WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:19.239 Elistrau. The bell you're hearing is called Mukai Gane, which means welcoming bell 2 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:25.679 in Japanese. Every year, on August seventh, hundreds of pilgrims line up 3 00:00:25.719 --> 00:00:31.280 to ring it at the Rokudo chino Ji Temple in Kyoto. This ritual marks 4 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:35.479 the beginning of the Oban Festival, the Japanese version of All Souls Day. 5 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:40.520 The bell is hungover a well, and legend says that its sound can be 6 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:44.600 heard in the great beyond. That way, the spirits of the dead know 7 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:56.479 that it's time to reunite with their relatives. This is Seema, a Turkish 8 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:02.359 Sufi ceremony. You've probably seen dervishes before, those dancers that whirl around with 9 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:08.319 their white skirts billowing like bells. They spin faster and faster like orbiting planets, 10 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:12.920 using dance and music to go into a trance. Their right hands rise 11 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:18.719 towards the sky and their left hands point toward the earth. In that state 12 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:23.400 of mystic ecstasy, they become a symbol of the connection between the human and 13 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:29.719 the divine. Dervish is a Persian word that literally means seeker of doors. 14 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.239 The idea that sound and music can connect the world of the living with a 15 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:47.319 higher dimension is not unique to any specific culture, and can be found in 16 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:53.040 myths and religions around the world. For instance, in the twelfth century German 17 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:57.560 Saint Hildegard vom Bingen wrote in a letter, the soul is symphonic and the 18 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:02.879 song of the human soul is an echo of the celestial harmony. To understand 19 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:07.879 what Hildegard is talking about when she says celestial harmony, we have to go 20 00:02:07.919 --> 00:02:13.639 back a further fifteen hundred years to Pythagoras and his theory of the music of 21 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:23.120 the spheres. Broadly speaking, the theory puts forward the idea that the mathematics 22 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:27.639 that govern the laws of the universe can be translated into music, just as 23 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:31.879 all music can be translated into numbers. If the motion of each celestial body 24 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:38.560 produces a sound, then together they can create a grand celestial harmony. But 25 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:44.680 if the universe produces sound, why can't we hear its music? Pythagoraeans say 26 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:50.120 is because we are born and immersed in it. It's like a background noise 27 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:54.240 that our brain blocks out because it's always been there. This theory survived from 28 00:02:54.240 --> 00:03:00.479 many centuries all the way through to the Renaissance. The ominous music here now 29 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:06.759 was written in sixteen nineteen by astronomer Johann Kepler in his work Harmonices Mundi. 30 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:21.719 According to his calculations, this is what Mars would sound like. Over time, 31 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.280 different philosophers added their own ideas to the theory to adapt it to their 32 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:30.759 religious beliefs. At some point it expanded beyond just celestial bodies to include the 33 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:43.599 entire cosmos, from the tiniest to the largest elements. Let's go back to 34 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:46.719 Abbess Hildegard von Bingen. Apart from being a saint, she was also a 35 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:53.240 writer, philosophers, scientist, and composer. Hildegard said heavenly music can be 36 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.960 found in all things, but humans lost the ability to hear it when they 37 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.280 were cast out of Eden. The way to recover for that ability is through 38 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:05.680 song, since, according to the saint, singing is a form of remembering. 39 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:11.039 It allows us to reconnect with a divine and to add our voice to 40 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:17.240 the celestial harmony. In her mystical act Disease, Hildegard her music, which 41 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:23.680 she then transcribed. Although she had no classical training, she composed seventy eight 42 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:29.160 songs that she compiled under the title Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations. 43 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:43.360 This music was composed by a Swiss woman born seventh centuries later, in eighteen 44 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:46.959 seventy seven, less than two hundred miles from where the abbess once lived. 45 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:56.879 Here's something she wrote. This ancient land has a heart made of mountains, 46 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:01.040 rivers and lakes, and we have our cities on top of them and filled 47 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:06.680 them with our noise. We are deaf, But when light hits the water, 48 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:12.199 and when birds fly across the sky to greet me, these times stand 49 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:17.399 still and I can hear something. I can hear music, I can hear 50 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:24.240 the Earth's heart beat. Ursula Bloom wrote those words at the dawn of the 51 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:29.360 twentieth century. She was a painter and composer, and like Hildegarde, she 52 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:33.079 may also have thought that she wasn't composing music, she was simply hearing it. 53 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:42.639 But here I am talking away and I haven't even introduced myself or told 54 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.120 you what this is all about. My name is Emma Clark. I'm a 55 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:48.879 journalist, and for the last few months I've been obsessing over Ursula Bloom and 56 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:53.240 the few facts I've been able to find out about her life. But Before 57 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:56.439 we move on to Arsla's life, let me tell you about how I discovered 58 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:02.279 her, because that's a whole other obsession. Hi David, UM, I'm 59 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:08.199 so sorry for springing this on you, but um, I'm not coming back. 60 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:11.439 I know it sucks, but I've paid my part of the rent and 61 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:15.399 I'm sure you'll find someone to move in next month. Right, you can 62 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:16.879 get rid of the stuff that I've left behind in my room. I mean, 63 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:20.319 whatever you want to do with it, it's fine. I don't care. 64 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:29.360 I hope you don't take this personality, but please don't text me or 65 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:42.439 call me again. I'm going to DISCONNECTU number. Well bye. I that's 66 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:46.839 that's no way to start. Let's put the voice recorded here here. That's 67 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:50.319 David, my boyfriend. He's going to be editing the sound for this podcast. 68 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:54.319 We've been living together for a couple of years, and we're actually in 69 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:57.319 our living room right now. I want David to walk us through a few 70 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.639 things. When did you receive the voice mess which we just heard. Is 71 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:04.800 that your journalist voice? You did say you're going to help me? Right? 72 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:11.920 Okay, Okay, I forgot sorry. Clara sent the message on April 73 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:15.000 fourth, twenty eighteen, and who's Clara? Well, I used to share 74 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:19.680 this house with Clara and another guy called Alex. Your office used to be 75 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:26.279 her room. I think she lived here for about two years. Yeah, 76 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:30.279 that sounds about right. Whose house is this then? Tell us a little 77 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.839 bit about that. Well, the house is mine now because I inherited it. 78 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:39.079 Back then, it was my grandma's who rented it out to me. 79 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:43.680 I lived here when I was at university and shared it with other students. 80 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:48.360 Clara, Alex and I shared the place for about two years. Paul moved 81 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:55.879 in when Clara left. I met you around that time, and then my 82 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:01.120 grand died and left me the house. Alex and Paul moved out. I 83 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:07.639 renovated it and we live here now. That's about it, Okay, So 84 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:11.319 what happened after Clara messaged you? I called her the minute I heard her 85 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:15.639 message, but her phone was already switched off. Alex also called her over 86 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.639 and over again that month. Her phone was always off until one day a 87 00:08:18.759 --> 00:08:24.279 voice message informed us that the phone had been disconnected. She lived with you, 88 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:26.199 guys for two years, and you never heard from her again after that, 89 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:31.560 not a word ever. She didn't even come back for a thing. 90 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:37.159 She just vanished into thinny. What about her friends? Did they know what 91 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:39.679 was going on? Well, Alex only knew one of Clara's friends, a 92 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:45.120 classmate from UNI. He managed to contact her, but she didn't have a 93 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.120 clue either. We never met any of her relatives in those two years. 94 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:52.759 We just knew that she was from Madrid and that she was studying in London. 95 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:56.799 Were you worried? Sure? I mean, it was strange, even 96 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:01.639 why Clara's standards. It was weird of her to disappear like that. We 97 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:05.440 even thought about going to the police, but what could we say. In 98 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:09.519 her message, she made it clear that she was leaving the house. You 99 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:13.919 said it was strange, even by Clara standards. What do you mean? 100 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:16.080 Well, come on, I'm not being mean, you know me? Yeah, 101 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.919 I like strange, Yeah, yeah, I get it. Well, 102 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:26.440 Clara was beyond weird. She always kept to herself, and she'd been acting 103 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:30.120 even stranger for the last couple of months before she left. What do you 104 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:35.480 mean? She was working on her PhD. She'd finished her history degree and 105 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:41.759 was research and a Swiss painter Bloom exactly, Yeasa Bloom. Two or three 106 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.720 weeks before she called, she'd gone to Switzerland. We think that's where she 107 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:48.200 called us from, but there's no way to know for sure. What do 108 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:52.879 you mean she was acting weird or weirder than usual those months? It was 109 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:58.399 her music. We were all losing our minds because of her fucking music. 110 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:03.480 Sparkling water for me, Please, I already knew all this stuff you just 111 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:07.840 heard about Clara. David ended up telling me about her, just not when 112 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:11.000 we first met. Back then he was living with Paul and Alex and they 113 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:16.440 never mentioned Clara. I only happened to find out about her recently by accident. 114 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:20.759 Actually, this is the first time I've asked Alex about her. Well, 115 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.039 I get why David didn't tell you about Clara. We're all in shock 116 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:26.759 at first, and when that wore off, well, you know, we're 117 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:31.720 pretty annoyed, especially David. Later on, when Paul moved in, we 118 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:35.480 just kind of forgot about the whole situation. I mean, there wasn't that 119 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:37.879 much to say about it anyway. David says you were closer to Car than 120 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:43.440 he was. Definitely, I wouldn't say they didn't get along. They just 121 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:48.799 didn't click. They won't completely different wavelengths just co exist in the same space 122 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:52.919 and that's not my thing, as you will know. Yeah, I certainly 123 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.559 do. I sometimes cook a meal and we'd get together for dinner. I 124 00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:00.320 like doing that every so often. Too great a sense of camera. Ye, 125 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:03.960 and David's grandma hard a cleaner, so we didn't need to handle the 126 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:07.639 daily chores and all that. Yeah, I definitely can't pickture you just sharing 127 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:11.559 a space with someone and nothing else. Well, I mean to tell you 128 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:16.080 the truth. She didn't pay much attention to me and we weren't exactly friends. 129 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:20.279 She always kept herself hidden away in her room when she did need to 130 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:22.039 talk to someone, but she would come to me, and that's why I 131 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:26.559 was upset when she sent the message to David and not to me, although 132 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:30.240 I suppose it would have been even worse if she sent me that message out 133 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:33.759 of the blue, like it was our landlady's grandson. After it is the 134 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:37.840 sparkling water for you, Yeah, thanks the beards for me. Alex is 135 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.360 one of the nicest and most sociable people. I know. It's not hard 136 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:46.440 to be friends with him. So if Clara avoided him, I guess David 137 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:50.759 isn't exaggerating. She must have been a super private person. But I asked 138 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:52.480 Alex about the music. Well, she'd been with us for a little over 139 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:56.039 a year and I've never heard music coming from her room before. She might 140 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:01.399 have had the radio on occasionally, or maybe she wore headphones. Nomise isn't 141 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:05.519 really an issue for me. She starts working on her PhD, and all 142 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:09.039 of a sudden, she's blasting this classical music and I'm like, have you 143 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:11.799 heard of headphones? And she goes, well, I have to listen to 144 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:15.720 it like this, And on top of that, it's the same music over 145 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:18.759 and over again. And get this. About a month later, she went 146 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:24.240 out and bought herself a keyboard and started playing the melody herself. But it 147 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:28.559 just didn't sound right. What do you mean it didn't sound right, like 148 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:33.080 well, it sounded like she was playing it in a different key. You 149 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:39.000 know, I don't really have a clue about music. But did you say 150 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:41.919 something to her? Of course we did. We asked her to turn it 151 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:45.080 down several times. We've got her to agree to that at least, which 152 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:48.759 made it slightly more bearable. It wasn't so much the volume as the fact 153 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:52.799 that she was playing the same music obsessively. And do you remember the music? 154 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:58.960 Do I ever, like I swear, I hear that music and my 155 00:12:58.039 --> 00:13:03.080 dreams sometime I can see do you right now if you want to dun dun 156 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:22.440 dun d d dun dun dun dun dunn d Clara Taurus, I wonder if 157 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:26.159 you'll I will listen to this podcast. I know you haven't published your PhD 158 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:28.919 on our sol Bloom yet because I've searched for it and nothing comes up. 159 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:33.159 There's almost no information about you online, and that's quite an achievement in this 160 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:37.360 day and age. I hope what I'm about to tell you doesn't bother you 161 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:41.240 too much. I've seen your old Instagram account, although it's private, and 162 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:45.240 your last post appears just before you disappeared. Alex let me have a look 163 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:46.879 at it, and I took screenshots of the few photos you posted when you 164 00:13:46.919 --> 00:13:52.759 were in Switzerland. I also have all of your things full disclosure. That's 165 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:56.240 how I found out about you. David never got round to throwing them out. 166 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:01.480 He didn't. No, I didn't see that one coming. I was 167 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:03.960 so pissed off at Clara for having left us in the lurch like that, 168 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:07.879 I said we should keep them just in case she came back. But we 169 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:13.120 wanted to chuck them out. A year or so after she left, we 170 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:18.679 sold and got rid of the bigger items like the bookcases and the keyboard, 171 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.879 But the clothes she didn't pack for the trip and the rest of her stuff 172 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:26.080 it all fit in a big old suitcase that we left lying around the house. 173 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:30.159 I mean, she didn't have much. It was really beer like like 174 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.440 a nun's room. She did have a set of books that she was using 175 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:37.120 for her research, but that's pretty much it. I can't believe the suitcase 176 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:41.080 survived the renovation. I know, right when I was getting the house ready, 177 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.960 I thought this has to go. I mean, I got rid of 178 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.240 so many things and some stuff that used to belong to my grant, But 179 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:50.960 I couldn't bring myself to get rid of that suitcase. How come I don't 180 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.759 know, I mean, I guess I thought it was like the only evidence 181 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:58.399 that Alex and I have that Clara existed. Otherwise, it feels like, 182 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:03.759 you know, David's right. If I hadn't found that suitcase when I was 183 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:07.399 going through the closet in the hall, I would never have found out about 184 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:09.960 Klara. And even if David and Alex had told me about her, she 185 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:13.960 would have been nothing but a distant blure of a person, a memory of 186 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:18.559 a memory. But being able to go through her things makes Clara feel like 187 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:24.240 a real person. She really didn't have much stuff, especially compared to what 188 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:28.039 I would have accumulated if I'd lived in that room for two years, just 189 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.519 some summer clothes, a pair of sandals, some necklaces on a couple of 190 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:35.320 books. If I didn't know she was doing her PhD on an avant garde 191 00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:39.720 female painter, I'd say she's in a Greek and Roman art. There's a 192 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:45.360 Greek and a Latin dictionary, and it looks like she only wore neutral colors. 193 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:50.039 There's not a single print in sight. The things Klara left behind say 194 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:52.559 a lot about her, but I'm not interested in her style or even her 195 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:58.480 personality. I want to know about her obsessions. It's not uncommon to gather 196 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:00.840 hundreds of papers and photo copies on a certain subject when you're working on your 197 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:08.360 PhD. But the notes in the margins and the underlining are compulsive. There 198 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:12.960 are four Latin words that appear several times. I've looked them up. Mortua 199 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:18.120 means dead, VIXI means lived, TAKUI means I'm silent or I've got a 200 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:22.679 secret, and dulcekano, which I think is actually two words, and that 201 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:27.919 means to sing sweetly. But those aren't the only words that appear frequently. 202 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:33.879 This one, for instance, is a printed document about women and medieval music 203 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:38.960 that mentions Hildegarde vom Bingen. Clara used a red pen to write voss day 204 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:45.519 on it, which means the voices of God in Latin, but she didn't 205 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.039 write it just once. It's written in the margin nine times in a row. 206 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:52.159 There are a lot of notes on the history of music and the sear 207 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:56.679 of the harmony of the spheres. Did Rsala Bloom think that was the music 208 00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:03.320 she heard? I'm not sure. There's barely any information about her online, 209 00:17:03.920 --> 00:17:07.160 just a handful of art blogs, but they all seemed to repeat the same 210 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:11.920 facts about her. Maybe Clara discovered a ton of other things, but if 211 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:15.119 so, that information must have been on the computer she took with her to 212 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:19.559 Switzerland. She left behind photocopies of her art books and a short summary of 213 00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:25.160 Ursula Bloom's life. This is all I've been able to find out about her 214 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:32.240 so far. Bloom was born in eighteen seventy seven. In Saint Gallen, 215 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:36.359 a small city in Switzerland. She was the only daughter of a wealthy family 216 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:40.240 who owned a textile company. She went to a Catholic boarding school that was 217 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:42.160 run by nuns, and from a very young age she showed a flair for 218 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:48.119 music and painting. In eighteen ninety eight, she moved to Munich to study 219 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:52.480 art. That's where she supposedly met another Swiss painter who was also studying there 220 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:56.960 at the time and became friends with him. His name was Paul Clay. 221 00:17:57.079 --> 00:18:00.400 In nineteen eleven, Clay introduced her to a group of painters from Munich that 222 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:07.200 called themselves the Blue Rider, led by vasili Kandinsky. Bloom style matches the 223 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:14.440 groups. Her paintings depict Swiss landscapes using violent brushstrokes and intense colors. They 224 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:18.519 could also be classed as fauvest given the bold use of color. When World 225 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:22.640 War One broke out in nineteen fourteen, Ursula Bloom was in Switzerland, and 226 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:26.960 even though her country was neutral, she enlisted as a nurse to help soldiers 227 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:30.559 from both sides who crossed the border. Here's something weird about that period. 228 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:37.079 Several biographic notes mentioned that Ersla used a sort of music therapy with the soldiers 229 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:44.920 to help treat their PTSD. Let's take a break here music therapy in a 230 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:51.119 field hospital during World War One. It's hard to imagine from here on. 231 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.960 There's a gap in her story. We have no information on Hersla blooms slide 232 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.319 from the end of World War One until nineteen twenty. That year, Ursula 233 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:03.440 had a severe of his breakdown and was committed to a psychiatric hospital in Geneva, 234 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:07.839 and she never left. In nineteen twenty three, she threw herself out 235 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:11.559 of the window of her room and died. She was only forty six. 236 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:17.440 Maybe I should have warned you that Ursula Bloom's story was tragic, not only 237 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:19.359 because of her demise, but because of how little we know about her. 238 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.960 Like so many female artists from the early twentieth century, she did not go 239 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:29.960 down in history. Her art has been neglected, overshadowed by the renowned male 240 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:33.440 artist of the time. It's just so unfair, considering how special her paintings 241 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:38.400 are. And what about her music, you might ask. The biographical notes 242 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:42.799 say she was a composer, but I can't find any recordings online. The 243 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:47.519 music you hear in this podcast is David's rendition of a score written by Ursula, 244 00:19:47.880 --> 00:20:00.799 which Clara left behind when she disappeared. He'd asked me to play this 245 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.279 song when Clara was living, yet I would have literally cut my hands off. 246 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:07.799 Come on, it's a nice melody. It might be the first hundred 247 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:11.519 times you hear right. Yeah. We haven't been able to find the recording 248 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:15.680 the Clara listen to our repeat. David says it was on a vinyl. 249 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:18.160 They did find a small record player in her room, which they sold along 250 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:22.200 with the keyboard, but there were no records. I think she only bought 251 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:26.200 it to play that record. But I'm sure i'd remember if we found it. 252 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:30.400 I mean, we probably would have thrown it out the window. Oh 253 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:36.960 maybe not the best choice of words. Uh oh right, yeah, sorry, 254 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:41.279 you know what I mean. Though, We'll have to cut David some 255 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:42.960 slack because he's going to have to listen to this song a lot while he 256 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:47.799 edits the podcast. He didn't play it by heart, although he says he 257 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:52.440 could have. Several of Clara's papers have little thumbtack holes in them. David 258 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.119 says she had a corkboard above her desk. Among the papers she's pinned up, 259 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:59.720 there are some scanned and printed images of an old score handwritten by Ursula. 260 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.920 It's the melody that Clara listened to over and over again. Another of 261 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:08.160 the papers with tach marks is a printed photo of an old notebook. That's 262 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:12.279 where I got the quote in German that I read earlier. It's not signed, 263 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:15.200 but I'm sure it's hers because the notes on the score are written in 264 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:21.799 the same handwriting. Where did Clara get those two things? Is there an 265 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.359 entire notebook that could provide us with more information on hersel's life in her own 266 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:29.319 words? The hospital in Geneva where she spent the last years of her life 267 00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:33.559 is now a state owned building that hosts cultural events. I checked the website 268 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:37.839 and there's a small permanent exhibition dedicated to her. I wonder if that's where 269 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:41.000 Clara found the score in the notebook. Did she take those photos when she 270 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:45.079 visited, or did someone send them to her. I've called an email the 271 00:21:45.160 --> 00:21:49.160 center, but I haven't her back, and the only alternative I can think 272 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:56.599 of is to go there myself, because I want no I need to know 273 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:03.119 who's Ursula Bloom, What other music did she compose? Why did she disappear 274 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:06.960 after she used music? Therapy on the soldiers. And what made Clara, 275 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:10.880 the woman who lived in the room where I'm according these words, become so 276 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:18.519 obsessed with her. I don't know if I'll find an answer to all these 277 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.359 questions, but if you've made it this far, I hope you'll come along 278 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:22.920 for the ride.