booksmusic

Hunting down the Templar knights’ treasure

Eric Giacometti, Jacques Ravenne: Le septième templier ISBN: 978-2-266-22902-6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Once more the French police officer Antoine Marcas embarks on a quest – the legendary Templars’ treasure. Narcas is a Free mason, who many seeas the successor of the Templar knights. The opponent this time is a high-ranking employee of the Vatican, hiring a killer commando, that leaves a blood trail in Paris and Rome. Much is at stake: The Vatican needs money. History seems to repeat itself. In the 14th century, Pope Clement and King Philippe of France persecuted the Templars to lay their hands on the Templars’ wealth. They failed. Will the Vatican succeed this time?

A certain church in Paris plays an important role in the novel – Saint-Merri. The composer Camille de Saint-Saëns once played the organ here and I recommend his Quartet for Piano, Violin, Viol and Cello in E major:

Ce n’est qu’un au revoir!

More than just a love story

Haruki Murakami: Naokos Lächeln. ISBN 978-3-442-73050-6 (English title: Norwegian Wood) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The German edition has the subtitle “Just a love story”. Just a love story? No, this novel is much more. A philosophical essay about love, sexuality, personality development, about adulthood and responsibility. Most important it is a book about men and how lost they are in the realm of conflicting emotions. What a subject! And then there is Murakami’s language that I admire greatly: poetic where poetry is useful, brutally realistic where reality hits the main character, a young Japanese student, in his face. In many respects this novel reminds me of J. D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye” – a book I had to read several times befire I grasped its essence.

Murakami’s novel is a treasure box full allusions to great music: the Beatles obviously (see the English title), jazz legends like Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughn, but then we find Mozart, Ravel and Brahms. One piece I often listened to while reading this novel was Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major:

Brahms’ unfulfilled love – a detached look back

Robert Schumann in Siberia

Judith W. Taschler: Roman ohne U ISBN 978-3-7117-2018-4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A truly gripping novel about an Austria family covering several generations. A romance between a girl and a boy in a Soviet Gulag, a father-son story, broken hearts and broken promises and loads of family secrets revealed as the story develops. An excellent read.

The girl in the Gulag, Ludovica, is a pianist and she performs Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op. 15 for the commanding officer in the Siberian camp, where she tries to escape from:

Cute little things about children’s daydreams

Rimsky-Korsakov and the would-be composers

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov: Chronique de ma visite musicale. (English title: My Musical Life) ISBN 978-2-213-63546-0 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rimsky-Korsakov’s memoirs shed an interesting light on his career as a composer and conductor and on musical life in St. Petersburg at the end of the 19th century. He was essentially self-taught and an eager learner which set him apart from his colleagues, called the “Mighty Five”, a group of composers trying to develop a distinctly Russian music style. Reading Rimsky-Korsakov’s memories corrected some of my ideas about the “Mighty Five”: They were nowhere close to a distinct Russian school. They were a group of arrogant and narrow-minded amateurs, blinf followers of their authoritarian leader Mily Balakirev. Much ego, much bravado, little achievements – reminds me of #covefefe!

A good book for people interested in the composer’s “inner workings”. Despite multiple editing, Rimsky-Korsakov repeats himself a lot and indulges in detailed descriptions of mundane things like concert programs. You can skip these pages and enjoy the rest.

One of my favourite pieces written by Rimsky-Korsakov is his symphonic poem “Sheherazade”:

Sailing with Sindbad the Seafarer

A coup is in the air in Pyongyang

James Church: Hidden Moon ISBN 978-0-312-38766-2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A thriller with a North Korean police inspector at the center of the plot. A bank robbery in Pyongyang, that officially never happened, a corpse that disappears, an investigation that some want to succeed and others would like to see fail. A power struggle shakes the autocratic leadership, a coup is in the air – and the valiant inspector O tries to clear the minefield without stepping on something that will blow up in his face. Another exciting spy novel by James Church, apparently a former intelligence operative.

Inspector O’s devotion as a police officer, his calmness in the midst of dramatic events makes me think of a work of the Japanese composer Tore Takemitsu called “In an Autumn Garden”:

Walk with me through the Garden of Peace