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Dr. Grabow
Herr Pfuhl is a local organist. He and Gerda play music together, and he gives young Hanno piano lessons. Pfuhl’s taste in music is rather conservative, and he tends to bristle at newer music, finding it alien, unfamiliar, and dissonant. But he’s not above changing his mind, as when Gerda gradually gets him to appreciate the rich, harmonically complex sonorities of the music of Richard Wagner.
Herr Pfuhl Quotes in Buddenbrooks
The Buddenbrooks quotes below are all either spoken by Herr Pfuhl or refer to Herr Pfuhl. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 8, Chapter 6 Quotes
“Pfühl,” she said, “be reasonable, just take it in calmly. His unusual use of harmony confuses you. You find Beethoven pure, clear, and natural in comparison. But remember how Beethoven disconcerted his contemporaries, whose ears were trained to the old ways. And Bach himself, good Lord, they accused him of being dissonant and muddy. […]”
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This quote from Gerda takes place during one of her practice sessions with Herr Pfühl, the local organist with whom she gets together to play duets. Pfühl is an older man who has a rather conservative taste in music, regarding newer compositions with considerable skepticism. Gerda alludes to that skepticism in her advice to Pfühl in this passage when she urges him to “be reasonable, just take it in calmly,” referring to a piece by the German composer Richard Wagner. Wagner’s music featured innovative harmonies that could sound wonky and unsettling to contemporary audiences, who weren’t accustomed to the dissonant Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praes
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Herr Pfuhl Character Timeline in Buddenbrooks
The timeline below shows where the character Herr Pfuhl appears in Buddenbrooks. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 8, Chapter 6
Gerda is playing music in the salon with Herr Pfuhl, the organist of St. Mary’s. In between pieces, Pfuhl and Gerda enthusiastically laud the compositional...
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Hanno listens to Gerda and Pfuhl talk. He rubs his tongue across his molar, a habit of his. It’s sitting in...
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Hanno is an enthusiastic student and catches on quickly. Sometimes they have lessons at Pfuhl’s home, where Pfuhl lives alone. Other times, Pfuhl lets Hanno play the organ at the...
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...Hanno’s eighth birthday, he performs a fantasia for piano and violin that he wrote himself. Pfuhl criticized Hanno’s piece, particularly the minor third Hanno chose to end the piece with. But...
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Part 10, Chapter 3
...takes solace in the comfort that his friend Kai and his music lessons with Herr Pfuhl will bring him.
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