Introduction to Romain Rolland
Romain Rolland (1866-1900) was a French thinker, writer, and humanitarian. In addition to enjoying an immortal status in the literary world, Romain Rolland is also one of the most serious experts in the study of Beethoven. "Johan Christophe" published based on "The Life of Beethoven" is a classic among world literary classics. .
On January 29, 1886, Romain Rolland was born in a small town in central France. Because the ancestors of both his parents were lawyers for three generations, this is a well-respected family in the local area. And his loving father named his son Roman and Paul Emile, hoping that he would have a strong spirit and extraordinary talents like the Roman heroes written by the ancient Roman writer Plutarch.
At this point, the future Romain Rolland did not let his father's wish come true. However, Romain Rolland was not in good health when he was young. Once, due to the negligence of a servant, little Romain Rolland, who was less than one year old, was left alone in the cold outdoors and almost froze to death.
The young Romain Rolland has always been frail and sickly. For his parents who have always doted on him, the best way to protect him is to confine little Romain Roland at home. This conflicted fiercely with Romain Rolland's natural instinct. When he recalled this period of his childhood, he used the word "rat cage" to describe the situation at that time.
The biggest drawback of this "rat cage" is that it stifles the "spiritual freedom" of young Romain Rolland. He could not go to the fields to graze cattle and sheep like other children, nor could he play in the vast nature. This actually led to the confusion and fear of life and death in the young Romain Rolland.
Unfortunately, when Romain Rolland was five years old, his sister, who was two years younger than him, suddenly lost her life to diphtheria. The direct consequence of this incident was that his parents "protected" Romain Rolland more strictly, and the death of his sister also made the young Romain Rolland invisibly increase his fear and confusion about death.
Because Romain Rolland’s family belonged to the respectable middle class at the time, his parents also attached great importance to their children’s education. So when Romain Rolland was fourteen years old, in order for him to receive a good education, his family moved to Paris, the capital of art.
This move was a major turning point in Romain Rolland's life. In Paris, in this metropolis, the young Romain Rolland was extremely uncomfortable at first. In his view, "big cities are huge and formidable organisms, where intelligent microorganisms will multiply as quickly as any chronic mold." . If the newcomers cannot comply immediately, a long and painful period must be passed before their blood becomes accustomed to the toxins." The most important thing among them is that for the introverted and fantasy-loving Romain Rolland, he lost his home of faith. The crazy rhythm of the city and the chaotic situation of the school made him full of contradictions and confusion at a young age.
At this time, Romain Rolland began to come into contact with the works of Shakespeare, Voltaire and other masters, which revitalized his desolate spiritual territory. And what made him very lucky was that on the way to visit a friend, he met the great writer Hugo at that time. This meeting obviously left a deep impression on Romain Rolland.
Romain Rolland had many artistic masters who had a great influence on him in his life. People can count the biographies he wrote for these great men, such as "The Biography of Beethoven", "Goethe and Beethoven", "Thor" "The Biography of Michelangelo" and "The Biography of Michelangelo"...
Let's talk about Romain Rolland and music first.
Before Romain Rolland was sixteen years old, his musical influence mainly came from Haydn and Mozart. After he came into contact with the music of Wagner and Beethoven, those beautiful melodies occupied the best place in his heart and became an important spiritual sustenance and soul haven in his life.
Romain Rolland once commented on Wagner, "Wagner is a severe classical musician. For him, everything is subject to a supreme truth, which dominates the drama, commands the theme and is unremitting. ”
In 1887, due to the deterioration of relations between France and Germany, some French musicians prevented Wagner from performing in Paris on the grounds of national pride. At this time, Romain Rolland, who always flaunted harmony, made a severe attack on this: "A strong nation will not be afraid of the spiritual conquest of another nation." (Think about the globalization we are facing now and the debates about the impact of some so-called "Korean Wave" and "Europeanization" on our own culture) This is not so much Romain Rolland defending Wagner, but rather his own global art that transcends national boundaries. declaration.
Beethoven’s music is inseparable from Romain Rolland’s life.
Romain Rolland studied Beethoven in depth when he was at university in Rome. He believed that Beethoven "had the greatest spirituality among all musicians." Romain Rolland studied Beethoven from that moment until the end of his life. This is enough to prove how important Beethoven's music and spirit are to Romain Rolland's inspiration! Beethoven's life was a process of a talented artist struggling with a bad fate. Romain Rolland was obviously impressed by Beethoven's powerful spiritual system. He believed that Beethoven was the kind of person who longed for happiness from the heart. "Beethoven is simply a force of nature. He refused to compromise on anything he didn't agree with, and he struggled all his life!" And the spirit and originality expressed by Romain Rolland's greatest masterpiece "Johan Christophe" is also It is the epitome of Beethoven's life.
Romain Rolland and literary masters.
Romain Rolland came into contact with countless great writers in his life, such as Hugo, Goethe, Gandhi, Rilke, Spinosa... And there are many great masters who have always been his spiritual mentors and influenced his life. . Here I will focus on the influence of Shakespeare and Tolstoy on him.
As mentioned above, Romain Rolland came into contact with Shakespeare's works during his most troubled days in Paris. And those views influenced his life.
"Action, production, creation...I understand that this is the purpose and the law of life, and I am willing to do this."
It can be said that because of Shakespeare, Romain Rolland gained new life again. And this has become the most important characteristic he will reveal to the world in the future: thinking and acting.
The young Romain Rolland was full of fascination with Shakespeare's popular plays. At that time, he always watched "Hamlet", "King Lear" and "Othello" again and again with endless interest. 〉〉, 〈〈Romeo and Juliet〉〉 these classic plays. And this also played a subtle role in Romain Rolland's future drama creation.
Tolstoy is Romain Rolland’s most admired master. He regards Towen as his spiritual mentor throughout his life, and he has an attitude of crazy worship for his works.
"Reading Tolstoy allows us to find ourselves. It is a revelation for our lives and a door to the vast universe."
What makes Roman the most Roland was moved by the fact that there was a sincere exchange of letters between them.
That was after Tolstoy released his new book "So What Should We Do"? In the face of Tolstoy's disdain and even contempt for Shakespeare, Beethoven and the achievements of modern art in the book , young Romain Rolland was a little confused. He did not know why Tolstoy would attack him so strongly on the art that he regarded as life, and he could not understand what his spiritual mentor meant. The young Romain Rolland couldn't control the anxiety and impulse in his heart, so he took up a pen and wrote a letter to his beloved mentor, Tolstoy in Russia, expressing his confusion and confusion...
One day half a year later, Romain Rolland, who had already forgotten the incident, was extremely surprised to receive a personal letter from the master Tolstoy. And it was a long letter written in French.
Tolstoy explained his understanding of modern art in detail in his letter. The excerpt is as follows: "In our society, what people call science and art is just a big lie. Once we get rid of traditional superstition, we often Falling into the advanced superstitions of science and art, in order to see clearly the path we are going to take, we must start from scratch... The true achievements of science and art come from sacrifice, not from some superior material conditions." (Think of people today This sentence is a wake-up call for a broad understanding of science and art and the evaluation of success) Tolstoy finally concluded that "the entire history is not someone else's, but the gestation process of the principle of the unity of all mankind. This idea has It has been proved by historical experience and personal experience that the happiest and freest moment for human beings is when the spirit of selflessness and friendship is carried forward, and reason finds the only possible path to happiness in people, and emotions play a promoting role." .
This passage has unparalleled instructions and warnings for the "harmony" spirit that Romain Rolland will long for in the future. Therefore, Tolstoy is an extremely critical figure in the spiritual structure of Romain Rolland's life. It is precisely through the exchanges with such literary masters that his spiritual life is filled with joy and his whole soul is incomparably enriched.
Tolstoy's life was a life of struggle against suffering. Born in an aristocratic environment, he realized at the age of five that "life is not a pleasure, but a very heavy work" (all of us now shout to be happy). Almost as a teenager, Tolstoy wanted to sell his car and give it to the poor, just because he thought "they are people like me" (Tolstoy at this time would never agree with anything) Philanthropist").
Tolstoy was born in the upper class, but he despised such a luxurious and decadent life. The most distressing thing in his life is that he cannot live with poor people. Because he still has many relatives, he cannot leave them behind. So he was forced to live a "luxurious" life in a contradictory way all day long.
Finally one day, Tolstoy could no longer face his own condemnation, and he left home on a stormy night. Unfortunately, he fell ill because he was old and frail. But when he was supported and cared for by everyone, he cried and said, "There are thousands of living beings suffering on the earth. Why are you all here to only take care of one Tolstoy?"
Like this The story can infect every pure soul. Romain Rolland followed this attitude throughout his life and made contributions to the happiness and peace of all mankind throughout his life.
The love life of Romain Rolland.
When Romain Rolland was in college in Rome, he met a pair of beautiful Italian sisters. The young Romain Rolland was full of admiration for them all, and for a moment he didn't know which one of them he liked. In his one-man show like guessing games, he secretly experiences the pain of love. And when he plucked up the courage to try to confess his feelings, he discovered that the two sisters had no such intention for him at all. So this self-written and self-acted drama came to an end. Regarding the memory of this first love, Romain Rolland wrote in his memoirs, "I still don't know how to think independently, but I am intoxicated in the tragedy of emotional emptiness."
And his debut novel was born, a A novel titled "Springtime in Rome".
Romain Rolland’s first wife was a Jewish girl. Her father was a linguist and had high prestige in Parisian academic circles.
In his own memoirs, he described his married life at that time: "On the small joys, disappointments, funny, or strange and sometimes sad days, we confided in each other like brother and sister. We returned the favor. Criticize this society from a different perspective. My wife has a talent for observing and analyzing psychology, which is consistent with and complementary to me... My wife is a musician, similar to me; music is in our love. It occupies a big position..."
It can be seen that the marriage life was uneventful at first. Very harmonious and happy.
But the situation changed later.
Romain Rolland created a lot during this period.
However, these plays or novels rarely have the opportunity to be performed and published. Because Paris is too big, and Romain Rolland, a provincial, simply cannot gain a foothold here with the power of his own microwaves. But every time, he needs his wife's help to get some opportunities to perform. The wife always believes that "only what is recognized by others is useful, or the purpose of any creation should be the pursuit of getting ahead with practical benefits (probably every woman persuades her partner like this, and then says, "This is A sign of self-motivation"). All this made Romain Rolland feel more and more like he was being favored by others. He would rather give up real interests for the sake of dignity. In several worthless discussions, Romain Rolland never talked to his wife. Reaching mutual understanding finally ended their eight-year marriage.
The life that encountered obstacles after the divorce and those difficult experiences became what he brought to his future creations.
Romain Rolland later wrote the world-famous masterpiece "John Christophe" and was able to surpass the country when the First World War broke out. On issues such as borders and racial conflicts, he wrote "Beyond Chaos", which was praised by many critics. Although the French authorities at the time scorned him, he still believed that his views were correct. Just.
In 1916, the Swedish Academy announced that the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature was Romain Rolland. This man, who had been abandoned by France at the time, replied after learning that he had won the prize. "This honor is not for me personally, it belongs to the entire French people. I am happy if this honor helps spread the ideas that make France loved throughout the world.
This broad-mindedness is just like what is described in "John Christopher": "He didn't know that his full love was emitting light all around, and it was at this moment that he himself When he thought he would be alone forever, he received more love than the happiest person in the world. "
On August 24, 1944, Paris was liberated.
One month later, on December 30. Romain Rolland completed his life journey.
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