Death and the Maiden Read Online Free PDF

flat major Serenade for twelve wind instruments and double bass. Liebermann was particularly fond of the Adagio, the immaculate melodies of which floated smoothly above a pulsing accompaniment. It was music of supreme elegance. The second piece was also a Serenade, scored for a smaller wind band, by Johann Christian Brosius, a composer with whom Liebermann was completely unacquainted. The two pieces had evidently been programmed together because Brosius had incorporated several themes fromMozart’s B flat major Serenade into his own composition. When the final movement, a charming presto assai, came to its end, Liebermann clapped loudly. In due course the conductor signalled his intention to leave the stage, the applause subsided and the audience began to disperse for the interval.
    ‘So, Herr doctor, it seems that you enjoyed the Brosius.’
    Frau Zollinger was looking at Liebermann intently.
    ‘Great-aunt …’ said Anna, eager to prevent further embarrassment.
    ‘Yes,’ said Liebermann. ‘I enjoyed it very much.’
    ‘Over forty years,’ said Frau Zollinger. ‘Over forty years since I last heard that piece …’
    ‘I must confess that prior to this evening I knew nothing of Brosius. Not a single note.’
    ‘Oh, he had quite a reputation in his day. Brahms held him in very high regard.’
    ‘Did he?’
    ‘Well, that’s what he said. But I was never convinced of his sincerity. He was a difficult man, Brosius: sullen, brooding, and prone to angry outbursts.’
    Liebermann looked more closely at the old woman.
    ‘You were acquainted with Brahms?’
    ‘Yes. I couldn’t stand the smell of his cigars.’
    ‘Great-aunt,’ said Anna, ‘it is the interval. Doctor Liebermann does not want to hear about Brahms’s cigars.’
    Liebermann indicated with a gesture that he did not object to being delayed and invited Frau Zollinger to continue.
    ‘He used to come to my soirées,’ she declared.
    ‘Brahms?’
    ‘Yes. And Brosius. Once they came together. Of course, the real talent was his pupil …’ Liebermann wasn’t sure whether Frau Zollinger was referring to a pupil of Brahms or a pupil of Brosius.He waited patiently. ‘Brosius was technically accomplished, but young Freimark …’ The old woman sighed. ‘His songs … so clever, such careful attention to the meaning of the words. None of them were published, except “Hope”. You must know “Hope”? His setting of Schiller’s “Hope”?’
    Liebermann was aware of a well-known song of that name and even thought he might have it at home in a volume titled Klassiker des deutschen Liedes .
    ‘Yes,’ said Liebermann. ‘I believe I do know it.’
    ‘A tragedy that he should have died so young. And even more of a tragedy that he should be remembered now for just one song.’
    ‘Tuberculosis?’
    ‘No. A fall – from a mountain – the Schneeberg: while staying with Brosius and Brosius’s wife, Angelika.’ Frau Zollinger shook her head. ‘I never really liked her.’
    Anna placed a restraining hand on her great-aunt’s arm and asked, ‘Where do you practise, Herr doctor?’
    ‘The general hospital.’
    She was about to say something else but Frau Zollinger carried on: ‘The youngest daughter of a well-known portrait painter. She was a celebrated beauty. Brosius worshipped her. But I thought her vain and superficial. My husband used to reprimand me for being uncharitable.’
    The old woman gabbled on a little more until her recollections lost coherence and eventually petered out. Seizing his moment, Liebermann excused himself and went to the foyer to smoke a Trabuco cigar. When he returned, Frau Zollinger was less talkative and he spoke instead to Fräulein Anna. It was not a very deep conversation, merely an exchange of pleasantries and some polite enquiries.
    The second half of the concert was a delight: Beethoven’s E flat major Octet and a Mozart Divertimento .
    After the encore, an arrangement of a Brahms waltz, Liebermannhelped Frau