The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse

Описание: The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse.
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00:00 First reading of the Glass Bead Game poem
01:16 Introducing the flute's role with Roger Buckton
04:56 Introducing the translation with Heidi Wilson
07:50 Introducing the narration and typography with John McWade
11:25 Introducing the collaged intaglio etchings with David Bell 11:25
13:10 The second reading of the Glass Bead Game poem with a B flat flute

The Glass Bead Game is the biography of Joseph Knecht, who is born in the 23rd century.

"The Glass Bead Game the principles of a new language, a language of symbols and formulas, in which mathematics and music played an equal part, so that it became possible to combine astronomical and musical formulas, to reduce mathematics and music to a common denominator, as it were." Hesse.

The novel has a richly dense theoretical introduction, then a long middle section—the story of Knecht's life—and a final section consisting of some fragments of Knecht's own writings, including some poems. The three sections are written by Knecht's biographer, Hermann Hesse in the future, and who yet may become another of the glass bead game players.

The Glass Bead Game creates a complex world of paradox and polarities.

Hesse lived in Switzerland from 1923, leaving Germany as a convinced and controversial pacifist. Later on he was hated by the Nazis. Hesse attempted to publish his novel in 1943, and in 1946 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

Hesse's Glass Bead Game is richly ironic, disturbingly complex, full of marvellous themes of the life of the mind. Yet, it is curiously Methodist in its plot. And this is deeper than a surface appearance.

The character of Knecht reminds me a lot of John Wesley the 18th century clergyman, the founder of Methodism.

Wesley as a character in history, and Knecht as a character in a novel, narrate over and over again the lives of characters from times past. It's how scholars and theologians work.

They pour over fragments of literature, dwell in texts and signs and symbols which exist, scattered here and there. Wesley and Knecht: each a linguist, a logician, a leader. Each an extraordinary word-smith, both makers of meanings, shaping cultures and communities.

Each reaching for an 'unsullied communion', a call to celebration. Knecht lives his communion with the other players of the game in the region of Castalia. Wesley lives his in the Methodist societies he placed within the Anglican communion.

Hesse wrote a collection of fairy tales over many decades. Except they are not conventional, they don't fit easily into the genre.

One of these fairy tales was called The European, and it describes life on Noah's Ark sometime after the Second World War. God had become so angry and despaired of the human race so much that he turned his back on all prior covenants. There was a new flood, a drowning of the world of wars, and a new Ark sailed forth with the usual collection of animals, and representatives of the races and tribes of the human species.
Knecht's philosophy is modelled on the life lived by Count Nicolaus Zinzendorf. Wesley's theology, the same.

Hesse was the grandson of Christian missionaries who served in India. Hesse's mother was born at just such a mission station. The family breathed in the air of German piety, and although Hesse rejected it, he was steeped in it. In a real sense, Hesse has breathed into the character of Knecht both the psychological comfort and the distressing pain of piety. What is that? It is classical Christianity's imposition of guilt and failure.

The stage of the novel is set, the game is to be played. Now, who will play it?

Wesley was one such player. He, too, brought up in an atmosphere of piety, brought up to believe his life had been spared for God's purposes, growing ever aware of his gifts, and the relentless desire to create the unsullied communion in an unsullied community.

But such a community requires unsullied players. Were any such to be found in the theological colleges?

The video is dedicated to Stuart Manins in memory of his wife Margaret and daughter Christine both of whom died late in 2020. The flute used in the second version of the poem was owned by Margaret's father. Roger Buckton is a retired associate professor of music education, Heidi Wilson a language teacher in Auckland, and John McWade was the founder of Before and After magazine on graphic design and typography. He can be found on the Linkedin learning Group Graphic Design Tips and Tricks   / 7025465  

This channel and kiwiconnexion |Wisdom choices for better daily living. Spirituality, Christian thought and church history, as well as a special emphasis on John Wesley and Methodism.