fact that she got more than the basic education and that this
happened in the middle of the nineteenth century suggests that she was a
resourceful person.
However, things didn't work out exactly as one maybe think. She met
Howard Carpenter, a lazy boy from a social layer below hers. At the time, she
probably didn't mean what she did seriously. It was more a rebellion against her
family. Her family didn't approve of her relationship to Howard, and to get
away from their reproach, she married him and they went to the Nebraska
frontier.
They didn't have any money, but laid the foundation of their lives' work
by taking up a homestead in Red Willow County, eighty kilometers away from
the railroad. There they cultivated their land and built a dug-out to live in.
During the thirty years she spent there before visiting her nephew in Boston,
they got and raised six children and continued to work hard to survive. After the
first fifteen years Howard gave Aunt Georgiana a parlour organ. Her fingers
were probably already then so crippled by all the hard work that she would have
difficulties playing it. By making one too hasty choice in her life, she was
blocked out from doing what she liked the most.
During the three decades that passed before the short trip to her home
city, the only musical impulse from the world outside the homestead, was the
visit of the German farm hand who had sung in the chorus at Bayreuth. Apart
from that the only source of music was her own memory and her old musical
scores.
When Georgiana finally went to Boston after one generation's isolation, she
chose to travel across more than half of the North American continent in a day
coach. The life at the homestead had taught her to live sparingly and not to care
very much about her own comfort.
When she finally arrived, she was so exhausted after the journey and so
overwhelmed by her feelings that she had to go to bed at once. Waking up the
next morning, she still seemed confused and worried about how it is at the
homestead.
At two o'clock her nephew took her to a Wagner-concert, and after
entering the concert hall, Georgiana seemed to brighten up a little. Her
excitement grew when the orchestra entered the stage. When they started to
play, she clutched her nephew's coat sleeve as she heard music for the first time
in thirty years. When the music stopped, she let go of the sleeve, but remained
silent.
During the following pieces, she still didn't say anything and didn't move,
except for her fingers, which moved, seeming to remember the piano score.
When the «Prize Song», sung to her first by the German boy at the homestead,
begun, she started to cry and wept throughout the melody. During the
intermission, she spoke to her nephew, but with a distant and husky voice.
After the break, Georgiana asked him sadly: «And you have been hearing
this ever since you left me, Clark?». During the last half of the concert, she
started crying again and continued doing it until it was over, and the orchestra
left the stage. Now, only the chairs and the music stands were left, reminding
Georgiana's nephew, and probably her too, of a cold and empty winter cornfield.
When they left she burst into tears and mourned that she didn't want to go back.
After thirty years of winter in her soul, she finally saw a glimpse of what could
have been her life and together with it her old dreams and thoughts.
Unfortunately, only one day in her real home wasn't enough, and just made her
pain worse.
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