But that is precisely the trouble; for as far as I can see, Mozart's can. Mozart makes me begin to see ghosts, or at the very least ouija-boards. If you read Beethoven's letters, you feel that you are at the heart of a tempest, a whirlwind, a furnace; and so you should, because you are. If you read Wagner's, you feel that you have been run over by a tank, and that, too, is an appropriate response.
But if you read Mozart's—and he was a hugely prolific letter-writer—you have no clue at all to the power that drove him and the music it squeezed out of him in such profusion that death alone could stop it; they reveal nothing—nothing that explains it. Of course it is absurd(though the mistake is frequently made)to seek external causes for particular works of music; but with Mozart it is also absurd, or at any rate useless, to seek for internal ones either. Mozart was an instrument. But who was playing it?
That is what I mean by the Mozart Problem and the anxiety it causes me. In all art, in anything, there is nothing like the perfection of Mozart, nothing to compare with the range of feeling he explores, nothing to equal the contrast between the simplicity of the materials and the complexity and effect of his use of them. The piano concertos themselves exhibit these truths at their most intense; he was a greater master of this form. than of the symphony itself, and to hear every one of them, in the astounding abundance of genius they provide, played as I have so recently heard them played, is to be brought face to face with a mystery which, if we could solve it, would solve the mystery of life itself.
We can see Mozart, from infant prodigy to unmarked grave. We know what he did, what he wrote, what he felt, whom he loved, where he went, what he died of. We pile up such knowledge as a child does bricks; and then we hear the little tripping rondo tune of the last concerto—and the bricks collapse; all our knowledge is useless to explain a single bar of it. It is almost enough to make me believe in — but I have run out of space, and don't have to say it. Put K. 595 on the gramophone and say it for me.
According to Paragraph 1, Cardus observed that ______ .
A.a composer can separate his language and harmonies from his own mind and sensibility
B.a composer can separate his language and harmonies from the mind and sensibility of an artist
C.some people can separate the language and harmonies of a composer from his mind and sensibility
D.the language, harmonies, rhythms, melodies, colors and texture of a composer cannot be separated from each other
When memory began for me, my grandfather was past sixty -- a great tall man with thick hair becoming gray. He had black eyes and a straight nose which ended in a slightly flattened tip. Once he explained seriously to me that he got that flattened tip as a small child when he fell down and stepped On his nose.The little marks of laughter at the corners of his eyes were the product of a kindly and humorous nature. The years of work which had bent his shoulders had never dulled his humor nor his love of a joke. Everywhere he went, "Gramp" made friends easily. At the end of half an hour you felt you had known him all your life. I soon learned that he hated to give orders, but that when he had to, he tried to make his orders sound like suggestions.One July morning, as he was leaving to go to the cornfield, he said, "Edwin, you can pick up the potatoes in the field today if you want to do that." Then he drove away with his horses.The day passed, and I did not have any desire to pick up potatoes. Evening came and the potatoes were still in the field. Gramp, dusty and tired, led the horses to get their drink."How many bags of potatoes were there?" Gramp inquired."I don't know."
"How many potatoes did you pick up?"
"I didn't pick any."
"Not any! Why not?"
"You said I could pick them up if I wanted to. You didn't say I had to."
In the next few minutes I learned a lesson I would not forget, when Gramp said I could if I wanted to, he meant that I should want to.My grandmother ("Gram") worked hard all day, washing clothes, cleaning the house, making butter, and even working in the field when help was scarce. In the evening, though, she was not too tired to read books from the community library. For more than forty years Gram read aloud to Gramp almost every evening. In this way she and Gramp learned about all the great battles of history and became familiar with the works of great authors and the lives of famous men.Gram hated cruelty and injustice. The injustices of history, even those of a thousand years before, angered her as much as the injustices of her own day.She also had a deep love of beauty. When she was almost seventy-five, and had gone to live with one of her daughters, she spent a delightful morning washing dishes because, as she said, the beautiful patterns on the dishes gave her pleasure. The birds, the flowers, the clouds -- all that was beautiful around her -- pleased her. She was like the father of the French painter, Millet, who used to gather grass and show it to his son, saying, "See how beautiful this is!"
In a pioneer society it is the harder qualities of mind and character that are of value. The softer virtues are considered unnecessary. Men and women struggling daily to earn a living are unable, even for a moment, to forget the business of preserving their lives. Only unusual people, like my grandparents, manage to keep the softer qualities in a world of daily struggle.Such were the two people with whom I spent the months from June to September in the wonderful days of summer and youth.
1.We know that Grandpa's nose ____
A、was flattened because it had been stepped on
B、was not flat when he was a boy
C、was both straight and broad
D、was straight but its tip was a bit flat
2.We learn from the passage that Grandpa ____
A、loved to give orders
B、liked making suggestions
C、was friendly and humorous
D、was a serious and strict person
3.When Grandpa told the writer to pick up potatoes if he wanted to do that, he meant that ____
A、he had to do it
B、he could do it if he wanted to
C、he could do it anytime he was ready
D、he did not really have to do so
4.The writer describes his Grandma as ____
A、someone who could find beauty in life
B、a very obedient housewife
C、a woman who complained about the injustices of life
D、a woman who loved Millet's paintings
5.According to the passage, in the days of the writer's grandparents ____
A、it was difficult for people to keep the "soft qualities" of mind and character
B、most people understood how to appreciate the beautiful things in life
C、it was the "soft virtues" that were thought to be very important
D、only ordinary people managed to appreciate the beauty of nature
Remembering My Grandparents
When memory began for me, my grandfather was past sixty -- a great tall man with thick hair becoming gray.He had black eyes and a straight nose which ended in a slightly flattened tip. Once he explained seriously to me that he got that flattened tip as a small child when he fell down and stepped on his nose. The little marks of laughter at the corners of his eyes were the prodnct of a kindly and humorous nature. The years of work which had bent his shoulders had never dulled his humour nor his love of a joke.
Everywhere he went,“Gramp” made friends easily. At the end of half an hour you felt you had known him all your life. I soon learned that he hated to give orders , but that when he had to, he tried to make his orders sound like suggestions.
One July morning, as he was leaving to go to the cornfield, he said : “Edwin, you can pick up the potatoes in the field today if you want to do that.” Then he drove away with his horses. The day passed, and I did not have any desire to pick up potatoes. Evening came and the potatoes were still in the field. Gramp, dusty and tired, led the horses to get their drink.
“How many bags of potatoes were there?” Gramp inquired. “I don't know. ”“How many potatoes did you pick up?”“I didn't pick any. ” “Not any! Why not?”“You said I could pick, them up if I wanted to. You didn't say I had to. ”In the next few minutes I learned a lesson I would not forget: when Gramp said I could if I wanted to, he meant that I should want to. Gram hated cruelty and injustice. The injustices of history, even those of a thousand years before, angered her as much as the injustices of her own day.
She also had a deep love of beauty. When she was almost seventy-five, and had gone to live with one of her daughters, she spent a delightful morning washing dishes because, as she said, the beautiful patterns on the dishes gave her pleasure. The bird, the flowers, the clouds-all that was beautiful around her- pleased her. She was like the father of the French painter, Millet, who used to gather grass and show it to his son , saying , “See how beautif ul this is ! ”
In a pioneer society it is the harder qualities of mind and character that are of value. The softer virtues are considered unnecessary. Men and women struggling daily to earn a living are unable, even for a moment, to forget the business of preserving their lives. Only unusual people, like my grandparents, manage to keep the softer qualities in a world of daily struggle. Such were the two people with whom I spent the months from June to September in the wonderful days of summer and youth.
1.We know that Grandpa's nose()
A. was flattened because it had been stepped on
B. was not flat when he was a boy
C. was both straight and broad
D. was straight but its tip was a bit flat
2.We learn from the passage that Grandpa()
A. was friendly and humorous
B. liked making suggestions
C. loved to give orders
D. was a serious and strict person
3.When Grandpa told the writer to pick up potatoes if he wanted to do that, he meant that()
A. he could do it if he wanted to
B. he did not really have to do so
C. he could do it anytime he was ready
D. he had to do it
4.The writer describes his Grandma as()
A. a woman who complained about the injustices of life
B. a very obedient housewife
C. someone who could find beauty in life
D. a woman who loved Millet's paintings
5.According to the passage, in the days of the writer's grandparents()
A. most people understood how to appreciate the beautiful things
B. in life it was difficult for people to keep the "soft qualities" of mind and character
C. only ordinary people managed to appreciate the beauty of nature
D. it was the "soft virtues" that were thought to be very important
A.wonder
B.marvel
C.miracle
D.surprise
Tom's parents died when he was a child, so he was ______ by his relatives.
A.grown up
B.brought up
C.raised
D.fed up
A.tendency
B.trend
C.intention
D.inclination
A.makes up
B.pass on
C.brings up
D.adds to
He saved the child’s life at the _______ of his own life.
A、spending
B、service
C、cost
D、value
A.pull
B.pulled
C.pulling
D.questioning