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Chargement... The String Quartet [short story]par Virginia Woolf
Aucun Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre.  Glenn_Russell | Nov 13, 2018 |   The Virginia Woolf String Quartet – Her feelings, her stream of consciousness, her overarching aesthetic sensibilities, her masterful use of language. I must have read this brilliant Virginia Woolf short story a dozen times in the last few days, so much like listening to a string quartet, each exposure deepening my appreciation for details, each word and phrase adding color and texture and bestowing life to a torrent of associations. Where does the string quartet music actually begin and end for the narrator in her account of the evening’s festivities? Hard to say since the story is told in sensual and turbulent stream of consciousness. We are given hints but only hints, as when we read, “Here they come; four black figures, carrying instruments, and seat themselves facing the white squares under the downpour of light; rest the tips of their bows on the music stand; with a simultaneous movement lift them; lightly poise them, and, looking across at the player opposite, the first violin counts one, two, three—— Flourish, spring, burgeon, burst!” Ha! Those last four words are snappers for the eye and, most appropriately considering the story’s title, music for the ear. But what exactly is flourishing, springing, burgeoning and bursting? Perhaps the first notes of the first movement of a string quartet, maybe one by Mozart; or, perhaps the narrator’s mind; or feelings and senses; or some unique combination thereof. And what is her emotional patina? Is she anxious or upset? Reflecting on the narrator’s gushing torrent of thoughts, as if the press of words were unstoppable, one literary critic writes how this short piece reflects something of Virginia Woolf’s bouts with mania, how during one such attack Woolf talked nonstop for three days. There might be an element of truth in the critic’s observation since, for example, here is a snatch of the narrator’s mindstream as she listens to the music: “But to return. He followed me down the corridor, and, as we turned the corner, trod on the lace of my petticoat. What could I do but cry ‘Ah!’ and stop to finger it? At which he drew his sword, made passes as if he were stabbing something to death, and cried, ‘Mad! Mad! Mad!’ Whereupon I screamed, and the Prince, who was writing in the large vellum book in the oriel window, came out in his velvet skull-cap and furred slippers, snatched a rapier from the wall—the King of Spain’s gift, you know—on which I escaped, flinging on this cloak to hide the ravages to my skirt—to hide...” For me, the narrator’s dizzying stream of consciousness points to how what we hear in music, what images emerge, how our emotions are triggered, has so much to do with our frame of mind. How extreme can such a mental and psychic state affect what we hear? Specifically for the narrator of this story, I wouldn’t be surprised if the String Quartet is playing Mozart Quartet in D minor but she is hearing music more akin to Iannis Xenakis’ Tetras. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXJbQiXedkw Mozart Quartet in D minor K. 421: Allegro Ma Non Troppo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCVx_XwRaRU Iannis Xenakis Quartet Tetras Anyone interested in either Virginia Woolf or examining this short story in more detail should check out a recently posted review by Goodreads friend, Michele: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1767289448?utm_medium=email&utm_source... (  ) GlennRussell | Feb 16, 2017 | aucune critique | ajouter une critique
"A good deal of the secret of the charm of Mrs Woolf's shorter pieces consists in the immense disparity between the object and the train of feeling which it has set in motion. Mrs Woolf gives you the minutest datum, and leads you on to explore, quite consciously, the sequence of images and feelings which float away from it. The result is something which makes Walter Pater appear an unsophisticated rationalist, and the writing is often remarkable. The book is one of the most curious and interesting examples of a process of dissociation which in that direction, it would seem, cannot be exceeded." T. S. Eliot String Quartet is a well curated collection of modernist short stories and flash fictions from an author who felt that "the only thing in this world is music - music and books and one or two pictures," and who, in her earliest years, humorously toyed with the idea of founding a colony "where there shall be no marrying - unless you happen to fall in love with a symphony of Beethoven." The stories in this collection, which include: The String Quartet, An Unwritten Novel, The Mark on the Wall, A Haunted House, Blue & Green, Monday or Tuesday, A Society, Kew Gardens, and Solid Objects, are experimental in nature and are quite straightforward examples of the fashionable Modernist stream of consciousness technique which Virginia Woolf was perfecting at that time. Virginia Woolf is considered one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals. Her best-known works include the novels Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and Orlando, and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own, with its dictum, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." Virginia Woolf suffered from severe bouts of depression throughout her life and took her own life by drowning in 1941 at the age of 59. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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The Virginia Woolf String Quartet – Her feelings, her stream of consciousness, her overarching aesthetic sensibilities, her masterful use of language.
I must have read this brilliant Virginia Woolf short story a dozen times in the last few days, so much like listening to a string quartet, each exposure deepening my appreciation for details, each word and phrase adding color and texture and bestowing life to a torrent of associations.
Where does the string quartet music actually begin and end for the narrator in her account of the evening’s festivities? Hard to say since the story is told in sensual and turbulent stream of consciousness.
We are given hints but only hints, as when we read, “Here they come; four black figures, carrying instruments, and seat themselves facing the white squares under the downpour of light; rest the tips of their bows on the music stand; with a simultaneous movement lift them; lightly poise them, and, looking across at the player opposite, the first violin counts one, two, three — Flourish, spring, burgeon, burst!” Ha! Those last four words are snappers for the eye and, most appropriately considering the story’s title, music for the ear.
But what exactly is flourishing, springing, burgeoning and bursting? Perhaps the first notes of the first movement of a string quartet, maybe one by Mozart; or, perhaps the narrator’s mind; or feelings and senses; or some unique combination thereof. And what is her emotional patina? Is she anxious or upset?
Reflecting on the narrator’s gushing torrent of thoughts, the press of words unstoppable, one literary critic writes how this short piece reflects something of Virginia Woolf’s bouts with mania, how during one such attack Woolf talked nonstop for three days.
There might be an element of truth in the critic’s observation since, for example, here is a snatch of the narrator’s mindstream as she listens to the music: “But to return. He followed me down the corridor, and, as we turned the corner, trod on the lace of my petticoat. What could I do but cry ‘Ah!’ and stop to finger it? At which he drew his sword, made passes as if he were stabbing something to death, and cried, ‘Mad! Mad! Mad!’ Whereupon I screamed, and the Prince, who was writing in the large vellum book in the oriel window, came out in his velvet skull-cap and furred slippers, snatched a rapier from the wall—the King of Spain’s gift, you know—on which I escaped, flinging on this cloak to hide the ravages to my skirt—to hide...”
For me, the narrator’s dizzying stream of consciousness points to how what we hear in music, what images emerge, how our emotions are triggered, reflects our specific frame of mind when listening. How extreme can such a mental and psychic state affect what we hear? Specifically for the narrator of this story, I wouldn’t be surprised if the String Quartet is playing Mozart's Quartet in D minor but she is hearing music more akin to Iannis Xenakis’ Tetras. Take a listen yourself via the below links while keeping this short story in mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXJbQiXedkw
Mozart, Quartet in D minor K. 421: Allegro Ma Non Troppo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCVx_XwRaRU
Iannis Xenakis, Quartet Tetras
Anyone interested in either Virginia Woolf or examining this short story in more detail should check out a recently posted review by Goodreads friend, Michele: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1767289448?utm_medium=email&utm_source...
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