Day 146: My Christmas present
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day 146
— My Christmas present
26-December-1971
(Sun.)
TRANSCRIPT
Went with Lisa and Dolores to the gigantic Vienna
cemetery. Very spooky (fog) and weird. Saw the honor
tombs of the composers. The whole experience was
wild.
Came home and found a Christmas present (candy). I
was very surprised. Frau Pollak told me it was from
the lady whose money I found. She was an elderly
lady. And because she obviously appreciated the fact
that someone was honest and returned it, I was
really, really happy. I felt really good. In fact,
she’s going to cook me a very big dinner.
Now, if only everyone was more honest…
Went to opera,
The Bartered Bride. Not bad.
REFLECTIONS
Vienna's
Central Cemetery. This is
Vienna's largest and most famous cemetery. It
contains the tombs of many composers, including the
Johann Strauss' I and II, Schubert, Beethoven,
Brahms, and Arnold Schönberg. There is also a
monument to Mozart who is buried in St. Marx's
cemetery. I went with Pavel’s sister and friend. Was
it a coincidence that there was fog at the exact time
of our visit? It was eeirie. Were the composer’s
spirits trying to tell me something? “John, compose
music…write, write, write.” Or perhaps, “John, don’t
compose music, you’re not us.” No, they would have
been nice and encouraging, telling me to compose on.
My
Christmas present. This story
relates back to the large amount of money (3,000s
plus 100 DM) that I found on the bus a while back and
returned to the police station.
ay 105: I find money, a lot of
it">See Day 105. Since
that time, I received a 300s reward as a finder’s
fee, indicating that someone claimed the money.
Today, however, was
my true reward and
Christmas present. A package of candy from the
elderly woman whose money it was. I was very happy to
find out that the money was returned to an elderly
person, its rightful owner, and that it prevented
some hardship in that person's life. It was a special
feeling. Honesty is always the best policy. It's a
good way to live. I still live by this standard
today.
The Bartered Bride. This
opera, by Bedrich Smetana, is a comic opera. I
believe I saw it performed at the Volksoper. If you
haven't guessed by the title, the opera is a story of
two young people who meet and want to get married. Of
course, the father is looking to marry his daughter
into some wealth. There is arranging of marriages and
bartering galore. Just read the plot in the article
below for a good laugh, and
just try to follow
the story line. Here is the
Wikipedia article on
the opera and its
composer,
Smetana.
Smetana, a Czech composer, and a teacher of music,
is known for his nationalistic Czech style and
melodies. He is most known for both
The Bartered Bride and his
symphonic work,
Ma vlast (My Country), which
includes the famous work,
The Moldau. You've
heard it. (La la__ la la__ la la__ la__, la__ la__
la____.)
I enjoyed this opera.
John
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