Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

Novels:

• Naomi Novik, Spinning Silver: A Novel (Del Rey, 2018): “This book is about the determination and quiet competence of women doing remarkable things without knowing first that they can do them.”
• Asha Lemmie, Fifty Words for Rain: A Novel (Dutton, 2020): “Nori always feels slightly out of reach, as if Lemmie never allows you to look her straight in the eye; that’s part of the allure here. The other part is the satisfaction of watching a determined person make her way to the top of a mountain alone.”

Poetry

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.

We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, become the future.

Our blunders become their burdens.

[from Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb”]

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Anton Bruckner intended his Symphony No. 9 in D minor, WAB 109 (1896) (approx. 59-64’), as his farewell to life. “At the height of his power, he spent his final years in a desperate struggle to craft a final masterpiece that would both epitomize his ideals and extend his art into a new realm, but died in 1896 unable to achieve it.” He was unable to complete it, leaving the fourth movement unfinished at his death. However, he made it clear that he would not go quietly into death. Not only was he determined to complete the symphony; he was determined that it should express his will to live. “Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony is on a monumental scale: its relentless spiritual searching invites comparison with epic literature such as Milton’s Paradise Lost, and in music, Beethoven’s Ninth, with which it shares a home key of D minor. But if Beethoven's work is a public affirmation of faith in humanity . . .” “. . . mostly, the freedom’s the thing: Bruckner’s freedom from the received models of composition; the feeling that his symphonies, especially the Ninth, have the freedom he enjoyed at the organ, where he was renowned for his playing and improvising. The Symphony No. 9 sounds like an extended improvisation, with discrete ideas discovered and arrayed in time.” Great performances are conducted by Furtwängler in 1944, Wand in 1987, Giulini in 1988, Asahina in 1991, Celibidache in 1995, Skrowaczewski in 1998, Blomstedt in 1999, Luisi in 2003, Haitink in 2013  (mvt 1; mvt 2; mvt 3), Abbado in 2013, Honeck in 2019, Iván Fischer in 2022, and Paavo Järvi in 2024. “(A)t least a dozen hands” have “completed” the symphony, after Bruckner’s sketches. Simon Rattle conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in a four-movement version in 2010 (approx. 82’).

Franz Liszt, Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178 (1853) (approx. 26-34’) has provoked considerable speculation about a programmatic intent, most of them focusing on a dark biblical story, the Faust legend, or Liszt’s life. “No other work of Liszt has attracted anything like the same amount of scholarly attention as the B-minor Sonata.  The number of divergent theories it has provoked from those of its admirers who feel constrained to search forbidden meanings are many.” “Liszt was a musician and artist who often wrestled with questions about his religious faith, and he often expressed these struggles through his music and literary writings.” In this sonata, “the themes are closely linked together through the technique of repetition.” Perhaps this technique, coupled with Liszt’s serious programmatic intent, is what produces the feeling of determination, or steadfastness. Top recorded performances are by Vladimir Horowitz in 1949, Georges Cziffra in 1956, Artur Rubinstein in 1965, Sviatoslav Richter in 1966, Martha Argerich in 1972, Alfred Brendel in 1979, Maurizio Pollini in 1989, Krystian Zimerman in 1990, Pierre-Laurent Aimard in 2011, Marc-André Hamelin in 2011, and Benjamin Grosvenor in 2021. 

Paul Hindemith’s viola sonatas display an unwavering seriousness of purpose:

• Op. 11, No. 4 (1919) (approx. 17’);
• Op. 11, No. 5 (1922) (approx. 19’);
• Op. 25, No. 1 (1922) (approx. 15’);
• Op. 25, No. 4 (1922) (approx. 15’);
• Op. 31, No. 4 (1923) (approx. 18’);
• Viola Sonata (1937) (approx. 14’); and
• Viola Sonata (1939) (approx. 25’).

Other works:

• Liszt, Rhapsodie Espagnole, S. 254 (1863) (approx. 13-14’): “Inspired by a trip to Spain in the winter of 1844-1845, Liszt’s Rhapsodie Espagnole embodies his unique genius for creating brilliantly effective piano textures and demonstrates the kinds of musical gestures that made his stage presence so compelling to audiences. The work opens in high drama, with deep rumblings in the bass issuing into sweeping arpeggios up to the high register where the angelic strumming of celestial harps prepares us for a musical feast of divine inspiration.”
• Sergei Prokofiev, Sinfonia Concertante (Symphony-Concerto) in E Minor for Cello & Orchestra, Op. 125 (1952) (approx. 36-38’) “is a large-boned work that unrolls over about forty minutes, and the soloist is active nearly throughout, with strikingly little time off.” Excellent recorded performances are by Rostropovich (Ozawa) in 1987, Ma (Maazel) in 1992, Gustafsson (Oramo) in 1994, Maisky (Pletnev) in 1995, Wispelwey (Sinaisky) in 2009, Capuçon (Gergiev) in 2010, and Poltéra (Bihlmaier) in 2024.
• Arnold Bax, String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor (1925) (approx. 30’) “a knotty‚ densely plotted creation‚ as harmonically daring as Bax ever ventured and demanding formidable concentration from performers and listeners alike (repeated hearings confirm that the cello’s declamatory solo at the outset sows the seeds for so much that follows).”
• Graham Whettam, Sinfonia Intrepida (1976) (approx. 44’): “inspired” by bombing of various European cities during World War II, the symphony is an extended statement about the human spirit being immovable and indestructible.
• Chen Yi, Dragon Rhyme (2010) (approx. 13’): 1. Mysteriously-Harmoniously; 2. Energetically: “The instrumental texture is rich in colors, from transparent and delicate to angular and strong. Taking the image of the dragon, which is auspicious, fresh and vivid, the music is layered and multidimensional. It symbolizes the Eastern culture. When it meets the world, it becomes part of the global family.”
• Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Violin Sonata No. 3 in E Major, Op. 27 (1943) (approx. 26’) “is music of fire and drive, though it also finds time for more reflective passages and, again, for some quasi-fugal writing.”
• Michael Jarrell, Émergenges-Résurgences (2016) (approx. 21’): “Music, which is essentially an art of time, uses in this case, every dynamic possibility, with the energy of the solo line being highly present from the beginning. Particularly sensitive to the continuity of listening, I tried to shape the musical phrases as I imagine a writer would shape language, remaining as attentive to the greater arch as to smaller inflections.” [Jarrell]
• Zygmunt Stojowski, Piano Concerto No. 2 in A-flat Major, Op. 32 (1910) (approx. 36’): this concerto, with an unusual structure of prologue, scherzo and variations, drives forward relentlessly.
• Alvin Singleton, String Quartet No. 3, “Somehow We Can” (1994) (approx. 16-18’) “is built of alternating flurries of repeated notes and notes held in long slow phrases.” 
• Marcel Poot, Symphony No. 4 (1970) (approx. 22’): “. . . Poot sets loose a supercharged virtuoso orchestral display - rhythm and uproar in controlled balance - in the outer movements.”

From the dark side:

• Dinos Constantinidies, String Quartet No. 1, Op. 29, LRC 8, “Los Temblores” (The Tremors) (2003) (approx. 12’)

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Whitney Houston, "One Moment in Time" (lyrics)
• Kelly Clarkson, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" (lyrics)

Visual Arts

• Frida Kahlo, Tree of Hope, Remain Strong (1946)

Film and Stage

• Cool Hand Luke: not high-level morality but a study in sticking to your guns just the same
• The Pianist: survival in a Warsaw ghetto under the Nazis
• Sahara: survival against many obstacles in World War II
• All Is Lost, only it wasn’t. A man adrift at sea struggles, comes near death but survives.
• True Grit (see also the 1969 original) a Western about revenge but also determination; the remake arguably is better than the original
• Not One Less: a thirteen-year-old girl is enlisted as a substitute teacher in a rural Chinese school. Initially disinterested and disengaged from her students, she becomes their champion, and their teacher.
• The Martian: an astronaut stranded on Mars finds ways to survive.