Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

In this scene from Les Misérables, Valjean carries the wounded Marius through the sewer to avoid detection.

It was in the sewers of Paris that Jean Valjean found himself.  Still another resemblance between Paris and the sea. As in the ocean, the diver may disappear there.  The transition was an unheard-of one. In the very heart of the city, Jean Valjean had escaped from the city, and, in the twinkling of an eye, in the time required to lift the cover and to replace it, he had passed from broad daylight to complete obscurity, from midday to midnight, from tumult to silence, from the whirlwind of thunders to the stagnation of the tomb, and, by a vicissitude far more tremendous even than that of the Rue Polonceau, from the most extreme peril to the most absolute obscurity.  An abrupt fall into a cavern; a disappearance into the secret trap-door of Paris; to quit that street where death was on every side, for that sort of sepulchre where there was life, was a strange instant. He remained for several seconds as though bewildered; listening, stupefied. The waste-trap of safety had suddenly yawned beneath him. Celestial goodness had, in a manner, captured him by treachery. Adorable ambuscades of providence!  Only, the wounded man did not stir, and Jean Valjean did not know whether that which he was carrying in that grave was a living being or a dead corpse. [Victor Hugo, Les Misérables (1862), Volume V – Jean Valjean; Book Third – Mud But the Soul, Chapter I, “The Sewer and Its Surprises”.]

Novels:

• Win Blevins, Stone Song: A Novel of the Life of Crazy Horse (Forge, 1995).
• John Brandon, Ivory Shoals: A Novel (McSweeney’s Publishing, 2021): “A Trek Across Florida, Braving Deadly Swamps and Bounty Hunters”.
• Kristin Hannah, The Women: A Novel (St. Martin’s Press, 2024): “If you grew up in the 1980s, the Vietnam redemption arc was imprinted on your gray matter by a stampede of young novelists and filmmakers coming to grips with their foundational trauma: patriotic innocence shattered by the barbarity of jungle warfare; the return home to a hostile nation; the chasm of despair and addiction; and finally, the healing power of activism.”

Poetry

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida (1870) (approx. 140-165’) (libretto) is about “the impossible love of the brave commander Radames and the captive Abyssinian Princess Aida . . .” As early as the second scene, Aida’s romantic interest Radamès is described as “brave and young”. As with the slaves, though bravery is not enough to ensure success. “. . . Verdi uses the rousing music of the Egyptian armies and the sorrowful laments of the Ethiopian slaves to display both the heroism and struggles that form a part of national pride.” Here are links to video-recorded performances with M. Price & Pavarotti; Freni & Domingo; and Aaron & Aldrich. Top audio-recorded performances feature: Giannini, Minghini-Cattaneo, Pertile & Inghilleri (Sabajno) in 1928; Arangi-Lombardi, Capuana, Lindi, Borgioli & Pasero (Molajoli) in 1928; Tebaldi, Stignani, del Monaco, Protti & Corena (Erede) in 1952; Callas, Tucker, Barbieri, Gobbi & Modesti (Serafin) in 1955; Milanov, Björling, Barbieri, Warren & Christoff (Perlea) in 1955; Tebaldi, Bergonzi, MacNeil, Simionato & Van Mill (Karajan) in 1959; Price, Vickers & Merrill (Solti) in 1961; Caballé, Domingo, Cossotto, Cappuccilli & Ghiaurov (Muti) in 1974 ***; and Harteros, Kaufmann, Semenchuk, Tézier & Schrott (Pappano) in 2016.

Giuseppe Verdi, Nabucco (1841) (approx. 122-130’) (libretto) is an operatic recounting of the biblical tale of King Nebuchadnezzar (Nabucco) of Babylon, and his enslavement of Hebrews. Their bravery is captured in this famous chorus, which members of the Odessa opera performed during the Russian war against Ukraine. “The well-known mythical narrative refers to the Masada Jews as heroic Zealots or Jewish warriors who, when besieged by the Roman army, bravely resisted the siege for months until the army breached the fortress walls.” They are captured and enslaved; the opera portrays them as dignified and unbowed. Video recordings feature ; ; ; ; Morosow (Märzendorfer) in 2007; Domingo (Kohn) in 2013; and Gagnidze (Oren). Top audio-recorded performances are by: Gobbi, Souliotis, Carral, Prevedi (Gardelli) in 1965; Manuguerra, Luchetti, Ghiaurov & Scotto (Muti) in 1978; and Nucci, Domashenko, Dvorsky & Prestia (Luisi) in 2001.

Richard Wagner, Siegfried, WWV 86C (1857) (approx. 248-255’) (libretto): in this, the third opera from Wagner’s Ring cycle, the theme is that Siegfried’s sword can be made whole only by one who knows no fear. Of course, that is Siegfried. He slays the giant Fafner but that part is easy for him. “Siegfried safely reaches the Rock where Brünnhilde sleeps. He sees a sleeping person in full armor. When he removes the armor, he sees a woman for the first time in his life. Now he has learned to fear, and an overpowering feeling takes possession of him. He takes courage and kisses her to awaken her.” Unfortunately, the title character does not demonstrate many other worthy qualities. The character Mime observes: “A brave and foolish boy, / Siegfried, can slay the foe.” In her comedy routine, Anna Russell explained: “He’s very young, and he’s very handsome, and he’s very strong, and he’s very brave, and he’s very stupid—he’s a regular Li’l Abner type” “Siegfried is certainly brave but he acts only in his own interest at all times.” The story is a window into Wagner’s idea of heroism, and his politics. Here is a link to Fritz Lang’s memorable “Nibelungen Saga”, discussed here. Performances with video feature Ryan (Mehta) in 2008; Vinke (Janowski) in 2016; and Franz (Ádám Fischer) in 2016. Best audio recorded performances are by:  Melchior, Laufkötter, Schorr & Flagstad (Bodanzky) in 1937; Suthaus, Patzak, Frantz & Mödl (Furtwängler) in 1953; Windgassen, Kuën, Hotter & Varnay (Krauss) in 1953; Windgassen, Kuën, Hotter, Varnay & (Keilberth) in 1955; Aldenhoff, Kuën, Hotter & Varnay (Knappertsbusch) in 1957; Windgassen, Stolze, Hotter & Nilsson (Solti) in 1962; Windgassen, Wohlfahrt, Adam & Nilsson (Böhm) in 1966; and O’Neill, Goerne, Cangelosi, van Mechelen & Melton (van Zweden) in 2017.

Other works:

• Roy Harris, Symphony No. 6, “Gettysburg” (1944) (approx. 28’): “Written in 1944 during the height of the Second World War, the movements of Harris’ Symphony draw inspiration from the outline of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. They celebrate a mythic vision of American progress in which growing pains give way to the possible future realization of the nation’s loftiest ideals.”
• Walter Piston, Symphony No. 6 (1955) (approx. 26’): “Listening to Piston’s Sixth Symphony is like entering a musical dream. It’s a free-flowing stream of conversing instrumental voices and shifting motivic cells.” Piston sought to emphasize the integrity of each instrumental voice, and brought the work to a celebratory conclusion.
• Arnold Bax, Piano Sonata No. 2 in G major (1919) (approx. 24-28’) reflects on the events of the Easter Rising in Ireland. “On Easter Monday 1916, Irish nationalists launched an armed revolt against British rule in Ireland. Although quickly suppressed by the British Army, the rising was a seminal moment in modern Irish history, helping pave the way to the nation's independence in 1922.”
• Steve Elcock, Choses renversées par le temps ou la destruction (Things Overturned in Time or Destruction) is a “a dark symphonic triptych where fragile beauty is constantly at threat from the forces of ignorance” (2013) (approx. 24’).

Albums:

• Fantastic Negrito, “White Jesus Black Problems” (2022) (41’): “The tunes are based on Negrito’s seventh-generation removed ancestors; a white Scottish indentured servant living in a common-law marriage with an African American slave in 1750s Virginia. This was, not surprisingly, against the law at the time and a radical situation that exhibited incredible bravery on the part of the participants.”

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Sara Bareilles, “Brave” (lyrics)
• Nawang Khechog, “Tiananmen Square” (for Chinese Warriors)
• Bon Jovi, "It's My Life" (lyrics)
• Rascal Flatts, "Stand" (lyrics)

Visual Arts

• Paul Klee, Fire in the Evening (1929)
• John Everett Millais, The Rescue (1855)
• Giotto, Fortitude (1302-05)

Film and Stage

• Bravehert, about living courageously and then facing death bravely
• The Spiral Staircase, a thriller with a young woman’s bravery as a motif
• Captain Blood: the film version of Rafael “Sabatini’s gentleman corsair”