Albert (Tolstoy)
Short summary
Petersburg, presumably 1850s. Five wealthy young men attended a late-night party where they encountered Albert, a disheveled musician who forced his way in.
When Albert played his violin, particularly a piece called Melancholie, his music profoundly moved everyone present. Delesof was especially affected, experiencing intense nostalgia and tears.
Moved by compassion, Delesof invited Albert to live with him, hoping to help the talented but destitute artist. However, Albert's alcoholism and inability to adapt to normal life created tension. Without access to drink, Albert became increasingly despondent and hostile, viewing Delesof as a captor rather than benefactor.
After three days, Albert found vodka, drank it, and escaped at night despite Zakhar's attempts to stop him. In the freezing cold, he made his way to Anna Ivanovna's house but was refused entry. He collapsed on her threshold in delirium.
Oh! I am alive, why do you bury me?... Two guests coming out... stumbled against Albert lying on the threshold... That was heartless... You might let a man freeze.
Detailed summary by chapters
Chapter titles are editorial.
Chapter 1. The musician at the ball: Alberts remarkable performance
Five wealthy young men attended a ball in Petersburg at three o'clock in the morning, seeking entertainment. Despite the champagne, pretty girls, and continuous music, an atmosphere of awkwardness and constraint pervaded the gathering. Everyone sensed that something was amiss, and attempts to enliven the party only made things worse.
One of the young men, Delesof, felt particularly disgusted with himself and others throughout the evening.
He decided to leave quietly and go home. In the anteroom, he overheard a dispute between a maid and a man who was trying to enter the party. The maid refused without the hostess's permission, but the stranger pushed past her into the room. The newcomer was a disheveled man of medium stature with a crooked back, long unkempt hair, and ragged clothes. Despite his emaciated appearance, his face was attractive with a pure forehead and dark, languid eyes that conveyed serenity and sweetness.
The maid identified him as a crazy musician from the theatre who sometimes visited the hostess.
Chapter 2. Alberts collapse and Delesofs offer of help
When guests invited the musician to dance, he accepted eagerly. However, during a quadrille, a jolly officer accidentally struck Albert in the back.
Albert's weak legs gave way, and he fell hard to the floor. Though everyone initially laughed, they grew silent when he didn't rise immediately. Anna Ivanovna and Delesof helped him to a chair. The hostess explained that Albert was a poor artist, very weak, and called him a sad case while he sat listening.
To prove he wasn't injured, Albert attempted to dance again but nearly fell once more. Embarrassed, he retrieved his violin and announced he would play music instead. He positioned himself by the piano and tuned his instrument, then commanded the pianist to play "Melancholie, G Sharp." What followed was a transformation that stunned everyone present.
At each note that he played, Albert grew taller and taller... His face shone with complete, enthusiastic delight; his eyes gleamed with a radiant, steely light.
The music transported everyone from their state of tedium into a forgotten world of beauty and emotion. The notes poured forth with such power and spontaneity that listeners felt as though beautiful poetry was flowing through their souls. Delesof was particularly affected, tears streaming down his face as the music carried him back to memories of his youth, first love, and lost happiness. The performance held everyone in absolute silence and attention.
Chapter 3. Alberts misery and refusal to play
After his magnificent performance, Albert's appearance returned to its ordinary state - his back curved, his head sank, and he stumbled away timidly as if ashamed. The audience sat in strange silence, unable to acknowledge what they had experienced. A collection was taken up for Albert, and Delesof was chosen to present it. Moved by the music, Delesof conceived the idea of helping this talented but wretched man.
When Delesof approached Albert, the musician immediately asked for something to drink. After consuming wine greedily, Albert requested money, admitting he was poor and couldn't repay it. Delesof gave him the collected money and invited Albert to stay with him, offering to help improve his situation. Despite Anna Ivanovna's warning against this decision, Albert accepted and left with Delesof in his carriage.
During the carriage ride, Delesof began to regret his impulsive decision as Albert spoke foolishly and seemed close to complete intoxication. The musician soon fell asleep, snoring in the corner. However, when Delesof studied Albert's peaceful sleeping face, he was again charmed by its beauty and renewed his resolve to help him.
Chapter 4. A night of music and conversation about art
The next morning, Delesof left instructions for his servant Zakhar to care for Albert and provide him with clean clothes.
When Delesof returned home, he found Albert had gone out with a borrowed violin, promising to return in an hour but failing to do so. Zakhar reported that Albert had been charming company, playing beautiful music including "Down the Little Mother Volga" that moved everyone to tears. That evening, Albert returned intoxicated, and despite Delesof's intention to be stern, they ended up spending the night talking and drinking wine.
Albert spoke enthusiastically about the aristocrats he had met at the ball and defended modern music against Delesof's preference for classical compositions. He praised singers like Viardot and Rubini, and spoke of his friend Petrof, an artist from the Academy with great talent who understood art deeply.
Albert lamented his current situation - having no clothes, home, or violin, unable to attend the opera or play professionally. He demonstrated his musical passion by playing excerpts from Don Juan, making Delesof's hair stand on end with his rendition of the dying commander's voice.
Chapter 5. Alberts tragic love story and deepening despair
When Delesof asked if Albert had ever been in love, the musician's face lit up with a melancholy smile. He confessed his fondness for Delesof and promised to tell him everything truthfully. Albert admitted he had not been quite well mentally for some time, though he insisted Anna Ivanovna's claims about his madness were exaggerated.
Albert recounted his tragic love story. While playing second violin at the opera, he had fallen in love with an aristocratic lady who sat in a parquet box. Knowing the impossibility of their social difference - he a poor artist, she a lady of high society - he had only watched her from afar. Once, he was invited to accompany her on violin, which filled him with incredible happiness.
Albert's obsession deepened dangerously. He began sleeping in the theatre box where she had sat, finding it his only pleasure. One night, he experienced strange visions - he seemed to kiss her hand, weep before her, and hear her voice speaking to him. He played his violin softly for her phantom presence, but these experiences terrified him and affected his already fragile mental state.
Albert quoted German poetry about the sun remaining clear even when clouds hide it, and spoke of his friend Petrof who would have understood these experiences. His behavior became increasingly erratic as he jumped up to play Juristen waltzes, dancing and shuffling his feet while playing admirably, imagining a full orchestra accompanying him.
They have passed, forever passed, the days of thy strength, of love, and of happiness; passed forever, and never will return. Weep for them, shed all thy tears.
This sentiment captured what Albert's violin had communicated to Delesof during that first performance - the irretrievable loss of youth and happiness. Albert expressed his desire to return to Anna Ivanovna's for more gaiety and music, but Delesof convinced him to wait until the next day. Finding no more wine available, Albert reluctantly retired for the night.
Chapter 6. Delesofs growing frustration and Alberts escape
The next day was a holiday. Albert remained in bed until noon, feeling miserable and repeatedly asking for alcohol. Delesof, determined to strengthen Albert's character, forbade Zakhar from giving him any wine. When Delesof tried to engage Albert in conversation about music or suggest activities, the musician responded with cold sadness and refused everything, even pushing away the violin with contempt.
Albert's condition worsened over the following days. He grew increasingly gloomy and taciturn, seeming afraid of Delesof and expressing painful terror whenever their eyes met. He touched neither books nor violin and refused to respond to questions. Delesof began to question his decision to help Albert, feeling frustrated by the musician's apparent ingratitude and unwillingness to improve his situation.
What shall I do with him?... What am I to do now? Wherein am I to blame?... This was a childish action... Why should I undertake to direct others?
On the third night, Delesof was awakened by noise in the anteroom. Albert, having found the key in Zakhar's coat pocket, had drunk an entire decanter of sweet vodka and was now demanding to leave. When Zakhar tried to prevent him, Albert became hysterical, screaming about his rights and threatening to call the police. Despite Delesof's attempts to calm him, Albert stormed out into the freezing night, muttering incoherently and refusing to say goodbye.
After Albert's departure, Delesof felt a mixture of relief and regret. He remembered their first evenings together and the wonderful sentiment of love and sympathy Albert had initially inspired in him. Now he worried about what would become of the musician - alone, without money or warm clothing, in the bitter cold of midnight.
Chapter 7. Alberts final night: visions and collapse
Despite the bitter cold, Albert felt excited by the wine and his newfound freedom. He walked through the empty streets toward Anna Ivanovna's house, his mind filled with disconnected memories and hallucinations. He seemed to enter a magnificent building where he encountered his friend Petrof defending him before an audience.
He was a genius, a great musical genius, who perished among you unknown and unvalued... He, like a sheaf of straw, was wholly consumed by the sacred fire.
Art is the highest manifestation of power in man. It is given only to the favored few, and it lifts the chosen to such an eminence that the head swims.
In his hallucination, Petrof proclaimed Albert's greatness while Delesof's voice accused him of dishonor and theft. A policeman interrupted Albert's visions, calling him a drunken fellow. When Albert finally reached Anna Ivanovna's house, the maid refused him entry, having been forbidden to let him in. Albert collapsed on the threshold, lost in beautiful dreams where he played a violin made of glass and was embraced by his beloved aristocratic lady.
But his violin was of strange make: it was composed of nothing but glass... The sounds were so sweet and delicious, that Albert felt he had never before heard anything.
Two guests leaving Anna Ivanovna's party discovered Albert lying unconscious on the threshold. They brought him inside, where he murmured deliriously, "Oh! I am alive, why do you bury me?" The hostess had him placed somewhere to recover, ending his tragic night of visions and despair.