Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

Miguel de Cervantes’ Novelas Ejemplares (exemplary novels - moral or instructie tales) are perhaps the greatest works of literature dedicated explicitly to role modeling.Though the moral lessons Cervantes intended may not meet modern expectations, these stories do illustrate the idea of human lives and moral and ethical lessons.

• The Lady Cornelia tells “. . . the story of two young Spanish noblemen, Don Juan de Gamboa and Don Antonio de Isunza, and their role in bringing about, after many mishaps, the eventual marriage of Cornelia Bentibolli and the Duke of Ferrara, by whom she has had a child.”
• Rinconete and Cortadillo: “The introductory sequence in which the two boys sniff each other out like dogs in the mating season, leads the reader to expect that the rest of the story will be concerned with their exploits as young delinquents, striving to survive in an apparently harsh and hostile world . . ."
• The Little Gypsy Girl “tells of a young woman who turns out to have been kidnapped by gypsies as a baby, and of how she is returned to her noble parents and rightful status by a series of fortunate coincidences.”
• The Generous Lover “contains all of the main ingredients of a classic adventure story: a raid by (Turkish) pirates, a storm at sea followed by a shipwreck, a sea-battle, a beautiful lady who is a model of virtue and discretion, and a bold and, ultimately, generous hero.”
• The Spanish-English Lady: “. . . Ricaredo, son of Clotaldo, falls in love with the beautiful Isabela and obtains the blessing of his parents to marry her. However, the queen of England intervenes to demand the young man to prove himself worthy of the young woman.”
• The Force of Blood “is, at first reading, the story of a vicious rape which goes unavenged and unpunished; the rapist, an enthusiastic sensualist, is rewarded at the end of the story with a beautiful wife and son and a happy marriage.”
• The Illustrious Scullery-Maid “juxtaposes the world of the noble ruling class of Golden Age Spain and that of the lower classes, and it exploits, in a light-hearted fashion, the ironies and incongruities to which this conflict of the two worlds gives rise.”

Cervantes’ Exemplary novels from the dark side:

• The Jealous Old Man from Extramadura (1613) “has at its centre the marriage of an old man to a young girl . . .”
• The Deceitful Marriage “deals with matrimony not in the idealized, harmonious context so often found in Cervantes (e.g. Lady Cornelia) and other works of Golden Age literature, but in a context of deception, self-interest and lust.”
• The Two Damsels “recounts the deception of two young women by the same man and their subsequent pursuit of him.”

A bit earlier, in 1405, Christine de Pisan wrote of an allegorical city of women in The Book of the City of Ladies to counter the misogyny of a male writer of her time. Drawn from historical figures, her characters displayed the virtues that she imagined would prevail in such a city.

Poetry

I was the only child of Frances Harris of Virginia
And Thomas Greene of Kentucky,
Of valiant and honorable blood both.
To them I owe all that I became,
Judge, member of Congress, leader in the State.
From my mother I inherited
Vivacity, fancy, language;
From my father will, judgment, logic.
All honor to them
For what service I was to the people!

[Edgar Lee Masters, “Hamilton Greene”]

Other poems:

• Walt Whitman, “O Captain! My Captain!”

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Camille Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22, R 190 (1868) (approx. 24-26’):

• Movement 1: Andante sostenuto. Soothing tones from the piano evoke a competent person, surrounded by followers in the orchestra.
• Movement 2: Allegro scherzando. The concerto turns playful, as the soloist explores themes, and exercises with several rapid scales. Now and again, the orchestra – which clearly is secondary – follows the soloist’s lead, copying hit themes but not executing his more intricate maneuvers.
• Movement 3: Presto. The movement begins as a frenetic presto, the pianist executing several difficult runs, and the supporting players occasionally following suit. Frequently, the supporting orchestral players offer support without attempting to match the soloist’s most difficult maneuvers. The concert ends witn a statement of exclamation from the orchestra, as if to say “bravo!” to their mentor.

Following are links to excellent performances of the Saint-Saëns concerto:

• Darré & Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française (Fourestier) in 1955 – Darré famously played all of Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerti in a single concert in 1926, when she was 21 years old, then recorded the work in 1948, conducted by Paul Paray;
• de Greef & New Symphony Orchestra (Ronald) in 1928;
• Rubinstein & Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (Mitropoulos) in 1952;
• Rubinstein & Philadelphia Orchestra (Ormandy) in 1962;
• Thibaudet & L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Dutoit) in 2007;
• Grosvenor & Royal Liverpool Orchestra (Judd) in 2012;
• Hough & City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (Oramo). 

Although it can be seen as a story about redemption, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Robert le Diable (Robert the Devil) (1831) (approx. 183-243’) (libretto), is also an allegory about healthy and unhealthy influences and relationships. The opera is based “on tales surrounding Robert the Magnificent, duke of Normandy, which claimed he was the son of the devil . . .” “Robert is the son of the archfiend by a human woman. Robert’s father, known as Bertram, but really the devil, ever follows him about, and seeks to lure him to destruction. The strain of purity in the drama is supplied by Robert’s foster-sister, Alice, who, if Bertram is the prototype of Mephistofeles in 'Faust,' may be regarded as the original of Michaela in 'Carmen.'” A recorded performance on video was conducted by Fulton in 1985. Audio-recorded performances were conducted by Minkowski in 2000, Palumbo in 2000, Oren in 2012, and Minkowski in 2022. Also available is a compilation from different recorded performances, ostensibly presenting the entire opera without cuts.

Musicians as models for other musicians?

• Guy Davis & Fabrizzio Poggi, “Sonny and Brownie’s Last Train” (2017) (46’);
• Lakecia Benjamin, “Pursuance: The Coltranes” (2020) (73’);
• The Joshua Breakstone Trio, “Children of Art: A Tribute to Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers” (2018) (57’);
• Big Band of Brothers, “A Jazz Celebration of the Allman Brothers Band" (2019) (63’);
• Duduka da Fonseca Trio, “Plays Dom Salvador” (2018) (49’);
• Ksenija Sidorova, “Piazzolla Reflections” (2021) (81’);
• Gerry Gibbs, “Songs From My Father” (2021) (77’): Gibbs teams with other great jazz artists in trio, in tribute to his father. “Drummer Gerry Gibbs pays tribute to father Terry Gibbs on the amazing nineteen-track double-CD set Songs from My Father featuring a guest appearance by the ninety-seven-year-old vibraphonist on one track, among other surprises, including the last studio performance by the late jazz icon Chick Corea, who also wrote ‘Tango for Terry’ for this homage and is the only non-Gibbs composition on the album.”
• Lea Birringer, “Transformation” (2021) (76’): “For her album ‘Transformation’, Lea Birringer approaches Johann Sebastian Bach and his musical heritage over the span of centuries and explores some of the great compositions that have been created with Bach as a guide and role model. . . . Alongside Bach's Partita, she has chosen works for solo violin by Max Reger, Lera Auerbach, Ernst-Lothar von Knorr and Eugène Ysaÿe . . .”

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Thomas Rhett, “Be a Light” (lyrics)
• Billy Currington, "Walk a Little Straighter" (lyrics)

Visual Arts

Film and Stage

• Stand and Deliver, about the great teacher Jaime Escalante
• The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei): a woman reflects in her old age on her father’s integrity during her youth
• Mon Oncle: an offbeat uncle teaches his nephew the value of questioning the consumer society
• Reuben, Reuben: on the saving love of a good woman
• Shane: role model as fantasy
• The Fallen Idol, on when an idol disappoints